10 Amazing Real-Life Superhero Technologies/Gadgets & Powers

THE SUPERHERO: Iron Man

THE SUPERPOWER: Iron Man's Mark IV/V suit of armor. It can fly, shoot repulsor blasts, comes with awesome helmet displays, communications gear and is almost impenetrable.

THE TECHNOLOGY:
This awesome exoskeleton, coined "Iron Man" by its developers serves the purpose of increasing mobility and strength by basically using basic robotics to enhance/multiply whatever movement the soldier is making. This means that if you give a punch that would lightly bruise someone, the suit would make it so that the same punch would go through thick wood planks (as seen in this video), or someone's face (as not seen in this video.)

Dubbed the XOS 2, the exoskeleton is used primarily to lift heavy objects, its ratio being that a 50 pound weight will feel like 3 when using the exoskeleton. Being designed for the military, the XOS 2 will give soldiers better mobility along with naturally being able to carry 200 pound weights on their backs with little to no effort.

This includes the ability to lift up rockets and rocket launchers like they're shotguns, which means that we would be that much closer to developing real Mechs (that was the sound of 5,000 nerds -- including myself -- squealing).

Seeing the soldier in this video do pushups and lift things shows how this is about as mobile as Iron Man's cave-built suit, which (for real life) is actually pretty damn awesome.

Lifting extremely heavy munitions, food and other military supplies will be the primary function of this suit... at least for now.

The most interesting part about this whole thing is that it basically makes even the weakest soldier the strongest one on the field, due to the lack of effort needed to use the suit, as it is mainly a strength enhancement suit.

Mark my words, in 2030, Exoskeleton Baseball WILL be a sport.

Here's another, little more crazy version of this, showing that some people just don't get government grants for their research for a REASON: Link

THE SUPERHERO: Batman

THE SUPERPOWER: A ridiculously expensive suit that is not only bullet-proof, but extremely light, agile, comes with an insane amount of Terminator-like visual displays and still allows people to run and flip around like an acrobat.

THE TECHNOLOGY:
Inciting a pattern of military spending on superhero technology, here is the Air Force's gift to the Batman mythology: BATMAN, or Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided kNowledge (I know, kind of a stretch, right?)

Besides the effort put into the name, the project is an attempt to modernize the gear commandos take with on combat missions, the overall aim being that the gear must be "lighter, smarter, deadlier" and more covert just like Batman's.

While a soldier usually has to carry 160 pounds of equipment, the BATMAN enhanced tech can decrease the payload and ensure more agility.

So like all that cool Batman electronic technology we see in the movies, the soldiers here have a small computer near their chests that tells them their logistical position and what tactics they can implement for any given situation.
That's right, it'll even include awesome communications gear, badass helmet displays, a headset (of course) and a computer (along with the ridiculous amount of batteries they'll need to keep these things rockin' on the battlefield.)

In case these new Dark Knights run out of juice, though, the suit also creates the option of refueling with the Bat Hook. A hook is thrown onto a power line and the hook slurps down power to keep BATMAN alert at all times.

If they could combine their technology with this awesome real-life utility belt that an MIT student created, they would be well on their way... now just to keep tabs on the richest men in the world who don't look turtles who've lost their shells.

Source

The news report was unclear as to whether or not the suit would, in fact, be equipped with nipples.

THE SUPERHERO: Spider-Man

THE SUPERPOWER: The power to walk up/climb walls via his hands and feet.

THE TECHNOLOGY:
Engineers at Cornell University (in New York) have apparently invented a great palm-sized device that uses the surface tension in water to make a reverse-adhesive bond to stick to glass, wood and brick.

They're getting close in transferring this to gloves and shoes that will allow the bearer to climb up, Spider-Man style, the flattest of surfaces.

The technology was actually inspired by a Palmetto tortoise beetle in Florida that uses the surface tension from tiny, pore-sized droplets of secreted oil at the top of its legs to climb up and stick to surfaces.

So basically, they are looking to insect technology to make a Spider-Man type weapon/gadget, who would've thought, right?

They found, though, that the more holes they had, the stronger the suction got. These holes, if made even more tiny (1000x the width of a human hair, to be exact) would have the suction power to hold an entire person.

But would they unstick? If the force is strong enough to hold a person, wouldn't you jerk back so hard that not only would you unstick, but fall off whatever building you were climbing? Well, no, because the scientists were actually able to use that electrical field to reverse the suction, thus becoming unstuck on demand. Just like Spider-Man.

Start stitching your suits, guys. Start stitching your suits.

The gloves would work by using an electrical field to pump small amounts of water through microscopic holes, thus using

Source

Honorable Mentions:
High School student invents suction technology using vacuums

Guy dressed as Spider-Man climbs skyscraper with his bare hands.

The famous French "Spiderman" (hyphen is never used when referring to him for some reason) who wears no costume, but climbs insanely high buildings with just his hands.

THE SUPERHERO: The Human Torch (or hey, Carrie also works)

THE SUPERPOWER: Controlling heat/fire and emitting it at will, aka Pyrokinesis.

THE REAL-LIFE SUPERPOWER/ABILITY:
A Qigong Master uses his Chi energy to create heat using minimal friction and is actually able to steam water using his hand without even touching it. He uses heat healing to help people with back problems.

Using an infrared camera, Ripley's Believe It or Not shows the man's hands directly applying heat to objects using nothing but his bare hands. He can increase and decrease the heat of water, or any moist object, at will. He was able to, using only his hand, generate heat of up to 200 degrees Faranheit.

He can heat a water on a damp towel to 10 degrees below boiling point and actually walk on suspended sheets of paper without breaking them because, according to him, he makes himself lighter by focusing his energy.