Supers In The News

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

An occasional thread for capery crossovers to our reality.

 

To kick off: Tufts University researchers have accidentally created… web fluid. Spider silk, based on fibroin proteins, is an incredible material which nerds around the world study for its tensile strength . But the ones used in labs used to take several hours to solidify. 
 

Then one day an assistant prof had been making proteins with a dopamine base, then cleaned his gear with acetone and forgotten to rinse it. 
 

The presence of these two chemicals caused the fibroin to harden instantly, overcoming years of engineering puzzles. Typically enough, the nerds then immediately worked out how to fire, spin and mix this stuff under light pressure, creating webshooters. The lines can already grab and pick up items 80 times their own weight, though there’s a way to go to match spider silk or supporting Tom Holland.

 

https://now.tufts.edu/2024/10/10/inspired-spider-man-lab-recreates-web-slinging-technology

 

 

Edited November 14, 2024 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Cape News from Italy:

 

It’s often thought that you can inspire people to do good deeds of their own. But can you test for that - and who should do the inspiring?

A technical term for this is prosocial behaviour: the small (or sometimes large) things people do, whatever the reason, that benefit other people or society as a whole. Francesco Pagnini at Sacred Heart University observed how often people on the Milan Metro gave up their seats to a heavily pregnant woman - in control state, 38%.
 

Then, this guy shows up.

 

So when a guy in a full Batman rig was observing, 68% of the time someone gave up their seats - but almost half of those who did didn’t remember seeing him at all.

 

There are two fairly sensible things Prof. Pagnini concluded from this fun little experiment:

• Unexpected events can jerk people out of their small, self-absorbed world (in this case, doomscroll or tube-zombie states) to become more active participants in the world, and attuned to the social cues and needs of others.
• The appearance of someone known for good deeds, even if they take no action themselves, can "prime" people towards prosocial behaviour.

 

https://en.ilsole24ore.com/art/batman-effect-only-superhero-view-makes-us-more-altruistic-AH1WzerD

 

Edited Sunday at 09:43 AM by ThaOGDreamWeaver