Super speed would be awesome. You could dodge bullets. You could punch so quickly that your fists would achieve near infinite mass. You could run to Italy for a pasta dinner for every meal. But this is the idealized vision of moving at extreme velocities. If you consider what would actually happen to your body and mind at the speeds The Flash and other speedsters are capable of, I don’t think you’d ever want this power
Much like we did with super strength in a previous episode, my latest episode of Because Science is taking the comics, TV shows, and movies seriously, digging into the physics of moving fast enough that Einstein would want to study you. The perils of this power come down to three main points: heat, acceleration, and location. For example, if you could moving through the atmosphere faster than a meteorite (and with less mass), what do you really think would happen to you?
But maybe the biggest problem with super speed, if you are traveling at appreciable fractions of the speed of light, is that you wouldn’t be able to use it anywhere. Not even in empty space. You’ll have to watch my latest episode to find out why!
After you watch the new episode, check out my last video on what space war might really look like, buy a Because Science shirt, mug, hat, or collectible pin, and follow me on Twitter to give me a suggestion for the next episode or on Instagram. Want Because Science days before anyone else? Subscribe to Alpha for early access to the show and peep my premium show The S.P.A.A.C.E. Program!
