WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Marvel's Colossus

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lammin. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been plowing through old episodes of The X Men,

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<v Speaker 2>the animated series from the nineties with my son in

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<v Speaker 2>anticipation of eventually diving into the X Men ninety seven series.

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<v Speaker 2>This show is a lot of fun, packs a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of nostalgia for me, and leads to some interesting conversations

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<v Speaker 2>with my son about the various themes. Some of our

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<v Speaker 2>favorite characters include Rogue and Wolverine, but Colossus is always

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<v Speaker 2>a treat as well. If you're not familiar with this

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<v Speaker 2>particular mutant, we're talking about Russian X Men Peter Resputant,

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<v Speaker 2>an already intimidatingly muscular man and who is able at

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<v Speaker 2>will to assume an impenetrable steel form. Sometimes, as in

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<v Speaker 2>his Marvel dot Com profile, Colossus's transformation is said to

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<v Speaker 2>convert his entire body into an organic steel like substance.

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<v Speaker 2>Other times, the transformation is interpreted as something that occurs

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<v Speaker 2>only at the dermal level, so only at the skin level.

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<v Speaker 2>Either way, the transformation generally looks as if a segmented

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<v Speaker 2>stainless steel coating flows over his entire body. We're going

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<v Speaker 2>to approach it here as a dermal transformation because the

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<v Speaker 2>idea of a full body transformation leaves us less room

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<v Speaker 2>to wonder over the scientific details of the feet. But

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<v Speaker 2>just the idea alone has always been a captivating one

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<v Speaker 2>because here is Peter Resputen, a powerful but peaceful man

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<v Speaker 2>who would far rather pursue art than conflict, but who

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<v Speaker 2>for the greater good can literally grow the thickest, most

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<v Speaker 2>impenetrable skin imaginable to throw down against adversity. For Colossus,

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<v Speaker 2>this might mean the grasping tentacles v Omega Red, always

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<v Speaker 2>a favorite of mine, or the machinations of the Shadow King.

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<v Speaker 2>Once the threat is dealt with, Peter reverts to his

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<v Speaker 2>normal form and continues on in his peaceful, creative pursuits.

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<v Speaker 2>Lynn Ween and Dave Cockrum created Colossus back in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>seventy five, and he remains a popular character to this day.

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<v Speaker 2>So how might we think about Colossus from a scientific

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<v Speaker 2>and biological standpoint? Turning once more to marvel anatomy by

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<v Speaker 2>Mark Sumerac and Daniel Wallace. The authors here discuss his

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<v Speaker 2>ability in terms of a transmutation of his dermal layers

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<v Speaker 2>or skin into an organic steel, with his underlying body

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<v Speaker 2>retaining its flesh and blood form. Their explanation details a

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<v Speaker 2>process by which each individual's skin cell draws on metallic

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<v Speaker 2>extra dimensional mass to become an activated organic steel cell. So,

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<v Speaker 2>in other words, each cell of Colossus's dermal layer coats

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<v Speaker 2>itself in biological metallic material, and this translates into the

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<v Speaker 2>transformation of the entire epidermis, but at the cellular level. Thus,

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<v Speaker 2>his mobility is not compromised, and his already incredible baseline

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<v Speaker 2>strength no doubt helps out as well. Now, by this explanation,

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<v Speaker 2>we may not be dealing exactly with something like steel

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<v Speaker 2>shutters from nowhere flowing over his entire body, but that

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<v Speaker 2>metallic cellular coating has to come from somewhere if we're

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<v Speaker 2>to adhere to the law of conservation of mass. And

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<v Speaker 2>the answer they provide is that the ability draws on

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<v Speaker 2>another spatial dimension. That's where the metal comes from. And okay,

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<v Speaker 2>that works for me. Now. I also ran across an

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<v Speaker 2>excellent twenty eighteen paper in the journal Advances in Physiology

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<v Speaker 2>Education titled The Physiology of Impenetrable Skin and Colossus of

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<v Speaker 2>the x Men by Barry W. Fitzgerald. His whole point

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<v Speaker 2>is that Colossus is a great example of how a

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<v Speaker 2>fictional character can promote multidisciplinary scientific discussion in a classroom. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not going to summarize everything Fitzgerald has to say,

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<v Speaker 2>but he makes some great points about Colossus and thermoregulation. Basically,

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<v Speaker 2>we have to think about what human skin does for

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<v Speaker 2>the body and how that might be impacted by a

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<v Speaker 2>shift into a steel form. One key area of concern

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<v Speaker 2>is thermoregulation of body temperature, which the skin plays a

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<v Speaker 2>role in via such responses as vasodilation, vaso constriction, and

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<v Speaker 2>of course sweating. Can Colossus's steel skin do any of

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<v Speaker 2>this well? The author here contends that his body's ability

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<v Speaker 2>to thermo regulate would be severely impacted via this steel

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<v Speaker 2>or organic steel or otherwise metal coating, and specifically, during

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<v Speaker 2>a heated battle, he would simply overheat. He wouldn't be

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<v Speaker 2>much good battling the Juggernaut if he passes out from

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<v Speaker 2>overheating just a few minutes into the struggle. Fitzgerald isn't

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<v Speaker 2>here to yuck everyone's young, though with science he presents

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<v Speaker 2>a possible path forward. Perhaps he says Colossus's organic steel

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<v Speaker 2>skin is actually graphene due to its protective capability and

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<v Speaker 2>its biocompatibility. It's carbon after all, like we are, and

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<v Speaker 2>it's super thin, consisting of a single layer of atoms

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<v Speaker 2>arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure. This biographine honeycomb lattice

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<v Speaker 2>layer hypothesis would therefore solve a number of the key

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<v Speaker 2>problems with Peter's mutant power, from thermoregulation to mass conservation.

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<v Speaker 2>The layer would swiftly form via protein folding and self assembly,

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<v Speaker 2>and bam, Colossus is ready for action. I highly recommend

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<v Speaker 2>checking out Fitzgerald's paper here of the topic in or

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<v Speaker 2>out of the classroom, because hey, presumably Colossus is headed

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<v Speaker 2>back into theaters and back into action this summer in

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<v Speaker 2>the next Deadpool movie, so it's a perfect time to

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<v Speaker 2>embrace both science and mutant powers. Tune in for additional

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<v Speaker 2>episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always, you

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<v Speaker 2>can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your

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<v Speaker 2>Mind dot com.

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