Thoughts on implied super-speed due to super-strength alone

[RedSunOfKrypton]

Typical neural impulses are about a billion EV, so our own nerves typically amplify the incoming signal by a factor of up to a billion times.

Does this mean that lights are only 1 billionth as bright as we see them, or did I misunderstand?

[Captain Kal]

*Ugh!*  I messed up on the positive/negative mass business.  The positive mass scoots away and the negative one chases after it.

A mirror reflects light due to the electrons in it vibrating in phase with the incoming lightwaves.

See link:
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=00065368-3CAE-1C71-84A9809EC588EF21&catID=3&topicID=13

I was actually thinking along the lines of Newton's 'equal and opposite reaction' here.  The only thing that could disrupt a neg/pos mass construct was something acting on it faster than the reaction time of the forces within it.  So, two Earth mass equivalents of both masses parked near to each other would need to be acted upon faster than 1 G or 9.8 m/sec.  Anything acting slower than that and the system completely neutralizes the imposing force like an infinite mass object.

Re: retinal reaction to light, we don't amplify the light itself a billion times.  That's only the reaction of our neural rods to photons.  The light itself isn't being amplified,  only converted into a neurochemical impulse that's about a billion times higher than the impinging light.  Think of it like a TV cable signal booster that takes a weakening signal and amps it to get it to the next point.  Our neurons serve to amplify and conduct signals to our brains in much the the same way as transistors amplify and conduct signals in an electronic device.

[ManSinha]

Re: retinal reaction to light, we don't amplify the light itself a billion times. That's only the reaction of our neural rods to photons. The light itself isn't being amplified, only converted into a neurochemical impulse that's about a billion times higher than the impinging light.

But, in a sense, isn't that comparing apples to oranges, unless of course you are referring to the fact that the common denominator in both cases is electricity.

[Captain Kal]

RedSun was asking if the light we see is actually a billion times dimmer than we perceive it.  Quick answer is no.  The more complete answer as to why it's 'no' is in my last post.

FYI, our own neurons are somewhat less efficient than artificial devices for energy usage.  That same switching capability is theoretically possible using only a mere 100 EV for a nanotech device instead of organic neurons which use a billion EV.  In both cases, the impinging light is the same but the signal created to send to the brain is vastly different.

So, getting back to ManSinha's original point, our neurons already can handle about a billion times the energy of the impinging photons so reversing the mechanism shouldn't burn things out.

IMHO.

[RedSunOfKrypton]

So if humans did successfully (somehow, work with me here ) reverse their vision to an active mode, how potentially bright would the light they released be?

[Captain Kal]

It would be a max of about 23 or so watts.

Rationale:

240 million retinal neurons x max of 600 impulses/sec x 1 billion EV/impulse x 1.60219e-12 erg/EV / 1e7 (to convert ergs to joules aka watts/sec) = 23.07 watts/sec aka joules

For comparison, a typical human punch packs about 60 joules.

For a powered Kryptonian, we amp that by the strength factor.  A typical super-punch packs at least a million sun-power secs or enough to shatter the Earth.  The ratio between that and a normal punch is about 6.22e30.  Multiply that factor by the 23 watts noted above for normal humans and we get 1.43e32 watts or about 372 thousand sun-power secs for heat vision.  This conservative limit jibes with the Pre Crisis books.

[llozymandias]

the silver-age superman's heat vision was powerful enough to make stars go nova or super-nova.  and he was never shown to have used that ability at literally full power.  it took heat that was at least 3 times as powerful as his heat vision at full power to burn him.  this is why pre-crisis warworld never worked for me.  as described by starlin it came across as less powerful than superman.  it had had lasers & missiles powerful enough to destroy planets.  unless those weapons used kryptonite or magic (or one of kal's other weaknesses) they should not have been able to harm him.

[ManSinha]

So, he could have theoretically, seriously harmed an opponent like Doomsday, Pre-Crisis