Introductory Superhuman Physics, Period 4 [9-16]

[notanactualfairy]

"Good afternoon," Jean-Paul announced. "Housekeeping: your syllabus is on your desk. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. I will be holding office hours on Wednesdays if you would like to speak to me more privately about anything. Now." He clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "Down to business. Today's topic: Flight. No wings. Flight with wings will be next week, and if any of you have wings I have not noticed yet, please speak to me after class or in my office hours. Or if you know someone with wings who might be willing to provide a practical demonstration, please send them my way. Additionally, lest you think I am quite mad for suggesting one of you might have wings I have not noticed, I know a man with a twenty-foot wingspan who can fold them down to be unseen under a suit jacket. But I digress.

"Last week we discussed gravity. Gravity is critical. It keeps the Earth in orbit, and keeps us all from flying off into space by simple dint of jumping." Jean-Paul, whose feet were on the ground for once, jumped up once and came back down to demonstrate. "To work against gravity, most people must exert force via their muscles. And yet..." he slowly rose until his feet were a good two feet off the ground. "I, and some of you, can act against gravity by doing this. Your assignment for the day is to break up into groups and discuss how this is possible. There are no wrong answers; scientists have been arguing over this for years. However, do please try to use logic and what you know of physics in formulating your hypotheses."

Comments

Discuss

[notanactualfairy]

Break up into pairs and discuss how someone might be able to fly without wings.

Re: Discuss

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

Gavin was waiting for a partner while trying to figure out how in the hell people flew like that.

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[momslilassassin]

"I stick to starfighters, generally," Ben said with a smile.

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[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"You and me both," Gavin laughed. "I think I'd fly into things if I could fly."

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[momslilassassin]

"And that would just be embarrassing," Ben agreed. "I don't know why Jedi can't fly other than by God, they have to draw the line somewhere. I imagine it's faster in a ship. Fewer bugs in your teeth, too."

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[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Seriously," Gavin agreed, making a face. "And if someone shoots you in a ship, at least you've got some protection."

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[momslilassassin]

"I guess you could wear some kind of outfit to fix that?" Ben said. "But then you have to factor that into the gravitational pull on you."

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[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, you keep adding stuff on, it's going to weigh you down unless you've got some superhuman suit thing," Gavin decided.

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[momslilassassin]

"Possibly with your underwear on the outside of your pants," Ben said, eyes wide.

Someone had discovered cartoons.

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[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo was still sketching flying people, and a little absorbed in the task, thus making herself a prime target for being singled out for a partner exercise. Whether or not that was what she wanted.

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[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy shuffled over to a potential partner, waving vaguely. "Hi."

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[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo didn't say anything right away, instead just turning her head to look at him with an expression that read, 'If you're interrupting my sketch time, it better be good.'

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[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

"...did you want a partner?" Why did Teddy think this might only end in him being insulted or hit?

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[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Because it was Katchoo, perhaps?

"Yeah . . . you're not my type," she said offhandedly.

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[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy frowned. "I didn't mean--" He waved his hands as if to illustrate the whole 'gay' thing. "--that."

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[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Oh. The assignment." Not that she hadn't known that, but this was Katchoo trying to be all Indifferent EmoTeen of Angst. (Not that this was different from any other day.) "Well, I don't have a frikkin' clue how that would work, so unless you have any ideas . . ."

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[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

"Well..." Teddy cleared his throat. "They could be a mutant."

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[thatsamilkshake]

Francine wasn't even sure how somebody flew with wings, but she was willing to give the guesswork a shot, so she scouted around for somebody to discuss it with.

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[heromaniac]

Momoko wandered over and smiled, notebook in hand. "Hello again! How have you been? Do you have a partner yet, or can I work on this one with you?"

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[thatsamilkshake]

"Hi!" Francine waved at an empty desk across from her. "Sure, sit down! I've been... really really good, actually," she answered, thinking of how much better this last summer term had been. "How about you?"

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[heromaniac]

"Oh my gosh! It's been great! So many fun things happening, really cool people, so many great classes!" Momoko plopped herself into the empty deskchair and scooted around to face Francine. "...and not-people too, of course. And now I find out that other people have superpowers? I don't know how I'm going to explain this to my family back home!"

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[thatsamilkshake]

"If you hadn't said so in class, I'd never have known you did," Francine pointed out. "We don't have superpowers where I come from at all."

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[heromaniac]

"No one back home does either. Actually it's supposed to be a secret identity and I hope I don't get in trouble though I didn't say what my other name is. It was a..." She paused to try to remember how Mr Beaubier had described it. "...a chemical accident. It didn't affect everyone and only three of us got superpowers. There were some that got turned into monsters, though I don't know if that counts as a superpower and it wasn't technically the Chemical Z that did it."

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[thatsamilkshake]

Francine took a moment to process the flood of information, then smiled. "So you've got a secret identity, like Ratman?"

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[heromaniac]

"No no no. Ratman is a vigilante. Half of the time he's actually breaking the law and is even wanted by the police in some versions. Some have him working secretly with the police force, but that's not really accepted in all circles as proof that he's a hero. Some will argue that he's even the reason some of the bad guys ever show up and remember, he never even started fighting crime until it affected him personally." Momoko shook her finger. "I'm a superheroine of justice. I actually work for Tokyo City - the Mayor sends us out on a lot of our assignments and we even have to do PR stuff. I only have a secret identity so that no one knows who I am or who my family is."