WEBVTT - Could Sonic the Hedgehog Survive His Own Speeds?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. When it comes to

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<v Speaker 1>fictional animals capable of breaking the sound barrier, there's no

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<v Speaker 1>beating Sonic the hedgehog. But would he be able to

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<v Speaker 1>survive his own super swiftness. Sonic is the star of

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<v Speaker 1>the long running Sega video game franchise and now a

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<v Speaker 1>movie wherein he spins and rolls at breakneck speeds in

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<v Speaker 1>order to defeat the evil doctor robot Nick. So how

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<v Speaker 1>fast do Sonic go? As his name implies, he reaches

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<v Speaker 1>sonic speeds, meaning that he can travel as fast as

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<v Speaker 1>a sound wave through Earth's atmosphere, which is roughly seven

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty seven miles per hour or one thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred and thirty five kilometers per hour depending on

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<v Speaker 1>air temperature. He also goes supersonic under the right circumstances,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's probably safe to assume that he exceeds the

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<v Speaker 1>speed of sound as well. That's incredibly fast. Most hedgehogs

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<v Speaker 1>do get around. They're extremely active in the wild and

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<v Speaker 1>often run several miles each night, which are regular hedgehog

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<v Speaker 1>business hours, but sonic speeds are much faster. Consider that

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<v Speaker 1>the world's fastest organism, the Peregrine falcon, only reaches a

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<v Speaker 1>maximum speed of about two hundred miles per hour or

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<v Speaker 1>three kilometers first sustained speeds. The Cheetah is Sonic's closest rival,

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<v Speaker 1>at a mere seventy miles per hour or a d

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<v Speaker 1>ten kilometers. Sonic smokes them both. So could Sonic realistically

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<v Speaker 1>handle supersonic speeds. Let's think about it. Humans routinely break

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<v Speaker 1>the sound barrier in supersonic aircraft. Aboard the now discontinued Concorde,

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<v Speaker 1>passengers could even enjoy an in flight meal. But this

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<v Speaker 1>is all within the artificial confines of an airplane. All

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<v Speaker 1>Sonic has is his own body. His body would have

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<v Speaker 1>to be incredibly strong and durable to achieve and survive

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<v Speaker 1>the wear and tear of supersonic speeds, even if he's

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<v Speaker 1>rolling through smooth tubes and shoots half the time at

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<v Speaker 1>those speeds, small particles of dust and even the air

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<v Speaker 1>itself could cause serious damage. As author James Cacallios points

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<v Speaker 1>out in the Physics of Superheroes, a super fast organism

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<v Speaker 1>like the Flash would need superhaling abilities to rapidly recover

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<v Speaker 1>from the physical damage of each acceleration, to say nothing

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<v Speaker 1>of smashing into things. The same goes for sonic. But

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<v Speaker 1>then again, if we're to assume that sonic species evolved

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<v Speaker 1>to reach such high speeds, he must be sturdy enough

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<v Speaker 1>to survive it, at least in the short term. So

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps he does have the sort of enhanced healing speeds

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<v Speaker 1>necessary to keep all his bones and ligaments from snapping.

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<v Speaker 1>As pointed out by Duke Universities patech Labs, various animals

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<v Speaker 1>are capable of incredible speeds when it comes to parts

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<v Speaker 1>of their anatomy, such as the mantis shrimps three millisecond

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<v Speaker 1>club strikes. There's even a hypothesis that prehistoric sauropods could

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<v Speaker 1>have whipped their tails at sonic speed like a bull whip,

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<v Speaker 1>but that remains rather controversial, and maybe we're being too

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<v Speaker 1>hard on sonic. He's a blue hedgehog that chases coins

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<v Speaker 1>across a pinball landscape and in later games achieves faster

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<v Speaker 1>than light travel. Plus he's still going strong after almost

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<v Speaker 1>thirty years, which for a hedgehog is almost as impressive

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<v Speaker 1>as that speed. Today's episode was written by Robert Lamb

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler clang. For more on this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other specific topics, visit how stuffworks dot com.

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