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Comic Book Physics
An anonymous reader writes "Seems many of the feats of SpiderMan, Superman and other superheroes obey the basic requirements of physics. So says a University of Minnesota physicist who uses nothing but comics to teach the subject. 'Comic books get their science right more often than one would expect ... I was able to find examples in superhero comic books of the correct descriptions of basic physical principles for a wide range of topics, including classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and even quantum physics.' Especially cool: Why Krypton *had* to explode."
How do the breasts of all those super-heroines manage to defy gravity so well?
Krypton had to explode. If it did not, there would have been no incentive for Kal'el to send his son to Earth. Without Clark landing on Earth, the whole Superman series wouldn't have made much sense.
That said, has anyone noticed that the names of the Krypton citizens were all slightly Jewish? Jor'el, Kal'el, and the others all sound like townships in Israel.
Maybe it's just me.
I have been pwned because my
I've always found the physics to be amazing, and something to aspire to. I'm sure everyone has.
Naturally, it's not possible.
It's rather disappointing to be among the people on earth that don't have super powers, but I suppose we'll live. The fact is, us comic readers (as well as anime-watchers and game-players) constantly see heroes that seem to know when to do the right thing at the right time. No matter how stupid an anime hero can be, he (she?) always seems to be able to take on 20 enemies at once and see a punch coming a mile away. It's the same sort of thing with this comic book physics stuff. These heroes have super powers and they don't appreciate them the way we would. You know what I mean. If you were Superman, you would totally pick a fight with some big dude, and then punch him in the face. You know you would.
This principle is also surprisingly evident in "The Simpsons":
Martin: I would've thought that being hit by an atomic bomb would've killed him.
Bart: Now you know better.
His custume is made from the material he was wrapped in on his journey from Krypton. Sheesh, even I know that :-)
RedFive jedi_knight111@hotmail.com
Apparently the shirt is made from the same stuff as the Hulk's pants. It cuts down on the special-effects budget for Superman movies, and eliminates the fuzzy blue dot and R-rating budgets for Hulk movies.
In the older Superman TV shows, it was funny that he could stand there and deflect bullets, and yet he ducked when the shooter ran out of bullets and threw the gun at him.
[b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
"Meanwhile... Microsoft Reports Crazy Three Month Uptimes on Windows 2003!"
Batman: Robin, take out your BatPDA and boot up PocketPC 2003.
Robin: Golly gee, Batman, why is everthing BatThis and BatThat? I feel left out.
Batman: Ok, boywonder, we'll call it the RobinPDA.
Robin: Holy Bitrate, Batman. That sounds stupid.
Batman: Ok, then we'll call it the BatPDA.
Robin: Golly gee, Batman, why is everthing BatThis and BatThat? I feel left out.Batman: I've always wanted to do that.
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
All my physics text book had(and I'm being completely serious here) was a bunch of drawings of men looking at little girls in short skirts(the worst was when they were describing tension and had a man staring directly at the behind of a 7 year old girl when she was bent over in an elevator), shirtless boys, and monkeys. What wonderful human beings these physists must have been.
I'm invisible to attractive women.
As spys/superheros/supervillains always seem to have attractive women as their offsiders I'd be the perfect person to infiltrate their lair.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
Superman isn't an idiot. He knows to match velocities before he catches her.
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
That has to be the most violent analogy I've ever seen used.
The world can be wrong today for once.
"In the older Superman TV shows, it was funny that he could stand there and deflect bullets, and yet he ducked when the shooter ran out of bullets and threw the gun at him."
That's because getting hit in the face with a gun hurts!
However, this raises the question, how could it be cut and tailored? If it's immune to bullets, then one would expect it to resist being cut quite well.
... well I made up where he got the mirror)
Why the same way he cuts his hair!
With his laser vision and an ideal vanity mirror that he apparently got from physics class along side the massless rope and frictionless pully.
(I am not making this up
A Usenet Troll Triumphs on Slashdot
> What was the explosion called? Flaming'el?
Nah, I'm pretty sure it was "Bloody'el."
Yes, yes it does. In fact, I suggest you try this at your first opportunity. Just remember, the webbing you shoot from you wrists may be very fine. So you may not see it, or even feel it. But trust me, it is there, so go ahead and jump off the ledge and start swinging.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
There was actually a joke about the Hulk and his purple pants. (They were always purple in the comic book for a long time.) Anyway, it was in Power Man and Iron Fist. Power Man was superstrong and while I don't think he was invulnerable, he was difficult to damage. Anyway, he favored wearing yellow silk shirts as part of his costume and they were ALWAYS getting torn up.
:)
One issue he was stopping by to pick up a bunch of yellow silk shirts and they clerk was handing a pile of purple pants to a Dr. Banner.