SCIENTIFIC FICTION: Iceman's Mutant Ability

By: Red Maverick

The X-Men have become a fan favourite superhero team, not just because of the abilities of the individual mutants, but because it's themes on the marginalised populous struck close to home. The mutants' struggle in the comics became a metaphor for racism and their struggle in the movies was also used as a metaphor, but for prejudice against homosexuals. One particular line in the movie, "Have you tried not being a mutant?" was an obvious reference to marginalization against the LGBT community and was also a line directed towards this article's focus: Bobby Drake, or "Iceman."

http://marvel.com/universe/Iceman

Iceman was one of the 6 original X-Men, along with Professor X, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Marvel Girl (Jean Grey). Being part of first class, Iceman is one of the most experienced in the entire group. Although he's still a bit childish, he's grown enough to develop his powers and protect his mutant family. In this article, we're going to talk about how Iceman's abilities can be scientifically possible. A little fair warning, but this article will have a lot of science.

http://www.giantbomb.com/iceman/3005-4716/

If you're familiar with Iceman, then you would know that his greatest asset is his ability to control temperatures, especially his ability to manipulate temperatures below zero. Iceman can not only manipulate his own temperature, but he can also control the temperature of ambient water vapour, turning gas to solid, turning it into ice. The skills he learned with his mutant abilities take root in his ability to freeze ambient water vapour <1>.

 http://geek-news.mtv.com/2011/09/02/the-top-10-hardest-working-characters-in-comics/

Now, how does that exactly work? Remember that cold doesn't really exist; it's just the absence of heat. Which means, he decreases his thermal energy so that heat around him will travel to him instead. He acts as a heat sink, taking advantage of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Basically, the 2nd law states that a system can never decrease in entropy and will always spontaneously evolve into thermal equilibrium (room temperature) <2>. The entropy mentioned here, is heat, remembering that heat is the vibration of atoms or molecules. That means, if an entity or body has lower temperature than its thermal equilibrium (for the average human, that's 37º C) it will be endothermic, an object that absorbs heat. When you absorb heat, you make objects around you colder.

http://www.gridclub.com/subscribers/info/fact_gadget_2009/1001/science_and_technology/heat_and_light/866.html

That's how the physics works, but how exactly would you decrease your thermal energy? It involves cooling down your own biological system and stilling the cells in your body. The average human can't do it, however, there is a Dutchman named Wim Hof who can control his body temperature. He says that he does it by switching a mental thermostat in his brain. He is shown in the video below running in the Arctic Circle without shoes and minimal clothes and yet he didn't get hypothermia or pneumonia. Scientists are still trying to understand how Hof can withstand extreme cold, however, if we're following the laws of thermodynamics, he is able to still his cells and the flow of bodily fluids enough so that there is minimal molecule vibration.

Also, if we were to follow the 2nd law of thermodynamics, the body would be absorbing heat to try to attain thermal equilibrium. Bobby Drake, the X-Men's Iceman, most probably shares techniques with Wim Hof, aptly nicknamed "Iceman." Now remember, Wim Hof is a special case of humanity, but he is still human. Bobby, on the other hand, is a mutant. If his mutation allows him to absorb thermal energy, this means that Bobby is able to make his body temperature below zero and yet is able to move his body, which also means, his body's composition is flexible enough so that it doesn't need constant vibration in the cells (heat) to function. Even if the cell and/or molecules are still, bodily fluids can still flow and muscles can still work.

http://www.comicvine.com/iceman/4005-1464/

So, we now have a picture of how lowering your body temperature and surviving with it can be a possibility. One question we can try to answer is how Iceman cover his body with ice, like seen above. Iceman does this very often, freezing the ambient water vapour around him so he gets an armour of ice. The strange part about this is his ability to move despite being covered in frozen water. One way theory is the proper placement of cleavage planes <3>.

Cleavage planes, as explained in the above video at timestamp [6:54] is the point in a crystal where it is vulnerable to breaking even if it is a stone as hard as diamond. As long as pressure is placed on the cleavage of a crystal, the crystal breaks. This means when Iceman freezes the vapour around him, he freezes it in such a way so that the cleavage planes are right where his joints are, and so that whenever he moves, it automatically breaks, and because Iceman can continually lower his body, he can continually create his body armour even when parts of it break.

http://www.mlms.loganschools.org/~mlowe/lowehome/Dictionaries/Standard3/CleavagePlanes.html

Another thing that may be hard to comprehend is how Iceman freezes things. If he can freeze things by lowering his body temperature. he should be freezing things from all directions all the time. However, the majority of the time he uses his powers, he ejects ice particles from his hand. I have a theory, and but it's only possible if he can choose which parts of his body he can or can not absorb thermal energy. That way, if he concentrates it on his hand in such a way so that his palms hold enough thermal energy to propel ambient water vapour and his fingers would be cold enough to freeze the vapours being propelled, then the ice leaving his hands are simply flash frozen particles that are so cold they can even freeze other objects, by absorbing heat going back to thermal equilibrium. This makes his ability freeze closer to how it's illustrated in the movies.

<http://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/82401/feedback-iceman/p4 Beam>

One last thing that's hard to understand is how Iceman can create his ice slide. We already know his ice beam is not exactly ice but is actually particles of really cold water vapour, but how do the particles form solid masses like Iceman's iconic ice slide? 1st, the same way he is able to make his ice armour with the perfectly placed cleavage planes. He only needs to visualise the slide, and because of his thoughts, the particles would super cool at a certain spot. But what I find uncomfortable with this theory is how the particles know where to stop. I would think that that would be determines by another ice beam.

http://screenrant.com/x-men-days-of-future-past-trailer-photos/

If he can project ice beam from his hands, what's stopping him from making a similar projection using his feet? Although, I don't think he uses a full-on ice beam, but he uses a weaker version, only so that the 2 ice beams would meet forming the ice slide. This is much like how a projection can be made by having light projected onto a sheet. So that as a ray of cooled water vapour goes down, a sheet of cooled vapour radiates from Iceman's feet so that the 2 would collide to form a solid shape.

http://tech.commfiles.com/3d-holograph-projector

And that's how I think Iceman's powers would fit here in the real world. Of course, I'm pretty sure some of these things may be wrong, though some may be right. What are your thoughts on the science of Iceman's power? Feel free to discuss in the comment section below!

Sources:

<1> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceman_(comics)

<2> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics

<3> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleavage_(crystal)

Acknowledgements:

Special thanks to Sam Chan, Glenn Liwanag, and Jake Ramos