Like Writing Nothing At All

I realized that blogs usually have a central topic: food, movies, games, hobbies... In fact people seem to just talk about themselves. But I don't like that... So what is my blog about? Well, if I keep on writing maybe I'll find out one day...

Did You Know...

I'm a total dweeb. The kind that likes games, cartoons, comics, and stories. 

I like playing League of Legends. I love reading the lore and trivia for each character. All 104 of them.

I like the Lord of The Rings movies. The idea of having a day to marathon the extended versions sounds fantastic.

Yep, I'm that kind of person. The ones who really get into the stuff they like. So I figured I'd share some of my useless (but interesting!) knowledge of some popular super heroes.

Superman Has More Than One Weakness

Superman is fast, invulnerable, flies, has super strength, x-ray vision, heat vision, superhuman hearing, super smell, super healing, longevity, genius level intellect... how are you even supposed to have a story when your protagonist is the most powerful living thing on earth? In the solar system? In the galaxy? 

You already knew the answer. Kryponite. But plots get old when a villain uses the same old gimmick. And it's fun to see our hero cut loose once in a while. So how can we possibly defeat Superman without taking away his powers?

No, Superman is immune to charms.

Use magic. That's right. Superman is weak to magic because it doesn't follow the laws of physics. Which makes sense because magic is extra-dimensional, and chaotic, and well... magical.

So maybe you saw magic coming. A bit obvious when you think about it. But how about this: Superman's powers come from yellow sun radiation. Which means he can run out of energy if he doesn't recharge for extended periods of time. It's not a weakness you see often, since he spends most of his time on Earth. But he does go off into space from time to time.

Oh, he's also weak to mind control. But then again who isn't.

Iron Man Has Issues

Imagine what being Iron Man is like. You're a billionaire, you get to fly around in a cool suit, you're a genius, you're popular and you don't even have to hide your identity. No one dares to attack you at home or hurt your friends because you're a billionaire who owns a weapons company. Everyone knows not to mess with Iron Man. Life is sweet. 

Except you're an alcoholic. You've been struggling with it for years. You've been living with immense guilt every since you almost killed an innocent bystander while piloting the Iron Man suit while drunk.

Also, your parents died in a car crash (like Batman!) while you were young and your father was such an influential figure that you can't help but live in his shadow. 

The Flash Is One Slippery Son of A Bitch

Yeah, the flash isn't that popular. His back story isn't mainstream and people don't even really know his secret identity... but they do know they he goes fast!

But not as fast as tickets sold out for the all time holiday blockbuster smash hit Jingle All The Way.

But all that moving around causes friction. Friction happens when surfaces slide against each other. The human body can't help but rub against itself while running (Go ahead and try, you'll look like a lizard). You know what else has multiple surfaces? Air molecules. They surround you and you're always colliding and rubbing against them. Though you can't feel it, you're constantly creating friction with the air. Friction produces heat. That's why your hands get warm when you rub them together. Produce enough heat and you basically get fire. 

So what's stopping The Flash from rubbing against everything and combusting into a ball of flame every time he uses his super speed? You probably guessed it: 

His body doesn't create friction while he's using his powers.

Friction is required to pick things up and keep things in place. Greasy things are more difficult to hold onto because of the lack of friction and resistance their surface offers. But no matter how little, these things still offer some bit of resistance. Now imagine something that offered nothing at all. 

Nothing at all.

Nothing at all.

Speaking of Combustion...

Many of you will recognize this guy.

It's Ken, from Street Fighter! What do I have to say about Ken? I'm going to give a scientific explanation for how he does his flaming dragon punch.

Before I start, let me apologize for oversimplifying and bastardizing the way combustion actually works. With that out of the way, let the blasphemy begin!

Remember what I said about friction, air molecules, and heat? All matter is held together by bonds - electrostatic forces of attraction between opposite charges.  In order to break a bond, you must put in at least the same amount of energy that is being used to hold that bond together. Think about a 50 lb ball sitting on the ground. To separate the ball from the ground, you must apply at least 50lb pounds of upward force. In a sense you're "breaking the bond" between the ball and the ground. Same basic idea.

One way of transferring energy is through collisions. A watermelon takes a certain amount of energy to move. You punch it with enough force, it will go flying. Same idea here, but with air molecules.

So here is what happens: Ken punches and his fist transfers its energy into the molecules in the air. Gaseous molecules move around really easily, so Ken would have to be punching impossibly fast and hard (no wonder it has such good priority). This transfer of energy causes the bonds of the air molecules to break, releasing energy in the form of heat. The friction also causes Ken's fist raise in temperature until it reaches the point where it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in air. 

The oxygen in the air now reactions with Ken's fist (which has become the fuel for combustion), and the heat to create fire.

And that's how you do a flaming dragon punch. All you have to do is punch really hard and really fast. Go try it out!