The SciFi.com Sci Fi Tech blog has posted a cool article that gives brief looks at technology that mimics the powers of popular superheroes.
Of course the article starts off with Spider-Man and mentions the Synthetic Gecko technology that was in the news a few months back. While it sounds cool, scientists are still struggling with a way to mass produce the stuff. The Spider-Man entry also mentions the Bio-Steel that mimics spider-silk and can be extracted from goat’s milk when Spider DNA is injected into the goat.
The article goes on spotlight tech ways to mimic a few of the powers of Superman, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, Captain America, Iron Man, and Wolverine.
The funniest entry has to be the TAM Rocket Belt under the Superman entry. Visit the TAM site and you’ll see marketing brilliance at its best. I love the last paragraph:
TAM is the only company in the world that produces a complete turn-key package of a flying rocket belt, custom-made to the pilot’s weight and body size. (up to 300 lbs. / 136 Kg). We use the most advanced technology and aerospace materials , including:
1. A fully-tested, custom-made flying rocket belt,
2. This belt has been proved to be the most stable design and easier to fly
3. A special machine to make our own unlimited supply of rocket fuel
4. Hands-on training in the process and the equipment
5. Flight training of 10 flights in your own rocket belt
6. Maintenance and setup training
7. 24/7 expert support
8. Housing and food are included during trainingThe total price for all this is only $250,000 usd.
If you’re interested in recourping your investement, you can make a lot of money flying this machine in special events, promotions, advertising, elections campaigns, concerts, movies, TV commercials etc.
The entire site is full of shady sounding dialog, quotes and inconsistencies. In the quote above, there are 2 misspelled words. Dig around and you’ll see what I mean.