1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,359 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb, and I'm back with 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 2: another omnibus episode of The Monster Fact, collecting the four 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 2: most recent Marvel Comics themed episodes all rolled up into 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 2: a single convenient package. Up first, let's consider the terrifying 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 2: man Thing. Let us return to the pages of Marvel 7 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 2: Comics to consider a true monster. Man Thing. It's not 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 2: to be confused with DC's swamp Thing, but he stands 9 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 2: as something of his spiritual twin sibling. So both man 10 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 2: Thing and swamp Thing are hybrid swamp based humanoids created 11 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 2: through an explosive collision of humanity, mad science and swamp water. 12 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 2: Both characters hit the comics for the first time in 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy one. However, most commentators seem to see it 14 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 2: merely as coincidence and point to various differences in the characters, 15 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,839 Speaker 2: plus Marvel's walking swamp creature The Heap predates both of them, 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 2: dating back to the early nineteen forties, as does the 17 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:19,559 Speaker 2: muck Monster It from Street and Smith Comics. Still, these 18 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 2: various swamp beings become linked. They have a kinship, and 19 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 2: you'll even find a panel in Alan Moore's swamp Thing run, 20 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 2: visually suggesting kinship between swamp Thing, man Thing, the Heap, 21 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 2: and others. But I've already talked about swamp Thing on 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,839 Speaker 2: the Monster fact, so let's get serious about man Thing. 23 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 2: As pointed out by Kelly Knox in the book Monsters 24 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 2: Creatures of the Marvel Universe, man Thing started off as 25 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 2: a human scientist named Ted Sallus. Now, like a lot 26 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 2: of Marvel comic books, scientists, Ted worked on super soldier serums, 27 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 2: at least until enemies tried to take it from him. 28 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:01,279 Speaker 2: Ted then injected himself with the serum and accidentally wrecked 29 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 2: his car in the Everglades, and was also exposed to 30 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 2: extra dimensional forces in the process. So what emerged from 31 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 2: the swamp was neither man nor Thing, but man Thing, 32 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 2: a humanoid swamp creature that would become the guardian of 33 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 2: the Nexus of Reality, where science and magic converge. Man 34 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 2: Thing boasts incredible strength and can throw down with the 35 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,119 Speaker 2: toughest of physical opponents, but some of his most impressive 36 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 2: powers are due to his empathy. Manthaning is so empathic 37 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 2: that negative emotions in others can cause him physical pain 38 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 2: and distress, especially when he senses fear. This will also 39 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 2: cause him to lash out violently at individuals in the 40 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 2: throes of fear and lay his burning hands upon them. 41 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:51,519 Speaker 2: Man Thing's burning hands are a fascinating superpower, brought to 42 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 2: life most wonderfully in the twenty twenty two MCU Werewolf 43 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 2: by Night special, which captures it as a kind of 44 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 2: holy fire than incinerates Ted's victims. On one level, this 45 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 2: seems to be just another version of various magical tales 46 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 2: in which creatures feed off of fear or sense fear 47 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 2: in others as if it is an actual energy or 48 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 2: a quantifiable substance. Man Thing's abilities, however, are frequently explained 49 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 2: in terms of chemistry. NOx attributes his burning touch to 50 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 2: chemicals in man Thing's body and sumeric and wallace in 51 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 2: marvel anatomy. The authors here presume that this chemical secretion 52 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 2: is something akin to sulphuric acid, that it's excreted through 53 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 2: man Thing's pores. I suppose we might compare this ability 54 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,559 Speaker 2: to these self defensive secretions of various natural world organisms, 55 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 2: and given man things plant based physiology, we have to 56 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 2: acknowledge that certain plants do secrete acidic substances. Through their roots, 57 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 2: in some cases to dissolve rocky soil and in other 58 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 2: cases to eradicate competition. But what about this notion that 59 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 2: a monster like man, thing, or even a natural world 60 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 2: organism can quote sense fear. It's a common trope, but 61 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 2: is there anything to it. Certainly there is no true 62 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 2: sixth sense for fear in which humans or other animals 63 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 2: can tap into an otherwise invisible video game fear meter. Fear, 64 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 2: like other human defined emotional states, is hard to quantify 65 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 2: in animals and subject to human testing bias, as Ralph 66 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 2: Adolf's discussed in the twenty thirteen Current Biology article The 67 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 2: Biology of Fear. Some argue that fear is a mere 68 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,600 Speaker 2: psychological construct and something we can't apply to animals as 69 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 2: we cannot truly know their minds. On the other hand, 70 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 2: neuroimaging in rodents would seem to reveal a clear fear 71 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 2: network in their brains at all. Stressed a distinction to 72 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 2: be made between the conscious human feeling of being afraid 73 00:04:56,279 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 2: and fear as a functional state of an organism. This 74 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 2: state exists in relation to fear inducing stimuli, which for 75 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 2: humans at least can be in the present past or 76 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 2: in imagined future and induces fearful behavior. Fear in both 77 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 2: cognition and behavior is largely adaptive, and it's because fear 78 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 2: can help us survive, though of course, all of this 79 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 2: can become maladaptive as well. Now, man things relation to 80 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 2: fear is interesting in light of all this. He acutely 81 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 2: fears the effects of another organism's fear, but the source 82 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 2: of his own emotional distress in this scenario is not 83 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 2: the fear inducing stimuli that caused the original distress, but 84 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 2: the distressed organism itself, which he may then incinerate with 85 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 2: his burning hands due to a fear response chemical secretion 86 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 2: in his own body. So there's a lot to unpact there. 87 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 2: But hey, still a pretty great swamp monster, and I'm 88 00:05:54,800 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 2: always down for a cool swamp monster. All right, let's 89 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 2: insert a fresh quarter into the nineteen ninety two X 90 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 2: Men arcade machine and tag in Colossus. I've been plowing 91 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 2: through old episodes of The X Men, the animated series 92 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 2: from the nineties with my son in anticipation of eventually 93 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 2: diving into the X Men ninety seven series. This show 94 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 2: is a lot of fun, packs a lot of nostalgia 95 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 2: for me, and leads to some interesting conversations with my 96 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 2: son about the various themes. Some of our favorite characters 97 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 2: include Rogue and Wolverine, but Colossus is always a treat 98 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 2: as well. If you're not familiar with this particular mutant, 99 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:46,160 Speaker 2: we're talking about Russian X men Peter Resputant, an already 100 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 2: intimidatingly muscular man who is able at will to assume 101 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 2: an impenetrable steel form. Sometimes, as in his Marvel dot 102 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 2: Com profile, Colossus's transformation is said to convert his entire 103 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 2: body into an organic steel like substance. Other times, the 104 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 2: transformation is interpreted as something that occurs only at the 105 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 2: dermal level, so only at the skin level. Either way, 106 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 2: the transformation generally looks as if a segmented stainless steel 107 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 2: coating flows over his entire body. We're going to approach 108 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 2: it here as a dermal transformation because the idea of 109 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 2: a full body transformation leaves us less room to wonder 110 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 2: over the scientific details of the feet. But just the 111 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 2: idea alone has always been a captivating one, because here 112 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 2: is Peter Resputen, a powerful but peaceful man who would 113 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 2: far rather pursue art than conflict, but who for the 114 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 2: greater good can literally grow the thickest, most impenetrable skin 115 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 2: imaginable to throw down against adversity. For Colossus, this might 116 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 2: mean the grasping tentacles of Omega Red, always a favorite 117 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 2: of mine, or the machinations of the Shadow King. Once 118 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 2: the threat is dealt with, Peter reverts to his normal 119 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 2: form and continues on in his peaceful creative pursuits. Lynn 120 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 2: Ween and Dave Cockrum created Colossus back in nineteen seventy five, 121 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 2: and he remains a popular character to this day. So 122 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 2: how might we think about Colossus from a scientific and 123 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 2: biological standpoint? Turning once more to marvel Anatomy by Mark 124 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 2: Sumerac and Daniel Wallace, the authors here discuss his ability 125 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 2: in terms of a transmutation of his dermal layers or skin, 126 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 2: into an organic steel, with his underlying body retaining its 127 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 2: flesh and blood form. Their explanation details a process by 128 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 2: which each individual's skin cell draws on metallic extra dimensional 129 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 2: mass to become an activated organic steel cell. So, in 130 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 2: other words, each cell of Colossus's dermal layer coats itself 131 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 2: in biological metallic material, and this translates into the transformation 132 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 2: of the entire epidermis but at the cellular level. Thus 133 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 2: his mobility is not compromised, and his already incredible baseline 134 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:15,319 Speaker 2: strength no doubt, helps out as well. Now, by this explanation, 135 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 2: we may not be dealing exactly with something like steel 136 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,319 Speaker 2: shutters from nowhere flowing over his entire body, but that 137 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 2: metallic cellular coding has to come from somewhere if we're 138 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 2: to adhere to the law of conservation of mass. And 139 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 2: the answer they provide is that the ability draws on 140 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 2: another spatial dimension. That's where the metal comes from. And okay, 141 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 2: that works for me. Now. I also ran across an 142 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 2: excellent twenty eighteen paper in the journal Advances in Physiology 143 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 2: Education titled the Physiology of Impenetrable Skin Colossus of the 144 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 2: x Men by Barry W. Fitzgerald. His whole point is 145 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,840 Speaker 2: the Colossus is a great example of how a fictional 146 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 2: character can promote multidisciplinary se scientific discussion in a classroom. Now, 147 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 2: I'm not going to summarize everything Fitzgerald has to say, 148 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 2: but he makes some great points about Colossus and thermoregulation. Basically, 149 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 2: we have to think about what human skin does for 150 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 2: the body and how that might be impacted by a 151 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 2: shift into a steel form. One key area of concern 152 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 2: is thermoregulation of body temperature, which the skin plays a 153 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 2: role in via such responses as vasodilation, vassal constriction, and 154 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 2: of course sweating. Can Colossus his steel skin do any 155 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 2: of this well? The author here contends that his body's 156 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:43,719 Speaker 2: ability to thermo regulate would be severely impacted via this 157 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 2: steel or organic steel, or otherwise metal coating, and specifically, 158 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 2: during a heated battle, he would simply overheat. He wouldn't 159 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 2: be much good battling the Juggernaut if he passes out 160 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:00,840 Speaker 2: from overheating just a few minutes into the struggle. Fitzgerald 161 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 2: isn't here to yuck everyone's young, though with science he 162 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 2: presents a possible path forward. Perhaps he says Colossus's organic 163 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 2: steel skin is actually graphene due to its protective capability 164 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,559 Speaker 2: and its biocompatibility. It's carbon, after all, like we are, 165 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 2: and it's super thin, consisting of a single layer of 166 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:27,319 Speaker 2: atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure. This biographene honeycomb 167 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 2: lattice layer hypothesis would therefore solve a number of the 168 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 2: key problems with Peter's mutant power from thermoregulation to mass conservation, 169 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 2: the layer would swiftly form via protein folding and self assembly, 170 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 2: and bam, Colossus is ready for action. I highly recommend 171 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 2: checking out Fitzgerald's paper here of the topic interest you 172 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,119 Speaker 2: in or out of the classroom, because hey, presumably Colossus 173 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 2: is headed back into theaters and back into action this 174 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 2: summer in the next Deadpool movie, so it's a perfect 175 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:14,839 Speaker 2: time to embrace both sieians and mutant powers. Next, let's 176 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 2: consider a deeper cut with puff Adder. I recently picked 177 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 2: up a kind of ragged copy of the official Handbook 178 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 2: of the Marvel Universe Master Edition from I believe nineteen ninety, 179 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,440 Speaker 2: though this also might have been a reprint from years later. 180 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,439 Speaker 2: I'm not entirely certain, but it's filled with various Marvel 181 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 2: characters from the famous to the obscure, each with profile 182 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 2: data and standardized character illustrations in this kind of glorious 183 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,199 Speaker 2: retro style. Amid all the capes and tights, and there 184 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 2: are a lot of tights, there are some gloriously weird 185 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 2: entries in the book. There's the spiky faced skeleton man 186 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 2: terror Ink, with his ability to steal limbs and attach 187 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 2: them to his own body. I was also fascinated by 188 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 2: Quasi Modo or quasi motivational destruct organism. He is a 189 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 2: superpowered cyborg hunchback, and presumably he's quite motivational. But in 190 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 2: this episode, I want to focus in on the villain 191 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,679 Speaker 2: poff Adder real name Gordo Freeley and apparently a native 192 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 2: of Atlanta. Physically, he appears to be a very large, 193 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 2: muscular man in a snake costume. He is a mutant 194 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,320 Speaker 2: in the Marvel comics, with the ability to engorge his 195 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 2: entire epidermis with blood, thus making himself appear more powerful 196 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 2: and menacing. Now, he's already a very capable fighter with 197 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 2: enhanced strength, but it's curious that his mutant ability doesn't 198 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 2: seem to actually boost his fighting power in the way 199 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 2: that many other mutant powers do. Instead, it just allows 200 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 2: him to better bluff and better intimidate. Oh and he 201 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 2: also has another weapon, a noxious gas canister in the 202 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 2: mouth like cowl of his snake man. His namesake is, 203 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 2: of course, the puff adder snake, consisting of several species 204 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 2: native to Africa in parts of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula. 205 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 2: The snake in question is able to puff itself up 206 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 2: to look larger as a predator deterrent, and it does 207 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 2: this by inflating its body with air and then hissing loudly. 208 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 2: And like the Marvel character, the snake can also back 209 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 2: up that threat. It packs a powerful venomous bite, and 210 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 2: the force of its strikes alone is enough to kill 211 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 2: small prey. Various natural world creatures make themselves look bigger 212 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 2: as a defensive or mating display. Some the imposturing or 213 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 2: the manipulation of fur or feathers, while others actually inflate 214 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 2: tissues with air, water, or blood. These actions also frequently 215 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 2: enhance the colors or patterns of such a display as well. 216 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 2: While Gordo's mutant nobility may appear at first to buck 217 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 2: the general theme we see in comic book Superpowers, it's 218 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 2: certainly in keeping with actual real world aptations. There is 219 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 2: a survival advantage in not actually having to fight a 220 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 2: predator or competitor, and the same holds true with not 221 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 2: having to fight every x Man or avenger you encounter 222 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 2: on the pages of Marvel comics. And finally, let's comb 223 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 2: the powerful scarlet locks of Medusa unstuffable your mind. We've 224 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 2: discussed the mythical gorgon Medusa at length, But today I 225 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 2: want to look at the character with the same name 226 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 2: from the Marvel Comics universe. This Medusa is an inhuman, 227 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 2: a branch of Homo sapiens descended from experiments conducted on 228 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 2: primitive humans by the alien Cree to give them various 229 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 2: emergent powers. While other inhumans boast devastating offensive powers or 230 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 2: highly augmented physiologies, Medusa's power is all about her long 231 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 2: red hair, which she can extend to double its normal 232 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 2: six foot length, and most remarkably, of all, control each 233 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 2: strand as if it were a highly prehensile arm or tentacle. 234 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 2: She can cause her scarlet locks to bundle together into 235 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 2: reinforcing strands and accomplish everything from minor tool manipulation to 236 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 2: intense physical combat with other superpowered individuals now As the 237 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 2: excellent book Marvel Anatomy by Mark Sumarak and Daniel Wallace 238 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 2: with illustrations by Jonah Loebe points out, Medusa's hair is 239 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 2: just normal hair. It's perhaps fuller and longer than most 240 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 2: human heads of hair, but its prehensile power stems not 241 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 2: from its internal structure, which is just the standard cross 242 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 2: link kerat and protein filament, but from her own powerful 243 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 2: psionic abilities. Yes, she has telekinesis, but can only control 244 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 2: her own hair, and that's no slight against Medusa here. 245 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 2: Think about it. The average human head, according to Harvard's 246 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 2: Bio Numbers website, consists of between ninety thousand and one 247 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 2: hundred and fifty thousand individual hairs, and we might position 248 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 2: her at the upper end of that spectrum, even allotting 249 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 2: for thicker hair shafts, as Sumac and Wallace suggest, even 250 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 2: being rather conservative, Let's say she's using her brain to 251 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 2: minutely control one hundred thousand strands of hair as if 252 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 2: they were one hundred thousand additional arms. Assuming that her 253 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,959 Speaker 2: sonic powers emerged primarily through neural tissue, her brain is 254 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 2: putting in quite a lot of work here, in addition 255 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 2: to controlling her human limbs. Of course, remember that an octopus, 256 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 2: in order to control its own sophisticated system of grasping arms, 257 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,120 Speaker 2: depends in part on intramuscular nerve cords that act as 258 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 2: sort of many brains to provide partially independent action. So 259 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 2: perhaps Medusa as well benefits from something akin to this. 260 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 2: We might well assume her telekinetic powers rival those of 261 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 2: century or even those of the mighty e gene gray, 262 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 2: only much more localized in range. But if telekinetic hair 263 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 2: strand control is a heavy lift, what about the actual 264 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 2: physical lift of picking up various objects and even superheroes 265 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 2: with her telekinetically manipulated hair. This question is a good 266 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 2: bit easier to nail down, as we know exactly how 267 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 2: strong human hair is. As Tim Radford pointed out in 268 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,479 Speaker 2: a two thousand and four article for The Guardian Secrets 269 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 2: of Human Hair Unlocked at Natural History Museum in London, 270 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 2: a single human hair strand can only sustain a weight 271 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 2: of one hundred grams or three ounces, but when hair 272 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 2: is woven together, it can sustain much more, a fact 273 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 2: that hair hangar aerialists have long exploited. In fact, if 274 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,120 Speaker 2: all the strands of hair on a typical human head 275 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 2: were woven together, the resulting megabraid could hold twelve metric tons, 276 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 2: or the weight of two elephants. So the idea of 277 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,359 Speaker 2: Medusa coiling her braids and holding say iron Man in place, 278 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 2: is isn't that far fetched, at least from a material standpoint. 279 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 2: Interestingly enough, in the comics, as Queen of the Inhumans, 280 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 2: Medusa's greatest strength is perhaps her diplomatic abilities. A reminder 281 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 2: that while superpowered hair can move around superheroes, a well 282 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 2: placed word can move mountains. Tune in for additional episodes 283 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 2: of The Monster Fact, The Artifact, or Automalius Dupendium each week. 284 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 2: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 285 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 2: to Blow your Mind dot com. 286 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 287 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 288 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,879 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.