Friday, July 07, 2006

Entry: The physics of Superman

The physics of Superman mostly belong in the realm of comic books, but some scientists decided to give their input on the matter. The article tells of a scientific experiment in which a researcher put several chickens in a centrifuge and raised them in twice-normal gravity for months at a time. When they emerged, the chickens were stronger and had larger bones and muscles, and greater endurance. In other words, they were superchickens.

Now why couldn't I have been raised in a centrifuge?!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering if this could be used for athletic training. Would it be equivalent to steroid use? Or just a new form of exercise?

Anonymous said...

I've known this for years. Goku and Vegita trained in 50 times gravity and it made them much stronger! If it happens in a cartoon it must be true. Right...

right?

Jason C. Miller said...

Hmm....for training purposes. Honestly, I think it would be detrimental to the athlete. Remember that these chickens were born and raised in the (n)g environment. Their bones, blood vessels, and just about everything else developed taking that extra gravity into account. Something tells me that someone who's body developed in a 1g environment decided to train like that for prolonged periods of time, their musculature would increase but there would be detrimental effects to the other systems.

Then again...if Goku can do it, anybody can!! :)