Anyone who has seen the concept of superheroes has wondered what it would be like to have superpowers. Imagine flying across the sky like Superman, or having magical healing like Wolverine, or something practical, like invisibility so you can avoid awkward conversations. Howe ver, some people actually live with abilities straight out of a comic book. Although research can account for certain details, these accounts show how wondrous the human body can be — and how nightmarish.
The real-life Mister Fantastic
Daniel Browning Smith held the Guinness World Record for most flexible person in 2015. He can dislocate his arms and legs, turn his torso and head 180 degrees, among other remarkable stunts that have earned him the title of “Rubberboy,” according to ABC News. He was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare collagen disorder that causes extreme elasticity in the joints and skin.
The superpower of flexibility
Daniel successfully turned a medical condition into an incredible career as a contortionist, holding an impressive portfolio on IMDb. He has toured with a circus show, appeared in half-time shows, worked as a stunt performer in films like Minority Report and Men in Black 2, and does creature suit work and motion-capture for video games.
A Fearless “Spider-Man”
From first glance, Alex Honnold seems like a real-like Spider-Man. This famous “free solo” climber has made headlines for ascending mountains and cliffs— all without any kind of safety gear. His expeditions included Zion National Park’s Moonlight Buttress, the Thank God Ledge in Yosemite National Park, and El Capitan. However, his true superpower may be fearlessness. Neuroscientists examined his brain during an MRI, specifically his amygdala, which is known as the “fear center” that controls mental threat interpretation and response.
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“Surprisingly scary”
The researchers used a control subject, a thrill-seeking male rock climber whose amygdala lit up during the stimulating scanner tasks as well as the monetary reward task. Meanwhile, Honnold’s amygdala remained gray and silent. Despite this, Honnold rejected the idea of being fearless, according to Nautilus. He even called his free solo climb across the harrowing Thank God Ledge as “surprisingly scary”.
Super-hearing
Superman may make this “superpower” seem awesome but amplified hearing was a nightmare for Justine Mitchell. Her symptoms began in 2009, when she started to hear the loud pulse in her right ear. By 2011, noise would make her dizzy and nauseated. She couldn’t sleep because of her thunder-like heartbeat and the sound of her eyeballs moving in her sockets. Additionally, she couldn’t eat crunchy foods because of how sickeningly loud they are to eat. Her doctor described eating an apple was like “an explosion going off in her head,” to Express.
Curing this “superpower”
Mitchell was eventually diagnosed with a condition called superior canal dehiscence, which is a result of a small hole in the bone that lies over the inner ear’s canal. This caused increased sensitivity to internal and external noises. Fortunately, Mitchell underwent a procedure in January 2012 to plug the hole and her life slowly returned to normal.
Unbreakable bones
In the 2000 film Unbreakable, the hero survives a fatal train wreck without any injury because of his super-strong bones. But this superpower can be matched by a family in Connecticut, according to a Yale study from 2002. Researchers found that these family members carried a genetic mutation that caused high bone density, which protected them from fractures.
Photographic memory
Stephen Wiltshire’s “superpowers” are two-fold: a photographic memory and prodigious artistic talent. Wiltshire was diagnosed with autism at three, and he began drawing only two years later. He’s famous for looking at a subject once before accurately sketching every detail, according to National Geographic. He frequently draws detailed city panoramas entirely from memory. He also produces fictional landscapes. His longest ever artwork was a panoramic memory drawing of Tokyo on a canvas about 10 meters long, all within a week of a helicopter ride over the city.
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