Superheroes are everywhere these days: TV shows, movies, games. There are even toy versions of superheroes - who didn't play with these plastic "Spider-Men" as a kid? The perfect storm for merchandising. Comics, franchises, fan forums … How incredible are superheroes? It turns out that among ordinary people, you can also find superpowers. They are rare, but they do exist.
Superheroes Among Us
As you definitely know, there are many documented cases where people have demonstrated amazing abilities such as extremely detailed memory, the perception of sound as color, or even magnetism. Usually there is a genetic explanation for all this: people with magnetism, for example, have a higher coefficient of skin friction, which allows them to attract not only metals, but also glass, plastic and wood.
Liam Hoekstra, the strongest child in the world, was able to pull up as early as 8 months His body did not make myostatin, a gene that suppresses muscle growth. Without this, there is no limitation for muscle development, which leads to real super strength.
Other superpowers enhance certain feelings to a certain extent. Common to many artists and musicians, synesthesia is when the perception of one feeling leads to the perception of another. For example, you can always "see" a certain letter in a certain color. Many people with synesthesia also have chromaesthesia, which allows them to perceive sound as color.
Some super powers can even be purchased. Echolocation, for example, is the ability to sense the location of objects in space by detecting the sound that bounces off them. Bats and dolphins have this ability, and so do some people. Ben Underwood learned to echolocate for football, basketball, skateboarding and rollerblading without using his eyes at all. People can also learn to regulate their body temperature through the tummo meditation method. Wim Hof, known as the Bigfoot, learned this and climbed Mont Blanc in shorts, using tummo techniques to keep warm.
So people can be really cool. But here's the scary thing: wherever superheroes are, there are supervillains. What happens when clandestine gene editing picks up steam? What happens when private enterprises like pharmaceutical companies get the technology to create and manufacture super powers?
Promotional video:
Ilya Khel
