We all dream of superpowers. While it's a fantasy for most, some among us possess real, extraordinary abilities. Perhaps many more remain hidden, biding their time. Here are ten people with actual superpowers.
10. The Real-Life Batman
Daniel Kish lost both eyes to cancer as an infant. To navigate, he developed human echolocation, using tongue clicks like bats to sense his surroundings, earning him the nickname "the real-life Batman."
He distinguishes objects by their unique echoes—a tree trunk sounds different from its leaves. This process builds a detailed mental 3D image, engaging the brain’s visual areas to enhance spatial awareness. Kish can often exit a concert hall faster than sighted people by detecting the exit from afar, simply increasing his click volume in noisy settings.
9. The Real-Life Mr. Freeze
Wim Hof discovered his superhuman cold resistance by accident at 17 in Amsterdam, leading to 26 world records. He once attempted Everest in shorts but turned back due to a foot injury, not the cold, and has completed barefoot snow marathons while repeatedly breaking ice-submersion records.
Researchers found Hof uses breathing and meditation to control his brain's stress response, releasing opioids and cannabinoids under extreme cold to block pain signals. However, it remains unclear how his breathing also enables frostbite resistance, which should be biologically unrelated to these techniques.
8. The Real-Life Flash
Dean Karnazes is one of the world’s most extraordinary endurance athletes. He has run nonstop for 350 miles over three days, across Death Valley, and even to the South Pole. His capabilities are considered superhuman even among ultra-endurance competitors.
Unlike most runners, Karnazes appears to lack a lactate threshold. Typically, exceeding this threshold causes acid buildup, severe muscle pain ("hitting the wall"), and eventual exhaustion. Karnazes, however, never experiences cramps or muscle ache, even in runs exceeding 100 miles. Theoretically, this allows him to run indefinitely. The only real limit is sleep, and he has been known to continue moving while briefly nodding off.
7. The Real-Life Spider-Man
Known as the "French Spiderman," Alain Robert is a renowned free solo climber who scales skyscrapers without ropes or safety gear, using only chalk dust. He has conquered over 160 structures worldwide, including Dubai's Burj Khalifa, Taipei 101, and London's Lloyd's building.
In October 2018, he was arrested after climbing the 202-meter Salesforce Tower in London. Although he completed the ascent safely, he was detained for causing a public nuisance. Following a brief court hearing, Robert was banned from climbing any building in the UK. Nevertheless, the world offers no shortage of tall structures for this daring adventurer.
6. The Real-Life Professor X
Actress Marilu Henner possesses Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), an extremely rare condition allowing near-total recall of every life event. Fewer than 100 cases are documented globally. While HSAM eliminates mundane forgetfulness, it also increases susceptibility to anxiety, depression, and OCD.
Henner can recall specific dates and details of personal and news events since childhood. MRI scans show HSAM individuals have enlarged temporal lobes and caudate nuclei, though it remains unclear if this is the cause or effect. Regardless, Henner finds her memory particularly advantageous for memorizing scripts.
5. The Real-Life Elastigirl
Javier Botet is a Spanish actor with a unique physique. His extraordinarily long limbs and lean frame give him a skeletal appearance. During a 2013 screen test, many mistook him for a puppet due to his unsettling and unpredictable movements. Botet has Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes hyperflexibility, extreme height, and slenderness.
This condition has shaped his career in horror films, where he portrays aliens, monsters, mummies, and characters like Slender Man. Although Marfan syndrome can lead to serious health issues, Botet harnesses his remarkable flexibility to captivate Hollywood, turning a personal challenge into a professional strength.
4. The Real-Life Overseer
A Connecticut family with exceptionally high bone density has become a key subject for genetic research. They possess a rare mutation, similar to the character in Unbreakable, that makes their bones virtually unbreakable. Indeed, no family member has ever suffered a fracture.
Scientific testing of 20 relatives revealed that nearly half have this ultra-dense bone trait. Researchers believe studying their DNA can unlock a deeper understanding of bone density regulation. This knowledge holds significant promise for developing new treatments for conditions like osteoporosis. While the family may never need a plaster cast, their unique genetics could one day help millions.
3. The Real-Life Invisible Woman
It is universally known that each person has unique fingerprints, distinct even between identical twins. This uniqueness is now widely used in fields like cybersecurity. However, some people, like Cheryl Maynard, are born without fingerprints due to a rare genetic condition called adermatoglyphia, which affects only a few families worldwide.
For Cheryl, the absence of fingerprints has made her feel invisible and even hindered her employment opportunities. On the other hand, it has been noted that such a condition could potentially benefit someone pursuing a criminal career, as they would leave no fingerprint evidence behind.
2. The Real-Life Vision
In 1972, when Veronica Seider claimed to be able to see small objects 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) away, no one believed her. However, eyesight is pretty easy to test, so it soon became clear that Seider’s vision was truly exceptional. She was soon listed by Guinness World Records with eyesight 20 times more powerful than normal human beings.
Not only is she able to distinguish people and objects from 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) away, but she is also able to judge distance and position, which can be useful. And she can distinguish the individual colors that make up the color on a television set. Not so useful.
1. The Real-Life Deadpool
A woman known as "SM" has Urbach-Wiethe disease, damaging parts of her brain and making her utterly fearless. As a child, she showed no fear handling venomous spiders and snakes. Once, an attacker with a knife released her because her complete lack of fear unnerved him.
However, SM has one weakness. In tests, while she showed no fear to typical stimuli, inhaling carbon dioxide triggered a panic attack. Neurologists concluded this was a physical reaction to suffocation, not psychological fear, as the response only occurred once the gas took effect.
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