"White Rabbit Project S01E01 Air Date:" "December 9, 2016" "Synced and Edited by:" "DeruGuy" "♪ [Intro Music Plays] ♪" "Smells like another job well done." "What a shocking development." "Not now, Mahoney." "We got a lot of paperwork to do." "Tory:" "And cut." "Genius." "Are we good on camera?" "How's sound?" "Good?" "All right, let's get the gimp down." "That's lunch." "You guys are awesome." "I love the ad-lib." "Sandy, I'll be in my trailer." "Yes." "What do you guys think?" "It's gonna be a classic." "Yeah, in that B-movie genre maybe." "Yeah." "You guys don't appreciate art." "In this White Rabbit Project... we're going down the rabbit hole of superpower tech to see which one can best turn fiction... into fact." "[Kari laughs]" "Tory:" "Under the microscope:" "The power to freeze... [laughs] taking to the skies like Iron Man..." "The ultimate superpower." "Done." "Dusted." "...and wielding lightning bolts as a weapon." "Tory:" "Yeah!" "Get some!" "As usual, we'll score and rank six contenders using three criteria." "One is gonna be how much does it cost to transform yourself into the superhero." "Kari:" "And how close is it to the actual superpower you might see in movies or comic books." "Tory:" "And how easy it to use." "Let's check out one of my favorites:" "mind control." "I found a guy in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who thinks mind control is already here." "And in his basement lurks some truly weird science." "Greg." "Hey, Kari." "Kari:" "Greg Gage and Backyard Brains Group are bringing neuroscience to the people." "We're neuroscience for the 99%." "Kari:" "Utilizing the maker community and crowd-sourcing, designing accessible and fun DIY experiments." "These are my kind of people." "My favorite thing is our very first invention." "It's called the SpikerBox." "It allows you to record the neurons from an animal and understand how that brain works." "So, what we're gonna do is sort of tap into that and do a biohack." "For example, a cyborg cockroach." "I wanna know what that is." "So, it is exactly what you think it is." "It's a cockroach that it's half biological system and half robot and we merged the two together." "I feel like you're almost on the edge of some sort of superhero mind control." "Like, this could be your origin story right here." "Greg:" "These are South American cockroaches." "Are you ready to do this?" "I think so." "Okay." "Kari:" "I thought we were doing human mind control, but apparently we're starting at the creepier end of the food chain." "I've got a bit of the heebie-jeebies, but yes." "[Kari yells]" "Okay." "I'm gonna take a cup and what you're gonna do is take the cockroach and dunk him into the ice water." "Where do you touch them?" "Just grab it from the side." "[Kari laughs nervously]" "Okay." "Yeah you got it, you got it." "Dunk, dunk, dunk!" "Let go." "Now, push it in." "[screams]" "Can you grab it for me?" "Okay, sorry." "Let me try that again." "Okay." "I'm sorry, okay." "All right." "All right." "I'm cool, I'm cool." "You're cool?" "They're gonna get on me." "Go, go, go." "Okay." "You did it." "[groans]" "Kari:" "With the cockroach anesthetized, it's time to turn this little guy into robo-roach." "Step two, uh... sandpaper his back?" "I have the weirdest job." "The rough surface will ensure his circuit-board backpack stays glued in place." "Push down." "He's good." "All right, perfect." "Kari:" "Next, I have to trim his antennae... [stammers] and, I kid you not, attach a teeny-tiny electrode wire to each one." "[grunts] Go in the hole." "And all the while keeping him on ice to make sure he doesn't wake up." "How do you know it's a him?" "Actually, I don't." "[chuckles] I'm not good at sexing cockroaches." "There is a way." "I just don't know how." "Yeah, I've never sexed a cockroach either." "With the antennae glued back in place," "I need to earth the circuit by inserting a wire into his thorax." "And you know what?" "Congratulations." "You have just made your first cyborg." "I made a cyborg!" "Now we just have to wait for him to warm up and wake up." "All right, now I've got him... plugged in with his little roachy backpack." "And he's mine." "Mine!" "Greg:" "Hit "pair."" "And now it's connecting." "I control you, little roach." "What?" "Swipe left, he goes left." "That is neat-o." "Swipe right... he goes right." "How am I doing it?" "When I signal the electrode inside the antennae his little roachy brain believes he's touched something and turns away." "Okay, this is awesome, but I wanna figure out how I can apply this to humans." "You wanna control humans?" "I wanna control humans." "I'm just gonna hook you up to another one of our inventions." "This is the Muscle SpikerBox." "Kari:" "The SpikerBox hones in on neuron activity in the motor cortex... the bit of the brain that controls movement." "So, go ahead and squeeze your hand." "Whoa." "Look at that." "This is your brain being amplified through your muscles." "The next question is, what can we do with that signal?" "We can stick it into a little computer here." "So, this is a way to make a brain-machine interface." "Now you're controlling this." "That is cool." "I'm controlling a machine with my mind." "Now, can we take that one step further and control a human?" "My brain is sending a command down to my arm." "We're gonna pick up that signal and we're gonna send it over to your arm." "All right." "You can kind of look in that direction, so you don't look directly at me." "[Kari laughs]" "You feel something yet?" "Yeah." "Turning it up a bit more." "[yelps]" "What the hell?" "That's so weird!" "So, when I do this-- And I can do it whenever I want." "And all of a sudden... [shrieks]" "So, we now know how it works." "Your brain is also sending the command down there but we've just kind of hijacked that system, sending our own pulses in there, making that neuron fire and causing this hand to move." "That is so weird." "All right, one more time." "Okay." "Now we're gonna add a new muscle." "Okay." "Which is this bicep here." "So, if I squeeze my arm up..." "Oh, so now we've got different function." "I can do this one, or this one." "This is weird." "Okay, so..." "I'm punching myself." "Why are you hitting yourself?" "All right, so we can do smaller muscles like this, or gross ones like this." "All right." "So, can we do some cool stuff with this?" "I think this is amazing." "All right." "I have some evil genius ideas for some fun with this tech." "Let's do it." "♪ [Italian music playing] ♪" "Tory:" "Hey." "Hi." "What's up?" "You invited me to dinner?" "Did I forget to tell you it was going to be completely filmed" "and actually on the show?" "Yeah, why?" "I've picked out what I'd like to order." "I don't trust you." "Calm yourself, there'll be wines." "Okay." "Hello." "How are you doing today?" "Good." "Good." "What can I get you started off with?" "Spaghetti and meatballs for this guy." "This is going to be one meal Tory will never forget." "Grant:" "Tory might be happy to order off the menu... but when I think of a superpower, you want something exotic, something that pushes the boundaries." "But it also has to be usable, which means some sort of weapon." "And if you want a super-weapon, what you need is an evil genius." "[cackling]" "And my superpower?" "The ability to freeze using a bolt of cold so intense it will literally suck the heat right out of my enemies." "This is liquid nitrogen." "Its temperature is minus 320 degrees." "Let's do this." "Take bovine mammary secretion, add C12-H22-O11... whisk... now for LN2, one of the coldest substances on the planet, to create..." "Imagine, if I perfected this weapon, I could make ice cream at will." "But that's no good to me." "I want to wield my superpower for evil." "I want to test liquid nitrogen's destructive qualities." "Unhappy Valentine's Day!" "[laughs]" "Here's what I think of your "apple a day."" "You say "tomato"..." "I say..." "I never did like vegetables." "Okay, so I am definitely on the right track, but in order to achieve full super-villain status," "I need to weaponize this." "Behold... the industrial cryogun." "Witness the power." "This is actually a medical instrument intended for freezing off warts and things like that." "Now, it's all very well and good taking out a rose at short range, but..." "I ask you, is this the weapon of an evil mastermind?" "I think not." "So, as usual..." "if I want something done evil," "I'm gonna have to do it myself." "Time to supersize." "Here's what I'm trying to do:" "build a gun that is capable of firing a solid, continuous stream of liquid nitrogen." "To do this, I have a giant liquid-nitrogen tank, a vacuum-jacketed cryogenic hose..." "This is how Gandalf summons the elves." "[mimics bugle]" "And a cryogenic solenoid valve." "All these parts constitute the guts of my superweapon, which should be able to freeze my enemies to their core." "Curses." "It might look cool, but actually... it's warm, a major setback when you're trying to be Dr. Ice." "The problem is the high ambient temperature in here." "I need a stream of freezing-cold liquid, not a cloud of namby-pamby vapor." "Foiled again by thermodynamics." "I need to test my weapon in a much colder atmosphere." "So, bring out... the thermo bucket." "This will keep the cold from escaping." "So, I got my insulated bucket... pointed the tip of the gun into the bucket, fired everything off..." "Lo and behold, liquid." "Hey, survived the most dangerous thing I did today." "So, what this says is that this whole gun is going to work." "It's going to fire off a stream of liquid, it just has to be in a cold, cold place." "Tory:" "For my chosen superpower, I wanna wield lightning as a weapon." "Challenge one, find a massive electrical charge." "Then figure out how to harness that charge to produce lightning bolts... and finally, hurl those bolts directly at my enemies without getting zapped myself." "There will be no, and I repeat, no margin for error... because a single lightning bolt contains up to one billion volts." "If I'm gonna survive this..." "I need an expert." "Luckily, Aron fools around with lightning for a living... using a gadget called a Tesla coil." "What exactly is a Tesla coil?" "A Tesla coil is a high frequency air-core resonant transformer." "Okay, now in layman's terms." "It's a system that allows us to take a low voltage and turn it into a really high voltage." "Yes." "That's what I wanted to hear." "Nikola Tesla gave the coil its name." "The Serbian-American invented it in 1891." "Tesla was eccentric." "He had a phobia about women's earrings and believed he came from the planet Venus, but he's considered a genius for his work on wireless electricity and his supercharging coil." "So, how much super-power can we generate from the coil?" "The input, it's only about 40 amps at 240 volts." "Nothing too crazy going on there." "The output, a million volts at 1.4 megawatts of power." "Megawatt." "That's the name of my superhero." "Aron:" "Let's get this panel off right here." "Tory:" "Okay." "Would it be like a storm cloud building up electricity" "and then releasing a lightning bolt?" "Yeah, it's just like that actually." "You're storing energy in the cloud then the lightning bolt arcs out." "Well, here we store that energy in some capacitors and then our solid-state circuit dumps it all into the Tesla coil really quick." "Here we go." "Yes." "Aron:" "We limit the arcs out of this system to about ten feet." "What?" "Oh, my God." "Yeah." "So, you could actually hit something ten feet away with one of these giant arcs of lightning?" "That's right." "What the--?" "Captain Megawatt can't stand on the floor when the charge hits him, or he'll be fried." "This platform will separate him from the ground, and industrial insulators will mean he's not earthed." "This thing looks like something out of a high-voltage power line." "It looks like something out of a substation, because it is." "That's crazy." "To make this theoretically less risky... let's double down on the insulators." "It looks good." "Well done." "I'm gonna sit here while you do all the hard work." "Before I commit to getting on the platform and becoming a human lightning rod," "I wanna see exactly what I'm in for... from what I've been told is a safe distance." "That means if you walk over that white line..." "Aron:" "It's on." "...that would be the last mistake you made." "[woman] We're going hot." "We're going hot." "Aron:" "You got it." "[Tory laughs excitedly]" "Whenever I'm close to something that could potentially kill me," "I start giggling." "Maybe it's a nervous reaction or something." "Here it comes." "Dude!" "That's one million volts." "That is a massive electric charge." "Challenge one?" "Check." "[laughs nervously]" "Like I say, imminent death, and I giggle." "Now for challenge number two." "Harness that charge without getting fried." "Now, you might think a nice thick rubber suit." "I get chain mail." "Why you ask?" "Basically, this is a Faraday suit, and it is way more conductive than we are." "That's perfect." "That's awesome." "Meet Tesla coil showman and Aron's partner in crime." "When the electricity touches the suit, it would much rather crawl along the surface than go inside the monkey, who's not very conductive." "So, it's easier for electricity to pass through the suit" "than our bodies." "Exactly." "Tory:" "The suit gets its name from 19th-century English visionary Michael Faraday." "Suits weren't his claim to fame, although he pulls this one off pretty well." "But what he did invent was a cage that allowed electricity to pass around its exterior... leaving the interior untouched." "So, basically, this suit is the only thing that's keeping you alive." "Yeah." "[laughs]" "Tory:" "If there's a hole or even a chink in the Faraday suit," "I could feel the full force of that million volts on whatever's exposed." "[Michael] I'm gonna get a little personal on you." "Just another day at the office." "Yeah, like that." "Meanwhile at the dungeon convention..." "Ravenwood is checking for holes in the suit." "Hey, guys, you forgot to torture me." "But I think he's being a little too thorough." "Like all superheroes, I need a foe." "How about a squad of deadly ninjas?" "Let's do this before I change my mind." "Invincible." "Their only Achilles' heel?" "Methane-filled balloon heads." "So, quick recap." "Massive electrical charge?" "Check." "Way to harness it and not die?" "Uh, check?" "Now, how to turn that charge into lightning bolts." "My wand." "Wrapped up in chain mail, bound by leather restraints, and tethered by my crotch ten feet above the ground," "I'm about to allow a million volts of electricity to be pumped around my body." "What in the hell am I doing up here?" "Michael:" "Here it comes, Tory." "Prepare to feel the wrath of Captain Megawatt!" "You ready for this, ninjas?" "Ah!" "[bleep]" "It's shocking the [bleep] out of my fingers." "It feels like a Taser." "Your glove probably has a hole in it or tore or something." "You trying to [bleep] kill me or what?" "What the [bleep] are you guys doing there?" "Should I try left hand?" "Michael:" "You know what?" "That's actually not a bad idea." "On." "Okay, there's electricity coming out of my thumb." "Yeah, that felt" "I didn't feel anything that time." "Let's try this again." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Ninjas, I'm about to light you up like Christmas trees!" "Ninja, die." "Yeah, get some!" "Oh!" "Take that!" "[whooping and laughing]" "That was incredible." "It was terrifying 'cause I had no idea what was gonna happen, but as soon as the Tesla coil went on," "I literally had electricity shooting out my fingers." "And to be able to control those giant arcs of lightning..." "I feel like a superhero." "Oh, my God!" "That's crazy!" "Were you scared the first time they put electricity through you?" "It hurt like hell." "It felt like somebody taking a Taser to my hand." "As he turned it up, it got worse and I was like:" "I don't think this is supposed to feel like this." "So, how close is this to a real superpower?" "It looks like a real superpower." "Yeah." "I mean, I was able to control the electricity, harness it to the point where I could actually fire and hit my targets, and if you got hit by one of those bolts, it would kill you." "I think as far as that goes, high marks." "Very close to a real superpower." "Yeah." "How much does the whole setup cost?" "It's not so bad. $5,000 for the suit." "$8,000 for the tower, and $125,000 for the Tesla coil." "What?" "Dude, that's super expensive!" "That's like $138,000." "I run in the crowds with Batman and Iron Man." "Oh, you're one of those one-percenter superheroes." "Yes, I am." "Well, I think usability's where this one starts to break down." "You need a very large, very specialized piece of equipment that has to get plugged into a power source." "As far as usability goes, it barely squeaks by... so maybe somewhere in the middle?" "[Kari] Back at the restaurant, mind control is on the menu." "I've come pre-wired." "I'm gonna make dinner a little more fun." "Now it's Tory's turn." "This is getting so good." "Who's that?" "Just roll up your sleeves a bit for a second." "Not weird at all." "Not at all." "You thought you were just coming to dinner." "I did." "And I was looking forward to this meal, and now I'm absolutely not." "First, we're gonna take these electrode pads, and he's gonna put them on different places on your arm." "Same as me, look." "Don't be scared." "We're going through the same thing." "And I'd never do anything weird to myself." "Tory:" "That's not true." "Kari:" "And to spice things up a bit, I'm also adding mouth control." "Greg:" "That's good." "Bite down." "All right, that seems to work." "Okay." "Is that freaking you out at all?" "Not at all." "[laughs]" "All right, you're all hooked up, so, bon appétit." "Now that we are properly dressed for dinner, just one more thing." "Safety glasses?" "Would you pour the wine?" "[stammers]" "What the [bleep]?" "Why?" "What the hell?" "Why are we doing this?" "Just pour the wine, it's fine." "I had nightmares like this." "Go ahead, it's cool." "It's cool." "[laughing]" "Stop moving!" "It hurts." "It's good." "I'm holding still." "How is this--?" "Why is this happening?" "My brain is signaling these electro pads to move my arm, and my arms are signaling you to move yours." "So, you can control me." "This is torture." "I can't even enjoy my dinner!" "Don't disobey me!" "Are you gonna stop?" "I'm stuck." "Sorry." "Really?" "Why is that--?" "Greg:" "Are you really stuck?" "No, I'm just standing like this for my health." "We're having a glitch." "Whoa!" "What the--?" "Turn it off." "Oh!" "Kari:" "So, it turns out you don't want to pair merlot and sensitive prototype electronics." "Is there like a kill-switch?" "[stammers]" "I think I'm gonna have a talk with the..." "show runners on this particular... show." "Grant:" "For my second superpower contender," "I'm kicking it up a notch." "Ever since I was a kid," "I've thought one of the most underrated, sneakiest, and possibly most useful superpowers was invisibility." "But as far as it ever becoming a reality, it's also been one of the most elusive for scientists." "A breakthrough came in 2012 when Dr. Susumu Tachi and his team at the University of Tokyo debuted their invisibility cloak." "And this is how it works." "It's called Retro-Reflective Projection Technology." "It creates the illusion of invisibility by projecting background images onto a subject wearing specialized clothing." "Dr. Tachi believes this technology could eventually be used to render all kinds of visual obstructions invisible." "And it turns out he's right." "Land Rover has developed a see-through trailer concept." "Video from the backup and side-mirror cameras combine with a camera on the very back of the trailer that essentially renders it invisible." "Now, trailers are one thing, but let's kick this up a notch." "How about a skyscraper?" "In South Korea, plans are underway to build the world's first invisible skyscraper." "The plan is to cover a 1,500-foot tower with LED screens." "Eighteen cameras in strategic points all over the building will capture real-time images of the surroundings, which will then be processed and displayed on the building's LED screens." "Voila, the building is gone." "All this technology is well and good, but I'm just not feeling the superpower vibe here." "What about the concept of physically bending light to create true invisibility?" "Can it ever be achieved?" "Well, the inventors of the Rochester Cloak seem to think so." "This is the first device of its kind known to science that is capable of simultaneously creating a three-dimensional, continuous, real-time illusion of invisibility." "Let me walk you through the setup." "The distances between the lenses are precisely calculated based on the focal points." "Everything needs to be precisely and meticulously leveled, trued, and aligned using a laser." "The image of the background is passed through the array to the observer." "The lenses bend the light... then here between the final two lenses, the light converges... creating a cylinder of invisibility." "Put my hand in the right position between these lenses, and it'll become invisible." "Here we go." "See how my fingers have disappeared at the edge?" "That's because there's a cylindrical zone where the light is bent around my fingers, creating invisibility." "But if an object crosses into the center of the cylinder, the light hits it and it can be seen." "Imagine if you could create this on a scale to hide a person." "Then you'd have a superpower." "Wow, that was pretty cool." "You made part of your body disappear." "No one will ever know where this finger comes from." "Okay, let's break it down." "Invisibility." "First of all, how much does that setup cost you?" "That setup was pretty inexpensive, about 200 bucks." "The problem is if you wanna get any larger than a 2-inch image, the cost goes up exponentially." "What about usability?" "Look, um..." "It's really hard to set up." "It's hard to keep aligned." "[Kari] Similarity to a superpower?" "You have to stay in this specific part of the lens arrangement... to even be partially cloaked." "All right, so we're not gonna be seeing any Predator invisibility suits any time soon, unless they come from outer space." "Not quite there." "Okay." "[Kari] Is it a bird?" "Is it a plane?" "No." "It's Jetman." "I mean, all the coolest superheroes possess the power of flight:" "Iron Man, Superman, Green Lantern." "Hands down, flying has gotta be the coolest of all the superhero powers." "And this... is as close to flying as it gets." "Former fighter pilot Yves Rossy and his protégé, Vince Reffet... have pioneered flying with a powered Jet Wing." "It sounds like a death wish, but what they're doing over the skies of Dubai is mind-blowing." "The Jet Wing is revolutionary because Yves and Vince aren't flying a machine." "Their bodies are the fuselage." "Yves, you've spent 20 years of R amp;" "D on the Jet Wing." "Talk me through the process." "It was really learning by doing and a step-by-step development." "At the beginning, I didn't expect to put engines on." "And when I had a gliding performance, it would be good to sustain flight, so put two engines, small engines." "It works, great, but birds, they are not only falling... they are climbing." "It would be good to fly up." "Then we did add two more engines" "The Jet Wing has evolved through 15 prototypes into this:" "A turbo-charged jet-propelled wing composed of three main parts:" "First, the carbon-fiber wing gives the flier lift." "Then... four jet engines, powered by kerosene, each with 88 pounds of thrust." "They can push the flier to a cool 200 miles an hour." "Not as fast a speeding bullet, but pretty freaking fast." "And then... a fiberglass harness that straps the wing to the body." "The flier does have to wear a fireproof suit, of course, and has two parachutes as a safety precaution." "They can launch from an altitude of 7000 feet." "They have a maximum of 15 minutes of flying time before the fuel runs out." "Which leaves plenty of time for some aerobatics around the world's tallest building." "It looks incredible, but what does flying feel like?" "Yves:" "The feeling is... completely free." "We are very close to birds... and that's a kind of super ability to be able to fly for a human." "We are not flying a machine." "It's the opposite." "The machine follows us." "I feel like this is a 100% bona fide superpower." "The only drawback is that, well, Superman can take off and land by himself, and Jetman, he does need a chopper and a parachute." "But still, I think this is incredible." "What's the future for the Jet Wing?" "And more importantly, when can I fly in one?" "Yves:" "At this point, it's still a little bit too complicated, and it's really for experienced people." "The problem now..." "It's expensive, you know, it's really high tech." "Kari:" "They're not available to buy, but if they were, they'd be pricey." "Yves says about the same as a supercar." "But for sure in the future that's our goal, to be autonomous." "Don't need any more helicopter or an airplane." "I hope that in a few years it will be the Jet Ski of the air." "Well, that's it folks." "Flying." "The Jet Wing." "The ultimate superpower." "Done, dusted." "Grant:" "Not so fast, Kari." "Dr. Ice is just warming up." "We know liquid-nitrogen dip will freeze all manner of fruits and vegetables." "But when I tried to create a weapon that can fire a freezing bolt over ten feet... the warm ambient temperature of the workshop sent my plans up in smoke." "Or to be more precise... vapor." "That's why I've got this." "A refrigerated truck." "Now, all I have to do is lure my nemesis inside without arousing suspicion." "[in creepy voice] Would you like an apple, my pretty?" "[cackles] [in normal voice] Okay, here we go, this is liquid nitrogen versus the apple in three, two, one." "[chuckling]" "You can see the liquid hitting it." "Good." "Now we just have to see if it freezes solid." "Moment of truth." "Three, two, one." "[laughs]" "Okay." "So, it works, which is awesome." "I've achieved my superpower of freezing." "The only problem is, in actuality, it doesn't really work, because it completely fails in the area of practicality." "It only has a range of two to three feet." "The subject has to remain completely still for five to ten minutes, and it can only be deployed in an already-freezing environment." "Don't worry..." "I've got one more trick up my sleeve." "Like all super-villains, Dr. Ice has an arch nemesis." "Meet Captain Ribeye." "The stakes are high." "I have to insta-freeze him like a popsicle... from over ten feet away." "But here's the thing." "I don't need to freeze him solid." "I just need to freeze him in his tracks." "And I think all I need for that is some good old H2O." "I know my cryogun can generate extreme cold." "And I know that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit." "By combining the two," "I should be able to create a frozen layer of ice around my target, instantaneously, from a distance." "[cackles]" "Minions, to me." "There's work to be done." "So, let's get this nemesis... wet." "Soft Serve." "We're gonna hit him with the bucket." "On three." "Then a blast of my liquid nitrogen." "Three, two, one." "Looks like we've only managed to make him angry." "That's what you get when you rely on a minion." "I need to build a water-delivery system into the cryogun itself." "Okay, so, here's what I've got." "I'm gonna introduce water right at the tip directly into the stream." "Okay, this is cryogun instant freeze." "That way I should be able to form a very thick layer of ice around my target..." "In three, two, one." "...freezing him in his tracks." "That's one frozen Ribeye." "My superpower is complete." "[cackling]" "I'm a little worried about you." "You're like a regular mad scientist." "Thank you very much." "All right, so, how close to a real superpower?" "I mean, it's not exactly instantaneous." "No, but it does freeze." "If you sneak up on a superhero asleep, maybe you can get them." "Or if they're, like, really slow." "Oh, come on, Slothman." "Captain Statue." "I would kick their butts." "[Tory chuckles]" "All right, usability." "I mean, that tank isn't the most portable, and your superhero basically has to stand still." "Yeah, all right." "I'll concede it's a three out of ten for usability." "All right, so how much did it cost?" "Ah-ha!" "This is where I got you." "Five-twenty for liquid nitrogen, 650 for the 40 gallon tank," "$300 for valves and hoses, $5 for minions." "$5 for minions." "That's not even minimum wage!" "They got a union." "They have excellent health benefits." "You are a super-villain." "So, I'm guessing the costume was free because you probably own that." "Uh, Yeah." "Okay." "That's what I thought." "Now, when it comes to superpowers, what's the most powerful?" "My choice:" "Superhuman strength." "Enough to stop a runaway train, or lift a burning car." "And for over a century, scientists have been working on a technology that aims to make that kind of thing possible:" "The exoskeleton." "These patent drawings are from 1890." "Russian inventor Nicholas Yagin conceived of a compressed-air powered facilitator for walking, running and jumping more than 120 years ago." "Fast-forward to 1960s... and manufacturing techniques caught up to his futuristic design." "This is the Hardiman." "General Electric's hydraulic suit was supposed to enable you to lift 1,500 pounds." "But it had a dark side." "Violent bouts of out-of-control motion that meant no one dare switch it on with a real person inside." "Which is probably for the best." "But it was a start." "Today, technology has come a long way." "The ReWalk, for instance, is totally transforming the lives of paraplegics." "While other partial exoskeletons, including the Panasonic Assist Robots, reduce the strain of heavy lifting." "But to really be a superhero," "I need something that can give super strength to my whole body." "What would you say is the most advanced exoskeleton today?" "The XOS 2 is one of the most impressive." "This was a research project funded by DARPA in the U.S." "It provides support to the entire body." "Tory:" "Meanwhile in Japan, the Panasonic Power Loader is over 5 feet tall, has 7-foot-long arms, and allows an ordinary person to effortlessly lift 220 pounds, the weight of a large aardvark." "But there's a few reasons why these aren't quite superhero suits yet." "First, the more power you want, the bigger the power source needs to be, making portability a huge issue." "Then there's the huge challenge of perfectly mimicking human movement." "So, it's no surprise that no one's been able to bring a full-body exoskeleton to market." "[Marc] All that's stopping us are technological barriers." "But these technologies are advancing all the time, so, it's not really a matter of if, but more when." "[Tory] They're likely to be pricey." "Not good news for criteria one." "They do offer super strength, but only under controlled circumstances." "And usability won't break any records either." "Well, the tech is on its way, but I'm gonna have to wait a while until I get a suit like Iron Man." "Damn it." "[Kari] Back at the restaurant, I only got Tory to down a few Merlots..." "So good." "[laughing] before we hit a technical glitch." "Is there a kill switch?" "[groaning]" "[Kari] Now that my mind-control pixies have ironed out the wrinkles..." "I'm ready to take this superpower for a real run." "Food." "Yay!" "Bring on the first course." "Spaghetti and meatballs are my favorite." "[laughing]" "Can I get some more silverware?" "You've got a fork right there." "I'm not using my fork." "I will literally stab myself in the face." "I'm not stupid." "Okay." "Why is this so fun for me?" "[yelps, then laughing]" "Oh, and there's pizza." "Ooh." "That looks delicious." "Take a bite." "I'm good." "Eat some food, find out what happens." "Try the food." "Can you hand me another napkin?" "Will I or won't I?" "Will I or won't I?" "I would like some more wine." "Oh, look what's happening." "As much fun as this has been..." "I love my job so much!" "[sighs] ...we're here to rate this mind-control superpower... on its three key criteria." "So... is this a superpower?" "I said pour me wine!" "It's a good beginning for maybe a super-villain." "I am drunk with power!" "It's cost efficient." "[yells]" "Usability?" "It's portable." "And once you're wired up it's easy to control your human puppet." "[yells]" "I punched myself." "Maybe not a superpower, or full mind control... but still... kind of the best day of my career." "How you doing?" "Are you feeling better about this?" "Oh, he's not even talking to me anymore." "That was amazing!" "How did it feel?" "Oh, it sucked." "Actually, I was talking to Kari." "I love my little Tory puppet." "Oh, you're so cruel." "No, but seriously, what did it feel like when it locked up?" "There was no faking." "It was 100 percent working" "and it 100% hurt." "And it was 100% hilarious." "Okay, time for us to average all our criteria and come up with the final list." "In our quest to find technology that gives mere mortals superpowers, we've tested everything from controlling lightning..." "[Tory] Ninjas, I'm about to light you up like Christmas trees." "to controlling minds." "I love my job so much!" "[Grant] We've scored our tech contenders using three criteria:" "Cost, similarity to the real superpower, and usability." "Here's how they ranked." "At number six, exoskeleton." "We're still a long way from Tony Stark's suit, and this emerging Iron Man tech comes with a high price tag." "Coming in at number five, invisibility." "It only costs $200, but... we just couldn't see this superpower winning." "At number four overall..." "Jetman." "Similarity to superpower comes in second... but loses points for cost at $190,000." "Our number three superpower tech, Dr. Ice." "At just under $1500, definitely affordable." "But as far as usability, your nemesis shouldn't be too worried." "At number two overall, Captain Megawatt." "Tory:" "Ninja, die!" "[Grant] Expensive to build at just over 130 grand... but this tech delivered with controllable lightning deadly to our ninja bad guys." "And at number one, mind control." "What the [bleep]?" "Why?" "Grant:" "It's totally affordable." "Gets five out of ten for similarity to the real superpower... and beats out all the other tech for usability." "And that's how our superpower tech contenders stacked up." "What?" "Mind control!" "Mind control?" "How did that win?" "I mean, you have to actually stick the electrodes on the person's body." "How do you get them to do that?" "Trusting me is my superpower." "[groans]" "♪ [Ending music playing] ♪"