Planetarion Forums

Vaio · 23 Oct 2003, 18:16

I'm watching Spiderman at the moment and i just thought. What with radiation sorta being really bad and causing all sorts of horrible things. How come Spiderman can do the web stuff and the Hulk become superstrong when they were exposed to radiation ?

Shouldn't they have constant blood running from every orrifice and the shits constantly ?

Vaio

Bunga · 23 Oct 2003, 18:17

Wasn't it a spider that was exposed to radiation which then bit Spiderman? So the spider should have the shits.

Tactitus · 23 Oct 2003, 18:21

It's fiction!

roadrunner_0 · 23 Oct 2003, 18:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tactitus

It's fiction!

i was going to do the full sad geek answer about them originally being written about before the full devastating effects of radiation were known, but then i thought that tacticus wrote a better answer

MrL_JaKiri · 23 Oct 2003, 18:34

It's the terrors of GENETIC ENGINEERING nowadays

Vaio · 23 Oct 2003, 18:35

The DVD box says 2002 on it.....

Vaio

roadrunner_0 · 23 Oct 2003, 18:35

damn! foiled again!

Bunga · 23 Oct 2003, 18:36

Written =! Filmed.

MrL_JaKiri · 23 Oct 2003, 18:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaio

The DVD box says 2002 on it.....

Vaio

The film?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

It's the terrors of GENETIC ENGINEERING nowadays

Vaio · 23 Oct 2003, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

The film?

Yes

Vaio

MrL_JaKiri · 23 Oct 2003, 18:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaio

Yes

Vaio

In which case, it's a genetically engineered spider, not a radioactive one, as I pointed out previously.

Vaio · 23 Oct 2003, 19:00

I see, I thought you were making a general criticism of genetically modified foods

Vaio

Ragnarak · 23 Oct 2003, 19:04

Stan Lee said (in the interview thing they keep showing on sky movies) that he didn't know much about science so when he needed an explanation he blamed it on 'radiation*' or 'gamma rays'** or something that sounded cool.

*hulk/spiderman/etc
**fantastic four

Marilyn Manson · 23 Oct 2003, 19:05

I'd say that it was probably a convienient explanation for 50's comic book writers to explain away everything remotely 'weird'.

Vaio · 23 Oct 2003, 19:06

Stan Lee = big silly

Vaio

MrL_JaKiri · 23 Oct 2003, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragnarak

Stan Lee said (in the interview thing they keep showing on sky movies) that he didn't know much about science so when he needed an explanation he blamed it on 'radiation*' or 'gamma rays'** or something that sounded cool.

*hulk/spiderman/etc
**fantastic four

I believe you'll find that Bruce Banner's transformation came because of not common or garden radiation, but radiation from THE GAMMA BOMB, a weapon of his own devising.

MrL_JaKiri · 23 Oct 2003, 19:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaio

Stan Lee = big silly

Vaio

All of Stan Lee's characters have alliterative names (Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, etc) because otherwise he'd forget them.

Ragnarak · 23 Oct 2003, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

All of Stan Lee's characters have alliterative names (Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, etc) because otherwise he'd forget them.

i take it you've seen the same interview

Killerbij · 23 Oct 2003, 19:11

In theory radioactivity can cause genetic mutations by breaking down genes and encouraging cross overs. Most of the time all you get is cancer.

However there is a possibility that by chance the new cell becomes better than the original. In order to effect a human being though not just 1 cell but an entire organ would need to mutate positively to notice any change. Unless that 1 cell becomes a virus and overwrites your other cells. In that case; 1 mutated cell can effect your entire body if it evades your immune system.

MrL_JaKiri · 23 Oct 2003, 19:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragnarak

i take it you've seen the same interview

The Kevin Smith one?

Ragnarak · 23 Oct 2003, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

The Kevin Smith one?

yup

Vaio · 23 Oct 2003, 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killerbij

In theory radioactivity can cause genetic mutations by breaking down genes and encouraging cross overs. Most of the time all you get is cancer.

However there is a possibility that by chance the new cell becomes better than the original. In order to effect a human being though not just 1 cell but an entire organ would need to mutate positively to notice any change. Unless that 1 cell becomes a virus and overwrites your other cells. In that case; 1 mutated cell can effect your entire body if it evades your immune system.

I theory though, for every Incredible Hulk etc you would have lots of Incredible Bleeding Men and Superrectalprolapse boys (although the RC church has a lot of them as well)

Vaio

MrL_JaKiri · 23 Oct 2003, 19:21

How do you know you don't?

They just don't get reported because they die!

Vaio · 23 Oct 2003, 19:28

I dont see Greenpeace complaining about the dumping of radioactive bodies on their website, just the usual shit about whales

Vaio

Killerbij · 23 Oct 2003, 19:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaio

I dont see Greenpeace complaining about the dumping of radioactive bodies on their website, just the usual shit about whales

Vaio

For as far as I know you can absorb quite a dosage of radiation without ever becoming radioactive. Which would explain the Greenpeace site

ChubbyChecker · 23 Oct 2003, 19:37

Stan Lee's in Mallrats.

He's a shit actor

Intrepid00 · 23 Oct 2003, 20:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaio

I'm watching Spiderman at the moment and i just thought. What with radiation sorta being really bad and causing all sorts of horrible things. How come Spiderman can do the web stuff and the Hulk become superstrong when they were exposed to radiation ?

Shouldn't they have constant blood running from every orrifice and the shits constantly ?

Vaio

What about Radioactive Man? Isn't he the most bad arse of radioactive heros?

LHC · 23 Oct 2003, 20:10

Superheros are shit

G_frog · 23 Oct 2003, 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killerbij

In theory radioactivity can cause genetic mutations by breaking down genes and encouraging cross overs. Most of the time all you get is cancer.

However there is a possibility that by chance the new cell becomes better than the original. In order to effect a human being though not just 1 cell but an entire organ would need to mutate positively to notice any change. Unless that 1 cell becomes a virus and overwrites your other cells. In that case; 1 mutated cell can effect your entire body if it evades your immune system.

Cancer is caused by a mutation, and not all (or even many) mutations are crossovers. Nor do crossovers neccesarily (or even often) cause damage.

A cell is not going to become a virus and 'overwrite other cells'; it is fantstically improbable that any kind of mutation would produce an actual virus from one cell or any part of one cell in one step by sheer chance. Nor is it likely that such a virus would be a retrovirus, which is the only kind that modifies the host genome. (Some viruses can be 'induced' by radiation; they lie dormant in the host genome wating for a signal, such as radiation damage to the cell, which causes them to activate and reproduce, killing the cell and releasing more virus particles)

In the case of cancer one damaged cell spreads and proliferates, forming tumours in new areas; it does not persuade other cells to turn cancerous.

To speak of cells becoming better is rather loose, it would be preferabler to say "better adapted". The odds against one beneficial mutation occurring throughout an organ are absolutely minimal, although a mutation very early in development might be inherited by a whole tissue or organ if it descends from one cell. Such mutations in somatic (body) cells are not passed on to the next generation though.

[/lecture]

Killerbij · 23 Oct 2003, 21:54

So much for some light spam