Let's kill superheroes... with science!

[Sutekh]

Phasers like Kitty Pryde are in for a bad time too...

Yeah, everything said above about size-changers could apply to people who phase, too. Bang, your body is intangible! The contents of your stomach and intestines and bladder and inner ear blorp out onto the ground, and while none of that is immediately fatal, it would be somewhere between disorienting and nauseating and terribly unfortunate, in the long-term. Meanwhile, air wafts through your lungs and you can never draw a breath. Oxygen molecules in your bloodstream sort of wander off, no longer able to interact with your blood. And you can't talk, because you have to push air around to make noise, and your vibrating vocal chords do exactly bupkiss in the way of pushing air.

Fortunately, Kitty Pryde explicitly can phase unliving stuff, as her clothing doesn't fall off of her whenever she phases (and has lately been using it more and more aggressively, phasing stuff into people and letting go, or threatening to phase someone else and push them into a wall and let go, etc.).

Presumably Red Ghost can as well, since we don't see his wrinkly naked ass every time he phases.

And Vision? Eh. Who knows. He's not made of cells anyway.

[Ultimate Captain America]

We can't discuss the power cosmic in a scientific way because it's not a fictional use of a real thing, but a completely fictional thing. Power cosmic may very well be called "magic".

As for the Ovoids, that trick of mind-exchange takes for granted some really unlikely things. First, that a mind can be "read" as if it was a savegame file with all the variables needed to create an exact copy. And second, that we can "copy-paste" that mind into a blank state brain. And third, that we even can have such blank state brains to begin with.

[Iron Maiden]

We can't discuss the power cosmic in a scientific way because it's not a fictional use of a real thing, but a completely fictional thing. Power cosmic may very well be called "magic".

As for the Ovoids, that trick of mind-exchange takes for granted some really unlikely things. First, that a mind can be "read" as if it was a savegame file with all the variables needed to create an exact copy. And second, that we can "copy-paste" that mind into a blank state brain. And third, that we even can have such blank state brains to begin with.

A similar thing has been done in other sci fi with the mind transfer. The Star Trek franchise used it a couple of times. Once on the original series where a jealous woman wanted to experience the power of being captain of the Enterprise and had found some alien machine that could transfer minds. Kirk's mind was transferred to her body and hers was transferred to his. Then you had Dr. McCoy getting Spock's katra in Star Trek Wrath of Khan and transferred back again in The Search for Spock. We saw Vulcans could do the mind meld also in the early Star Trek episodes.

[Midnight_v]

I believe phasing is basically turning off your electrons or strong interaction to some extent. Sometimes they suggest its just becoming less dense ... *somehow*.

In either of those scenarios they're likely to instantly succumb to gravity and fall directly to the center of the earth.

[JudicatorPrime]

I believe phasing is basically turning off your electrons or strong interaction to some extent. Sometimes they suggest its just becoming less dense ... *somehow*.

In either of those scenarios they're likely to instantly succumb to gravity and fall directly to the center of the earth.

I recall a discussion with either Byrne or Claremont that they didn't really settle on how Kitty's phasing power worked at first -- whether it was her bodily molecules that were becoming intangible, of if she was generating some type of field that made objects that she contacted intangible.

In any event, as someone mentioned, the entire body would need to phase at exactly the same time, or blood, bones, organs, muscle tissue, etc., would all succumb to gravity. And partially phasing would be completely out of the question. It would be like untying the knot on a water balloon that someone was squeezing. The scent of gases escaping a partially phased body alone would be heinous. And given that nature abhors a vacuum, the rush of air to occupy the area where the intangible body now occupies would result in an audible sound. Kitty Pryde's first name would not have been Sprite or Ariel. It would have been Fart Girl. Or Whoosh. Or Phew.

[MitchFox]

If not for the healing factor, the adamantium-laced bones inside his body might kill Wolverine.

Omega Red would be poisoned by the carbonadium in his body too.

Absorbing Man's powers might backfire on him if he absorbs the fatal diseases or poison onto himself.

Since Banshee has to keep screaming in order to stay afloat while flying, he might plummet if he starts coughing badly from inhaling pollutants in the air.

[Crimz]

Speaking of healing factors, how do they protect from cancer? It's not really a normal disease or injury that healing can take care of. If anything Deadpool's cancer should still kill him and characters with that power aren't immune to it. Not to mention that their bones should heal wrong when broken like another poster said.

[Huntsman Spider]

Speaking of healing factors, how do they protect from cancer? It's not really a normal disease or injury that healing can take care of. If anything Deadpool's cancer should still kill him and characters with that power aren't immune to it. Not to mention that their bones should heal wrong when broken like another poster said.

That was actually addressed at DC Comics with its resident speedsters almost twenty years ago. Bart Allen was shot in the knee by Deathstroke (possessed by the spirit of his son Jericho, whom he had killed in an earlier Teen Titans arc) and the surgery to install a prosthetic kneecap was complicated further by Bart's accelerated healing, which was described as him healing quickly, but not correctly, so they had to break his knee again and again to keep it from setting wrong while the prosthetic kneecap was being implemented. Oh, and even more painfully, his accelerated healing burned out any anesthetics used on him, so he had to endure that entire surgery fully conscious and aware. Thus, beyond simply an accelerated healing factor not necessarily immunizing someone to cancer, which is technically abnormal cell growth run amok, if packaged with immunity or resistance to foreign chemical agents, that wouldn't exclude anesthetics, so if that person needed to have invasive and painful surgery or something like that . . .

[Crimz]

That was actually addressed at DC Comics with its resident speedsters almost twenty years ago. Bart Allen was shot in the knee by Deathstroke (possessed by the spirit of his son Jericho, whom he had killed in an earlier Teen Titans arc) and the surgery to install a prosthetic kneecap was complicated further by Bart's accelerated healing, which was described as him healing quickly, but not correctly, so they had to break his knee again and again to keep it from setting wrong while the prosthetic kneecap was being implemented. Oh, and even more painfully, his accelerated healing burned out any anesthetics used on him, so he had to endure that entire surgery fully conscious and aware. Thus, beyond simply an accelerated healing factor not necessarily immunizing someone to cancer, which is technically abnormal cell growth run amok, if packaged with immunity or resistance to foreign chemical agents, that wouldn't exclude anesthetics, so if that person needed to have invasive and painful surgery or something like that . . .

That sounds horrendous. Wait. Can heroes with healing factors still die of shock?

[Iron Maiden]

One long running piece of advanced comic book tech is Doctor Doom's time platform. As one wise person once wrote, and I can't recall who, the time platform has to travel both through time and space since the earth is constantly rotating. So Doom has to be pretty precise in placing a person exactly where they wish to go. I was reminded of the old legends about the Philadelphia Experiment from WW II. There really was a project to make our ships invisible to radar but undoubtedly people took that too literally. The test ship was the USS Eldridge and they were conducted in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards. Witnesses claimed to see a green glow around the ship one night but this was later attributed to the "St. Elmo's Fire" phenomenon. Other reports claimed that ....

"the Eldridge crew went insane, developed strange illnesses, and even became fused to the metal of the ship. ...conspiracy theorists of course thought it was aliens. And the government holding out on time-travel and light-travel and teleportation… that sort of thing. There were a lot of theories, but none of them were viable (because, physics). "

So what if Doom's calculations suddenly developed a glitch? Instead of traveling to Arthur's Camelot, you might wind up fused to a tree or stone wall of the castle. Interestingly enough, the time platform was used as a weapon once in Doom 2099 #24







So here we see the adversary Tiger Wylde being cut in half with the top part in current time and who knows where the other half ended up. Seems like Doom could set up time platform booby traps if he wanted to. In a way it reminds me of the first Star Trek movie were IIRC they had a transporter malfunction and the unfortunate crew members were killed when the transporter malfunctioned. I think there was a line that said what came back no longer looked human. Perhaps the same could happen with the time platform.

[Huntsman Spider]

That sounds horrendous. Wait. Can heroes with healing factors still die of shock?

Sure was, and that was my first exposure to Geoff Johns('s writing), too.

One long running piece of advanced comic book tech is Doctor Doom's time platform. As one wise person once wrote, and I can't recall who, the time platform has to travel both through time and space since the earth is constantly rotating. So Doom has to be pretty precise in placing a person exactly where they wish to go. I was reminded of the old legends about the Philadelphia Experiment from WW II. There really was a project to make our ships invisible to radar but I undoubtedly people took that too literally. The test ship was the USS Eldridge and they were conducted in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards. Witnesses claimed to see a green glow around the ship one night but this was later attributed to the "St. Elmo's Fire" phenomenon. Other reports claimed that ....

"the Eldridge crew went insane, developed strange illnesses, and even became fused to the metal of the ship. ...conspiracy theorists of course thought it was aliens. And the government holding out on time-travel and light-travel and teleportation… that sort of thing. There were a lot of theories, but none of them were viable (because, physics). "

So what if Doom's calculations suddenly developed a glitch? Instead of traveling to Arthur's Camelot, you might wind up fused to a tree or stone wall of the castle. Interestingly enough, the time platform was used as a weapon once in Doom 2099 #24







So here we see the adversary Tiger Wylde being cut in half with the top part in current time and who knows where the other half ended up. Seems like Doom could set up time platform booby traps if he wanted to. It a way it reminds me of the first Star Trek movie were IIRC they had a transporter malfunction and the unfortunate crew members were killed when the transporter malfunction. I think there was a line that said what came back no longer looked human. Perhaps the same could happen with the time platform.

Well, damn. That sounds (and looks) incredibly, fascinatingly horrific.

[JudicatorPrime]

Can heroes with healing factors still die of shock?

In theory, yes.

Even someone with a healing factor doesn't heal every injury instantaneously at the same exact time, which means there's always a possibility of circulatory failure and cellular and tissue hypoxia as a result of different parts of the body healing at different rates.

In fact, hypoxia is the real danger. People tend to forget that blood is also responsible for getting oxygen to cells, bones, tissue, organs, etc. The more blood you lose, the less essential oxygenated cells and tissue you have and the more likely you'll experience life-threatening shock. So, if you really wanted to kill someone with a 5x healing factor, all you'd need to do is open up an AR15 on their ass and then confine them to an oxygen-depleted environment...like, say, in space, in an altitude chamber, or at the bottom of a deep enough body of water.

[Lukmendes]

That sounds horrendous. Wait. Can heroes with healing factors still die of shock?

I think Wolverine explicitly can't, his healing factor protects his mind too (Something that his origin story has Rose alluding to when she says he repressed his memories of killing some people), Laura and Wade might be like that too since they got their healing factor from him, but others might not have such luxury.

Sure was, and that was my first exposure to Geoff Johns('s writing), too.

Damn, first impression from one of Johns' edgy phases even lol.

[Sutekh]

Well, damn. That sounds (and looks) incredibly, fascinatingly horrific.

Also applies to any of the dozen or so characters who 'stop time,' ranging from Kang to mutants like Tempus, Tempo, Kiden Nixon, Sway, Lacuna, Timeslip, etc.

If they *actually* stopped time in a localized area, that area would fly off of the planet at the speed which A) the planet is rotating, B) the speed the planet is spinning round the sun, C) the speed the solar system is spiralling through the galaxy, D) the speed the galaxy is hurtling through space! (Quite possibly four different vectors and velocities! And if the time-stopped area is on the side of the planet facing towards it's direction of rotation around the sun, the area would plunge straight down into the core of the planet and out the other side, causing unimaginable devastation.)

Plus it would get super-dark in that area, since no light would leave it. Kang would be all like, "Hah, time freeze! Oh brilliant, now I can't see what's going on in that area, affect anything in that area (since any attack stops moving when it hits the edge of the area, making everyone I time-froze effectively invulnerable), and they can't even hear me monologuing, since sound won't travel into the time-stopped area..."

[Ultimate Captain America]

There's no risk for the unfrozen in time area to drift away from Earth: the planet, the sun and the galaxy would also be frozen in place