1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,439 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb, and this is the 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 2: Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 2: This is going to be another special Omnibus episode, this 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 2: time collecting the four most recent Marvel Comics creatures, monsters 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 2: characters that I've profiled here on the show. So buckle 8 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 2: in because first up, we're going to consider Swarm. I'd 9 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 2: like to briefly return to the world of Marvel Comics 10 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 2: to discuss a rather unique supervillain, Swarm, as described in 11 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 2: the book Monsters Creatures of the Marvel Universe, explored by 12 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 2: Kelly Knox. Swarm is just your average former Nazi scientist 13 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 2: and acupuncturists consume owned by a swarm of radioactive bees 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 2: at a meteorite crash, transforming him into a sentient swarm 15 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 2: of bees. He manifests as a man shaped swarm with 16 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 2: stylish purple gloves and a ragged purple cape. The character 17 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 2: dates back to nineteen seventy seven, created by Bill Mantillo 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 2: and John Byrne in the pages of the Champions and 19 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 2: I think it's safe to assume that this one was 20 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 2: inspired by the old suit of bees stunt as well 21 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 2: as the curious properties of you social bees, because that's 22 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 2: the really interesting thing about the whole proposition here. The 23 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 2: former Fritz von Meyer, again now known as Swarm, is 24 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 2: said to exert control over the bees, and his consciousness 25 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 2: is shared among the thousands of bees that make up 26 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 2: his bee bod. It's a fantastic concept, but it also 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 2: touches on the fact that bees do exert a form 28 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 2: of emergence intelligence and are often discussed as a super 29 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 2: organism and as a cognitive entity. Swarms exhibit properties that 30 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 2: are not shared by the individual organism, but are rather 31 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 2: exhibited by the larger group, such as the ability of 32 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 2: a beehive to thermoregulate. Is pointed out by a Cadame 33 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 2: at All in of Biofilms and Beehives, published in the 34 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 2: journal Biofilm in twenty twenty two. When temperatures drop, bees 35 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 2: move in closer to better share their heat with adult 36 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 2: bees on the outside, shivering to reduce additional heat, and 37 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 2: then moving into the interior of the mass to warm 38 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,239 Speaker 2: younger bees that lack the ability. As the title of 39 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 2: the paper implies the authors compare bee swarms to biofilms, 40 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 2: multicellular communities of bacteria or fungi. Marvel Swarm kind of 41 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 2: stands as an attempt to take the inhuman intelligence of 42 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 2: bees and put it in a human wrapping, something that 43 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 2: is fantastic and certainly fun, but in a strange way 44 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 2: a little easier to fathom. While it's impossible to truly 45 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,519 Speaker 2: know what it is to be another organism, much less 46 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 2: a honey bee or a swarm of honey bees, fantastic 47 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 2: treatments such as swarm allow us to imagine our way 48 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 2: a little bit closer to the reality. All right, Next 49 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 2: on the list, puff Adder. I recently picked up a 50 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 2: kind of ragged copy of the Official Handbook of the 51 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 2: Marvel Universe, Master Edition from I believe nineteen ninety, though 52 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 2: this also might have been a reprint from years later. 53 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 2: I'm not entirely certain, but it's filled with various Marvel characters, 54 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 2: from the famous to the obscure, each with profile data 55 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 2: and standardized character illustrations in this kind of glorious retro style. 56 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 2: Amid all the capes and tights, and there are a 57 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 2: lot of tights, there are some gloriously weird entries in 58 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 2: the book. There's the spiky faced skeleton man terror Ink, 59 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 2: with his ability to steal limbs and attach them to 60 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 2: his own body. I was also fascinated by Quasu Modo 61 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 2: or Quasi Motivational destruct Organism. He is a super powered 62 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 2: cyborg hunchback, and presumably he's quite motivational. But in this episode, 63 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 2: I want to focus in on the villain puff Adder 64 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 2: real name Gordo Freeley and apparently a native of Atlanta. Physically, 65 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 2: he appears to be a very large, muscular man in 66 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 2: a snake costume. He is a mutant in the Marvel comics, 67 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: with the ability to engorge his entire epidermis with blood, 68 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 2: thus making himself appear more powerful and menacing. Now, he's 69 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 2: already a very capable fighter with enhanced strength, but it's 70 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 2: curious that his mutant ability doesn't seem to actually boost 71 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 2: his fighting power in the way that many other mutant 72 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 2: powers do. Instead, it just allows him to better bluff 73 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 2: and better intimidate. Oh and he also has another weapon, 74 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,359 Speaker 2: a noxious gas canister in the mouth like cowl of 75 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 2: his snake mask. His namesake is, of course, the puff 76 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 2: At or Snake consisting of several species native to Africa 77 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 2: in parts of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula. The snake in 78 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 2: question is able to puff itself up to look larger 79 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 2: as a predator deterrent, and it does this by inflating 80 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 2: its body with air and then hissing loudly. And like 81 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 2: the Marvel character, the snake can also back up that threat. 82 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 2: It packs a powerful venomous bite, and the force of 83 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 2: its strikes alone is enough to kill small prey. Various 84 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 2: natural world creatures make themselves look bigger as a defensive 85 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 2: or mating display. Some the imposturing or the manipulation of 86 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 2: fur or feathers, while others actually inflate tissues with air, water, 87 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 2: or blood. These actions also frequently enhance the colors or 88 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 2: patterns of such a display as well. While Gordo's mutant 89 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 2: ability may appear at first to buck the general theme 90 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 2: we see in comic book Superpowers, it's certainly in keeping 91 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 2: with actual real world involved adaptations. There is a survival 92 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 2: advance in not actually having to fight a predator or competitor, 93 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 2: and the same holds true with not having to fight 94 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,799 Speaker 2: every X man or avenger you encounter. On the pages 95 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 2: of Marvel Comics. All right, it's ted time, because next 96 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 2: we have man Thing. Let us return to the pages 97 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 2: of Marvel Comics to consider a true monster. Man Thing. 98 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 2: It's not to be confused with DC's swamp Thing, but 99 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 2: he stands as something of his spiritual twin sibling. So 100 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 2: both man Thing and swamp Thing are hybrid swamp based 101 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 2: humanoids created through an explosive collision of humanity, mad science, 102 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 2: and swamp water. Both characters hit the comics for the 103 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 2: first time in nineteen seventy one. However, most commentators see 104 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 2: to see it merely as coincidence and point to various 105 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 2: differences in the characters. Plus Marvel's walking swamp creature The 106 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 2: Heap predates both of them, dating back to the early 107 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 2: nineteen forties, as does the muck monster It from Street 108 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 2: and Smith Comics. Still, these various swamp beings become linked. 109 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 2: They have a kinship, and you'll even find a panel 110 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 2: in Alan Moore's swamp Thing run visually suggesting kinship between 111 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 2: swamp Thing, man Thing, the Heap, and others. But I've 112 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 2: already talked about swamp Thing on the Monster Fact, so 113 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 2: let's get serious about man Thing. As pointed out by 114 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 2: Kelly Knox in the book Monsters Creatures of the Marvel Universe. 115 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 2: Man Thing started off with a human scientist named Ted Sallas. Now, 116 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 2: like a lot of Marvel comic books, scientists, Ted worked 117 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 2: on super soldier serums, at least until enemies tried to 118 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 2: take it from him. Ted then injected himself with the 119 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 2: serum and acidentally wrecked his car in the Everglades and 120 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 2: was also exposed to extra dimensional forces in the process. 121 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 2: So what emerged from the swamp was neither man nor Thing, 122 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 2: but Manthing, a humanoid swamp creature that would become the 123 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 2: guardian of the Nexus of Reality, where science and magic converge. 124 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 2: Man Thing boasts incredible strength and can throw down with 125 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 2: the toughest of physical opponents, but some of his most 126 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 2: impressive powers are due to his empathy. Man Thing is 127 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 2: so empathic that negative emotions in others can cause him 128 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:38,679 Speaker 2: physical pain and distress, especially when he senses fear. This 129 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,839 Speaker 2: will also cause him to lash out violently at individuals 130 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 2: in the throes of fear and lay his burning hands 131 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 2: upon them. Man Thing's burning hands are a fascinating superpower, 132 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 2: brought to life most wonderfully in the twenty twenty two 133 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 2: MCU Werewolf by Night Special, which captures it as a 134 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 2: kind of holy fire that in sinnenerates Ted's victims. On 135 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 2: one level, this seems to be just another version of 136 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 2: various magical tales in which creatures feed off of fear 137 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 2: or sense fear in others, as if it is an 138 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 2: actual energy or a quantifiable substance. Man Thing's abilities, however, 139 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 2: are frequently explained in terms of chemistry. NOx attributes his 140 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 2: burning touch to chemicals in man Thing's body and sumeric 141 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 2: and wallace in marvel anatomy. The authors here presume that 142 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 2: this chemical secretion is something akin to sulphuric acid, that 143 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 2: it's excreted through man Thing's pores. I suppose we might 144 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 2: compare this ability to these self defensive secretions of various 145 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 2: natural world organisms, and given man Things plant based physiology, 146 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 2: we have to acknowledge that certain plants do secrete acidic 147 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 2: substances through their roots, in some cases to dissolve rocky 148 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 2: soil and in other cases to eradicate competition. But what 149 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 2: about this notion that a monster like man Thing, or 150 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:04,319 Speaker 2: even ant natural world organism can quote sense fear. It's 151 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 2: a common trope but is there anything to it. Certainly 152 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 2: there is no true sixth sense for fear in which 153 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 2: humans or other animals can tap into an otherwise invisible 154 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 2: video game fear meter. Fear, like other human defined emotional states, 155 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 2: is hard to quantify in animals and subject to human 156 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 2: testing bias, as Ralph Adolf's discussed in the twenty thirteen 157 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,679 Speaker 2: Current Biology article The Biology of Fear. Some argue that 158 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 2: fear is a mere psychological construct and something we can't 159 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 2: apply to animals as we cannot truly know their minds. 160 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 2: On the other hand, neuroimaging and rodents would seem to 161 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 2: reveal a clear fear network in their brains at all. 162 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 2: Stressed a distinction to be made between the conscious human 163 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 2: feeling of being afraid and fear as a functional state 164 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 2: of an organism. This state exists in relation to fear 165 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 2: inducing stimuli, which for humans releast can be in the 166 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 2: present past or in imagined future, and induces fearful behavior. 167 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 2: Fear in both cognition and behavior is largely adaptive, and 168 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 2: it's because fear can help us survive, though of course 169 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 2: all of this can become maladaptive as well. Now. Man 170 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 2: Thing's relation to fear is interesting in light of all this. 171 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 2: He acutely fears the effects of another organism's fear, but 172 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 2: the source of his own emotional distress in this scenario 173 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 2: is not the fear inducing stimuli that caused the original distress, 174 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 2: but the distressed organism itself, which he may then incinerate 175 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 2: with his burning hands due to a fear response chemical 176 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,200 Speaker 2: secretion in his own body. So there's a lot to 177 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 2: unpact there. But hey, still a pretty great swamp monster 178 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 2: and I'm always down for a cool swamp monster. Finally, 179 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:08,439 Speaker 2: let us explore the curious skin of Colossus. I've been 180 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,719 Speaker 2: plowing through old episodes of The X Men, the animated 181 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 2: series from the nineties with my son in anticipation of 182 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 2: eventually diving into the X Men ninety seven series. This 183 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 2: show is a lot of fun, packs a lot of 184 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 2: nostalgia for me, and leads to some interesting conversations with 185 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 2: my son about the various themes. Some of our favorite 186 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 2: characters include Rogue and Wolverine, but Colossus is always a 187 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 2: treat as well. If you're not familiar with this particular mutant, 188 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 2: we're talking about Russian X Men Peter resputant An already 189 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 2: intimidatingly muscular man who is able at will to assume 190 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 2: an impenetrable steel form. Sometimes, as in his Marvel dot 191 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 2: Com profile, Colossus's transformation is said to convert his entire 192 00:12:55,600 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 2: body into an organic steel like substance. The transformation is 193 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 2: interpreted as something that occurs only at the dermal level, 194 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,359 Speaker 2: so only at the skin level. Either way, the transformation 195 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 2: generally looks as if a segmented stainless steel coating flows 196 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 2: over his entire body. We're going to approach it here 197 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 2: as a dermal transformation because the idea of a full 198 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 2: body transformation leaves us less room to wonder over the 199 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 2: scientific details of the feet. But just the idea alone 200 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 2: has always been a captivating one, because here is Peter Resputen, 201 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 2: a powerful but peaceful man who would far rather pursue 202 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 2: art than conflict, but who for the greater good can 203 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 2: literally grow the thickest, most impenetrable skin imaginable to throw 204 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 2: down against adversity. For Colossus, this might mean the grasping 205 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 2: tentacles of Omega Red, always a favorite of mine, or 206 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,120 Speaker 2: the machinations of the Shadow King. Once the threat is 207 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 2: dealt with, Peter reverts to his normal form and continues 208 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 2: on in his peaceful creative pursuits. Lynn Ween and Dave 209 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 2: Cockrum created Colosses back in nineteen seventy five, and he 210 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 2: remains a popular character to this day. So how might 211 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 2: we think about Colossus from a scientific and biological standpoint? 212 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: Turning once more to marvel anatomy by Mark Sumerac and 213 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 2: Daniel Wallace, the authors here discuss his ability in terms 214 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 2: of a transmutation of his dermal layers or skin, into 215 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 2: an organic steel, with his underlying body retaining its flesh 216 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 2: and blood form. Their explanation details a process by which 217 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 2: each individual's skin cell draws on metallic extra dimensional mass 218 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 2: to become an activated organic steel cell. So, in other words, 219 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 2: each cell of Colossus's dermal layer coats itself in biological 220 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 2: metallic material, and this translates into the transformation of the 221 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 2: entire epiderma, but at the cellular level. Thus, his mobility 222 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 2: is not compromised, and his already incredible baseline strength no 223 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 2: doubt helps out as well. Now, by this explanation, we 224 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 2: may not be dealing exactly with something like steel shutters 225 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 2: from nowhere flowing over his entire body, but that metallic 226 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 2: cellular coding has to come from somewhere if we're to 227 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 2: adhere to the law of conservation of mass, and the 228 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 2: answer they provide is that the ability draws on another 229 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 2: spatial dimension. That's where the metal comes from. And okay, 230 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 2: that works for me. Now. I also ran across an 231 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 2: excellent twenty eighteen paper in the journal Advances in Physiology 232 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 2: Education titled the Physiology of Impenetrable Skin Colossus of the 233 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 2: x Men by Barry W. Fitzgerald. His whole point is 234 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 2: the Colossus is a great example of how a fictional 235 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 2: character can promote multidisciplinary scientific discussion in a classroom. Now, 236 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 2: I'm not going to summarize everything Atzgerald has to say, 237 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 2: but he makes some great points about Colossus and thermoregulation. Basically, 238 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 2: we have to think about what human skin does for 239 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 2: the body and how that might be impacted by a 240 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 2: shift into a steel form. One key area of concern 241 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 2: is thermoregulation of body temperature, which the skin plays a 242 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 2: role in via such responses as vasodilation, vassal constriction, and 243 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 2: of course sweating. Can Colossus his steel skin do any 244 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 2: of this well? The author here contends that his body's 245 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 2: ability to thermo regulate would be severely impacted via this 246 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 2: steel or organic steel, or otherwise metal coating, and specifically, 247 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 2: during a heated battle, he would simply overheat. He wouldn't 248 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 2: be much good battling the Juggernaut if he passes out 249 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 2: from overheating just a few minutes into the struggle. Fitzgerald 250 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 2: isn't here to yuck everyone's young, though, with science he 251 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 2: presents a possible path forward. Perhaps he says Colossus's organic 252 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:09,400 Speaker 2: steel skin is actually graphene due to its protective capability 253 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,640 Speaker 2: and its biocompatibility. It's carbon after all, like we are, 254 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 2: and it's super thin, consisting of a single layer of 255 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 2: atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure. This biographene honeycomb 256 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 2: lattice layer hypothesis would therefore solve a number of the 257 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 2: key problems with Peter's mutant power, from thermoregulation to mass conservation. 258 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 2: The layer would swiftly form via protein folding and self assembly, 259 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 2: and bam, Colossus is ready for action. I highly recommend 260 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 2: checking out Fitzgerald's paper here of the topic interest you 261 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,199 Speaker 2: in or out of the classroom, because hey, presumably Colossus 262 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,919 Speaker 2: is headed back into theaters and back into action this 263 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,360 Speaker 2: summer in the next Deadpool movie. So it's a perfect 264 00:17:54,359 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 2: time to embrace both science and mutant powers. All right, everyone, 265 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 2: thanks for tuning in to this omnibus episode of The 266 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 2: Monster Fact. Monster Fact or the Artifact or an Amalia Stupendium, 267 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 2: publishes each week a short form episode from Stuff to 268 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 2: Blow Your Mind. 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