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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."
Chalk it up to poor scripting. The bullets were FX, but the thrown gun was real. :)
But (assuming you buy into her power of telekinesis in the first place) you could cause the air to act as a natural lens or mirror, causing the beam to be distorted and deflected...
"Software is too expensive to build cheaply"
Actually most all telekinetic abilities are impossible.
... If it were on Yoda, then it would crush and kill him. If it weren't on Yoda, then that really complicates things, because now you have a 3 way interaction between the spaceship, Yoda, and the mysterious point in space that is "really" doing the pushing!
Pushing something with your brain completely violates Newton's 3rd law. You would have to explain where the equal and opposite force is.
If Yoda is holding a spaceship up in the air, then there is a mighty big weight pushing down somewhere
Oh and don't think that Magneto's E&M powers can skirt around this. E&M conserves energy-momentum too. You can't do work from nothing.
A Usenet Troll Triumphs on Slashdot
Well, assuming action-reaction, the bullet cannot have any more momentum then the gun does when it kicks against the shooter's shoulder. Therefore the impulse of the bullet hitting you cannot be more then the impulse of shooting same bullet
Likewise, there's the paradox of heros who have super-strength but not invulnerability (e.g. spider-man). He'd have to have at least some level of increased structural cohesion (and the increased resistance to physical harm in general that accompanies it) just so his super-muscles wouldn't destroy his body when he tenses them, and so he won't be crushed by the car he's holding over his head.