Super Hero Science - 04 - HD

ZekeStaright

o(^-^)d

Dan Shive

https://www.patreon.com/posts/super-hero-03-hd-28462188

Dan Merget

I think a spring would be a better model than a non-Newtonian fluid. When you push a spring, it offers little resistance at first. The more you deflect it, the more force you need to deflect it further (F=kx for ideal springs). Human flesh is similar: you can pinch or grab the flesh on your arm or stomach to an extent, but if you try to stretch it out like play-doh, you'll find that the required force increases rapidly after a point. For nigh-invulnerable superhumans, that increase presumably gets a lot more exponential. So a high-speed camera of a bullet hitting the superhuman's flesh might show the flesh deflecting normally for maybe the first half-inch or so, but then the bullet hits rapidly-increasing resistance until it bounces off. Anyone applying a reasonable non-threatening amount of force wouldn't reach that point, so they can't tell the difference between the superhuman and a baseline human.

ZekeStaright

Did I miss page 3?

Wild Card

My first thought at "knife shattering against a breast that can still jiggle" was "must be Power Girl".

The Death Battle series is just something RT uses to print money from nothing but nerd rage.

Kyman201

Ah, comic book analysis. Where some people try to apply real-world physics and math to a medium written by people who don't understand either of those things. Fun as a thought experiment but really, not something that should be seriously analyzed. And THAT is the main problem with the Death Battle Series.

jubs

Yeah, it'd probably still cause a massive shock to the body, but the penetration would be very limited I think. Sounds interesting, must look into this material. EDIT: Checked some scientific sources, seems like tests done with graphene weave that's one atom thick and with 10 to 100 layers has been tested against micrometer sized glass "bullets" flying at about 3 km/s to study how exactly they absorb the energy, and so far they gathered that graphene could perform up to twice as well as Kevlar (for the same weight). So not quite such a miracle material based on those sources, but still good.

Daryl Sawyer

If it's that flexible, wouldn't the bullet launch it into the skin? Obviously, you'd have to have a reception layer underneath it.

M.

Justin's smirk in that last panel is perfect. :)

Drago Whooves

Perhaps it is some kind of telekinetic shield, a barrier around the skin that absorbs kinetic energy?

Willingness and naturural reaction may come into play more than realized with superhumans... obviously, it’s convenient plot holes left unquestioned and suspension of disbelief, but another aspect entirely coupd be the following scenario; a super being with invulnerability or impervious skin with another person that touches them, the willingness and awareness would allow their skin and muscles to react “normally” when touched, but a self defense mechanism that toughens the skin when qttemted to be shot or stabbed, would cause deflection, because there isn’t any willingness behind it

W C Purdy

watched a video a while back about a new thing they're using for body armor called graphene weave. It's basically a miracle material that can stop bullets with a sheet only a few MOLECULES thick, and it's flexible enough to be sewn into normal, everyday clothing, or even installed subdermally. The only drawback is that it conducts electricity like a mofo. If they had skin with those properties, but it were somehow insulated against electicity, then you'd basically be a fully functional, bendy human with all the squishy bits, but you'd also be completely bulletproof.

Jared Fattmann

Honestly I had this reaction to the bullet to the eyeball bit in Superman Returns. Invulnerability is all well and good, but just... diamond hard corneas? That's ridiculous.

Fairportfan

There's a bit in "Wapsi Square" where Jin - who at that point is both somewhat crazy and would survive a nuclear blast - stabs her wrist with a carving knife like a suicide attempt, and it just sort of curls up. {She's very strong, too}