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2004 22 | On the cover gulfnews.com/tabloid Thursday, June 13, 2013 On the cover | 27 gulfnews.com/tabloid Thursday, June 13, 2013 Exploring Superman’s powers through science Superman’s abilities have evolved throughout the decades, offering readers even more thrilling adventures. But where do his powers come from and what are their full magnitude? Are there logical explanations? Let’s explore. Super hearing Super breath Super strength It has been implied that he unconsciously extends his ‘aura’ around the objects he is lifting and moving, making them lose gravity or inertia While the exact measure of his strengh is unknown, it is accepted that he can lift more than 1,000,000 tonnes, enough to carry two empty Burj Khalifas. In his adventures, he has moved Earth away from the Sun, the mass of which is approximately 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000kg (6 x 1024). Now try to say that number! His amazing strength is linked to his near-invulnerability. His bones, joints, skin and muscles are dense. They are able to resist the pressure of the objects he lifts and moves. Kryptonian lungs developed larger to efficiently extract the denser oxygen in their atmosphere. Superman can store more of Earth’s thin air in his lungs, compress it and expel it with extreme force because of his strong diaphragm muscles. This process also drops the air’s temperature, making it possible for him to blow freezing air known as freeze breath. Superman is capable of listening to a wide range of frequencies and intensities of sound, which humans aren’t able to do. He can isolate a sound, like a heartbeat, identify it and locate it, even if it is emitted far away. Super/heat vision Superman can ‘tune’ the range of his vision across the electromagnetic spectrum (radio, infrared, UV, X-rays). He can store, intensify and reflect infrared light as a direct beam. This tuning ability helps him determine heat intensity and project it at varying degrees. Radio Infrared UV X-rays Gamma rays KRYPTONIANS The sons of a red Sun TO BETTER COMPREHEND HOW KAL-EL DISPLAYS HIS INCREDIBLE ABILITIES, IT IS NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND WHERE HE COMES FROM. Krypton — according to Superman’s mythology — is a massive planet compared to Earth. Life evolved under the light of a red Sun known as Rao. The new skin Krypton The Superman suit has been redesigned to offer fans the best of the classic and the modern worlds. (Illustrative comparison from the comics) After hundreds of designs, the infamous red underwear is eliminated, it works in the comics, but not in the movies. In Supergirl #2, Lex Luthor is in possession of a new ‘Black Kryptonite’ rock given to him by Darkseid In Superman Legends #14, Superman rescues adoptive father Jonathan Kent from Bizarro in Bizarro World 2006 2005 2008 2007 Symbol used in Superman #1 Used in this year’s film ‘Man of Steel’ ‘Smallville’, the TV series which started in 2001, ends; it stars Tom Welling as young Clark kent; story focuses on Superman’s early adult life Warner Brothers releases ‘Man of Steel’, a reboot of the Superman movie franchise starring Henry Cavill as Superman; the film is directed by Zack Snyder of ‘300’ and ‘Watchmen’ fame According to astronomers, the colour of the star indicates its temperature and its age; while red ones are the coolest and oldest, the light-blue ones are the hottest and youngest. The dark blue suit is actually a high-tech fabric worn under Kryptonian armours. The ‘S’ is the emblem of the house of El, in Kryptonian, it means hope. Rao 2000 0C ‘Secret Origin’ intends to be the ‘definitive’ origin story 2010 2009 In Superman/Batman #46, a genuine Silver Kryptonite is introduced; one piece of Silver-K gets Superman high, a secondary piece restores his mind Used in ‘Superman Returns’ movie Brandon Routh stars in the film ‘Superman Returns’; movie is directed by Bryan Singer 2012 2011 A living solar battery Super flight 2013 Superman’s ability to fly is one of the most discussed topics over the years. He can control his flight to reach velocities beyond light speed (299,792km/s). Here are some theories that may ‘explain’ this miracle. The old theory: The gravity difference According to the comics, Krypton had 1,000 times more gravity. 90kg here, would be 90,000kg in the extinct planet. That could result in extreme freedom of movement. But let’s think about the astronauts in moon missions, they experienced 1/6th of the gravity of Earth and their movements were slow and awkward. POST FLASHPOINT AGE OF COMICS Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson plots real location of Superman’ planet; Krypton orbited the red dwarf star LHS 2520 in the Corvus constellation; it is 27.1 light-years from Earth In Superman #698, Superman is held inside Brainiac’s ship while Brainiac robots attack residents of New Krypton The modern speculative theory Scientists are now studying the existence of sub-atomic particles called Gravitons, which basically travel in the form of waves while carrying gravity. If Kryptonians are capable of creating gravitons, Superman would be able to ride through the waves and fly freely in any direction. Superman’s Achilles heel: Kryptonite This material is basically radioactive shards of planet Krypton generated after its explosion. Across Superman's adventures, it appeared in different colours with diverse effects. Earth Green Kryptonite This is the most common form of K, it weakens Kryptonians and its prolonged exposure could be fatal. Near invulnerability Super speed In the comic books, Superman has run steadily alongside the Flash (the fastest man alive) reaching 3,200km/s. His velocity depends on the strength of his tissues, notably his joints which can handle the friction generated by moving very fast. Plus, he has super stamina. Red Kryptonite A green K which passed through a red cloud in space. This causes random temporary personality and physical effects. From simple bullets, to the equivalent of a million nuclear warheads, Superman has survived everything in his adventures. His tough skin, his accelerated cellular repairing and his ‘aura’, that works as a force field, has been massively increased by the yellow Sun's light. The ‘aura’ is the writers excuse why Superman’s tight suit is almost never destroyed, unlike his cape. Gold Kryptonite A rare variation of K. It permanently destroys the Kryptonian’s ability to process the Sun’s energy. It means losing powers. Let’s focus now on baby Kal-El and Jor-El, his father, who sends him to the Earth before Krypton explodes. He knew where he was sending his son, a planet with a more intense Sun and protective atmosphere rich in oxygen, where the evolutionary advantages of Kryptonians could be multiplied exponentially. The natural capability of Kal-El to absorb, assimilate, metabolise and store the energy of our yellow Sun is the reason for his amazing abilities. Blue Kryptonite This is a K variation that only affects the being known as Bizarro and is completely harmless to Kryptonians. Sun 5-6000 0C 28,000 0C Krypton and Rao were closer in proximity compared to Earth and Sun (149.7m kms). Krypton’s atmosphere was thin, unlike Earth’s. That fact changed the course of their species’ evolution drastically, pushing them to adapt to greater amounts of radiation, even if Rao is ‘cooler’ than our Sun. At the peak of their evolution, the people of Krypton, thousands of years more advanced than us, developed a three level defence system against the deadly red Sun radiation: 1. A natural bioelectrical field or ‘aura’ a few millimetres around their bodies as a first line of defence. 2. A denser and more resistant skin. 3. A highly sophisticated cellularrepair system. This amazing alien race also developed the capability to absorb certain radiation from their Sun and synthesised it, this produced substances that fed them and boosted their organic functions, similar to the process of the photosynthesis in plants. They don’t need food at all to survive, the Kryptonians can be fed and powered by sunlight. Black Kryptonite The Kryptonian exposed to this strange kind of K is split into two entities. One with good personality and one with evil. Images: DC Comics, Warner Brothers, supplied ©Gulf News