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

[Captain Kal]

I like Maggin's 'active mode' of Superman's super-senses esp. his sight mentioned in Superman: Miracle Monday.  I remember an old S.F. novel I read where the protagonist was artificially evolved via time travel into a future man; his senses had both a passive and active aspect as a result so his eyes could project light, illusions, or darken a room (via precisely countering the ambient light waves), and his ears could project sounds in a way similar to super-ventriloquism.

I'd like to further extrapolate that this active mode enables him to perform time symmetric reactions in his physiology.  In real life, our bodies can reverse the respiration of glucose into carbon dioxide and water by duplicating the dark cycle of photosynthesis to regenerate the glucose albeit at the expense of energy resources elsewhere in the tissues.  I'd like to think that Kryptonians can do so for a much wider variety -- maybe all of their biochemistry -- of reactions so the normal breakdown of retinal chemicals by light to trigger retinal nerve impulses could be reversed so that neural impulses from the brain are triggering the production of the corresponding photons in his eyes.  This would mean he can project anything that he can passively see.  We know this to be the case for at least heat and X-rays, and on at least one occasion -- Pre Crisis -- he's 'lengthened the wavelength' of his X-ray vision to illuminate a dark area with visible light.  Post Crisis, he's produced blinding flashes of visible light as a corollary of his heat vision on two occasions.

Given practice and skill, he should be able to go beyond random photon projections and coherent, laser-like beams to full holographic projections of completely realistic proportions.

[Captain Kal]

BTW, RedSunofKrypton, I posted this thread since your Flash simulated super-powers thread triggered this for me.

I've long believed that any singular power implies a host of corollary side-effect powers.  They wouldn't only be wholly dependent on the single true super-power but they'd tend to be less versatile and/or powerful than an independent version of that same power.

So far, we've covered side-effect super-strength resulting from true super-speed in your thread, and side-effect super-speed resulting from true super-strength.  Note that the side-effect versions of these powers are not a match for the real McCoy in both instances.

[RedSunOfKrypton]

Off Topic: for the sake of convenience you can call me Red or Redsun if you like

On topic sort of: I have a question about your "reverse chem reaction" source of heatvision, how would the output of reversing the visual chem reaction of sight be more powerful than the input version? I mean, how would he "rebuild" (as opposed to breakdown) his chemicals "more powerfully" to emit brighter light than he saw?

On Topic:

I've long believed that any singular power implies a host of corollary side-effect powers. They wouldn't only be wholly dependent on the single true super-power but they'd tend to be less versatile and/or powerful than an independent version of that same power.

I agree with that.

Note that the side-effect versions of these powers are not a match for the real McCoy in both instances.

So noted.

[Captain Kal]

We are dealing with super-enhanced Kryptonian physiology here.  His reception powers of vision already amplify things to incredible levels.  It stands to reason that he could also amplify his output beyond what he passively sees.

Hey, on another level, he's already amplifying his energy levels and output far beyond what he takes in from solar power.

It all holds together consistently -- just like real science -- so that makes it that much more believable.

Note that this doesn't invoke anything really out of canon, only exploiting what's published combined with real world science and extrapolated from that. (Heat vision was an extrapolation from the original passive X-ray vision power.)

[BTW, I divide my time posting here and on this site http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=6337.  If you want comics discussions beyond just Superman related stuff, check that place out.  Either way, I'm always posting on Great Rao's site here.]

[RedSunOfKrypton]

I wasn't disputing your facts, I was just curious as to how the mechanism would actually work to generate that much energy. For instance, wouldn't he need to convert a lot more "infra"-rodopsin to generate that much heat? Or is the output not based on the ammount being converted, but some other factor instead?

All I'm getting from that link is a blank page, is the server down or something?

[Captain Kal]

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=6337

Try it again above.  I just tested it.

I see what you mean.  I suppose the amount of energy generated is not proportional to the amount of chemicals involved.  Surely a gram of Kryptonian glucose doesn't yield a paltry 4.18 kcal but a transfinite amount of energy.  The very chemical bonds in Kryptonian matter are likewise amped so what was a mere 0.025 EV van der Waals bond when normal becomes something strong enough to take nukes and supernovae.

That reminds me I have to post some more corollary powers re: energy dampening for uber-levels implied.

[Streaky2]

Fun thread!  But, I have to take issue with the Captain's speed ratio.  The speed of a nerve impulse only affects the rate at which force is applied, it does not directly influence the organism's speed.  A hero with the required superstrength can exceed 1/12th the speed of light, even with a normal reaction time.  With sufficient strength, one "super-jump" would be all that's required to aproach the speed of light.  Repeated application of force would be unnecessary.

[ManSinha]

With sufficient strength, one "super-jump" would be all that's required to aproach the speed of light. Repeated application of force would be unnecessary.

I wonder about that; remember even with Superstrength, there is still the air friction slowing him down. In space however, it would be closer to what you postulate. I am referencing the DC comics Presents issue with Superman and the Spectre which deals with Kara's runaway limp form after smashing into WarWorld. She was going at such speeds even unconscious that she had reached the very end of space/time, nigh the end of existence before Kal-El got to her and hence the intervention of the Spectre.