Here’s What ‘Daredevil’ Would Look Like With The ‘Law & Order’ Opening

Re-entering EVE Online

<POD INSERTION, INTERFACE ONLINE: WELCOME BACK PILOT>

So you think you’re ready for EVE Online. You were a pilot once and you’re back to settle the score. Ease back on the throttle partner. This ain’t the EVE you remember. It’s a thousand times more dangerous.

Just watch this video. Yes, its a propaganda video but I will promise you this: Everything you see is real. I’ve done it. I have lead ships into the night against incredible odds, won and lost and wouldn’t have it any other way. There has never been a gaming experience like EVE Online.

FEEL YOUR HEART RACING? 

Good. That means you’re ready. EVE Online is arguably the best space MMO ever created. It is certainly now one of the longest running, single sharded universes ever created. All the EVE players share one single, always running, continuously evolving universe.

What is EVE Online?

EVE Online is a massively multiplayer online game set 23,000 years in the future. As an elite spaceship pilot, you will explore, build, and dominate across a universe of over 7,000 star systems. Sandbox gameplay and advanced skill-based progression provide you with a truly unique experience as you rise to power among the stars.

The possibilities are endless in EVE Online:  take sides in factional warfare. Join an alliance and wage epic battles for sovereignty over star systems. Discover wormholes leading to unknown regions of space. Uncover pirate outposts and lucrative resources hidden in the far reaches of the cosmos.

Partially Player vs Environment and partially Player vs Player, EVE is a complex universe where industry, economics, combat, resource management, technology design, planet resource harvesting and stock market analysis and manipulation are all part of the potential gameplay. You can participate in as little of these things or as much as you like. There are no assigned roles, just skills you acquire to do what YOU want to do.

The game has been in the news for a variety of reasons, tales of corporate skulduggery, vast empires clashing, pirates destroying beloved space stations, espionage bringing alliances to their knees are all part of this game. But this has also real world implications since resources in EVE have some degree of relationship to real-world economies.

The new things I’ve noticed:

If you’ve been away for a while, like I have, when you return to EVE, you will find the universe has changed, in most ways for the better. But if you’re returning, I recommend you move slower than before, learning what’s different and focusing on staying alive. EVE’s reputation as a brutal place to live is the one thing that HASN’T changed.

EXTENDED SKILL TRAINING

• The most important change for the average player is – You can queue up as many skills as you have bought and injected skill books for.
• This means you can set up every skill you have and have them trained up to their maximums even if you don’t play again for weeks.
• Before you couldn’t train anything longer than a couple of weeks, without monitoring it. This is the biggest advancement change in the game.

 

REBALANCED AND NEWER STARSHIPS

Ships have been re-balanced (again) so any ships you used to fly have probably been modified and you need to check your skill level and your performance in that ship.

• Since each ship has a rating of 1 to 5, indicating how complete your mastery of abilities required to use that ship.
• A mastery of level one means you can fly that ship and keep it working at the minimum level of performance. A mastery of five means you probably have a 5 skill rating in any skill required to use that ship.
• It also means you have a better chance of surviving combat with other pilots, because you can equip the best technology of that ship.
• There is now a third tier of ships, Type III ships which are completely modular, requiring you to build every subsystem of the ship, making something completely unique and tailored to your skills. These are fabulously expensive ships and will likely take some time for you to acquire both the skills and the funding to afford them.

 

CHANGED SECTOR SECURITY

High Security Space (commonly called ‘High Sec’) isn’t as safe as it used to be. I have watched numerous takedowns of ships by pirates willing to sacrifice their ships to get YOUR stuff. The insertion systems for new players are reputed to still be truly safe, but the rest of EVE is something else. Remember:

• Be mindful of flying around with tons of expensive equipment or in transport ships that scream “I’ve got stuff for you to steal.”
• Your ship WILL be scanned and they will follow you until they can attack your ship, in High Sec.
• The will blow you up and then get blown up by Concord, in turn. Then their pirate scavenging buddies will swoop in and grab whatever wasn’t destroyed in their attack.
• Low Sec and Null Sec space are still ruthless and dangerous, and being fast and nimble until you have friends is still the best rule you can use out there.

 

NEW TUTORIALS

• There is a new tutorial system in place to help you refamiliarize yourself with the interface. It still looks mostly like the old one but things have moved around and changed optimizing performance. It will take a little getting used to but a few hours and you will be moving around good as new.
• There are changes in the security setups for corporations, so if you are a corporate leader, you may want to reset and reduce all security settings for anyone in the corporation until you understand the changes.
• The storage spaces have now become more unified and have your ships and your gear sharing a single interface. It was a bit confusing but I got the handle of it pretty quick.

 

MORE DANGEROUS MISSIONS AND NPC INTERACTIONS

– If you are a mission runner, and you will need to run missions to get exotic gear, either from stations or from all of the new NPC interactions now available in every sector of space. There is so much new content, your head will be swimming.

– Missions have gotten more dangerous, the NPCs are smarter so if you go out on missions, be mindful of the NPC behavior. They ARE smarter than they were before.

These were all the things I have figured out so far. I know there is more but I can’t think of anything. If you want to look me up out there, my name is Lan Martak and I am and always will be a Thunderbolt.

Fly smart. Fly safe. Or not, you pirate bastard.

If I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe (movies and TV) should I read the comics? If so, where should I start. Is it worth it?

My @Quora answer to If I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe (movies and TV) should I read the comics? If so, where s…

Answer by Thaddeus Howze:

The answer to that question falls into a deterministic probability with two answers:

• YES, but…

• If you love it, you should marry it. (It costs as much.)

As a comic reader of 40+ years, if you are new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and have never read comics before, your experience may resemble THIS:

See that snowy part of the iceberg on the top? That is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s call it 1000 hours of movies, cartoons, commercials from any company (we’ll lump ALL Marvel products no matter who makes them, i.e. Sony) as long as they AREN’T comics. All the information you could glean from all of those sources is the stuff on top.

The comic universe, all 70+ years of it, is the stuff on the bottom of the iceberg. There is more information there than almost anyone can responsibly put into their head and effectively be allowed to roam the streets without supervision. If you just tried to read the Marvel Wikia and Wikipedia entries on all of the Marvel Universe entries you could be reading for YEARS (hell, decades) and never fully be able to thread the stories together.

First issue of Amazing Spider-Man!

Why because comics are a serial medium. A single book say: Amazing Spider-Man has an incredible amount of data stored within just its pages. Heroes, villains, backstory, technology, and other events. These stories are just his (with the occasional guest star.) Wikipedia reminds us: The Amazing Spider-Man has 700 issues alone!

The Amazing Spider-Man (abbreviated as ASM) is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man.

Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously, with a brief interruption in 1995, until its relaunch with a new numbering order in 1999. In 2003 the series reverted to the numbering order of the first volume. The title has occasionally been published biweekly, and was published three times a month from 2008 to 2010. A film named after the comic was released July 3, 2012.

After DC Comics‘ relaunch of Action Comics and Detective Comics with new #1 issues in 2011, it had been the highest-numbered American comic still in circulation until it was cancelled. The title ended its 50-year run as a continuously published comic with issue #700 in December 2012. It was replaced by The Superior Spider-Man as part of theMarvel NOW! relaunch of Marvel’s comic lines.

The title was relaunched in April 2014, starting fresh from issue #1, after the “Goblin Nation” story arc published in The Superior Spider-Man and Superior Spider-Man Team-Up.

Now multiply that by three hundred or more titles over seventy years and you begin to see how big your iceberg really is.

Marvel has been thinking about people just like you.

Marvel realizes their multiverse (collection of related or associated comic universes) has grown too large to remember and too large for the new reader to come on board. The burden of history is now crushing…

What do I suggest? There are three paths to enjoying comics these days:

• Online subscriptions – Getting a subscription to the Marvel.com website. Before you starts shelling out MAD money and (nowadays it is mad money to buy a single comic, as much as a paperback novel once cost) going broke over trying to read all of the Marvel Universe, instead go to their online comic shop and read comics through your computer.
• No it won’t be the same as holding them in your hand, but if you want to get a little background on a character and want to feel it rather than Wikia it, this is a great way to get a taste of the old writers, artists and uniquely Marvel style. It isn’t perfect, but if you want to learn, to absorb all things Marvel, this does work.

• Trade Paperback/Graphic Novels – In the past, when Marvel created a story or series of stories that were so awesome they wanted to put them together in a single tome or if they had a story that was so awesome, it was an EXPERIENCE, it became a Graphic Novel. The Death of Captain Marvel was the first such graphic novel. (And an amazing read to boot! He’s also one of the few blokes in Marvel’s comics to die and stay dead!)
• Graphic Novels are the ultimate comic book gateway drug. Imagine the best stories of a particular comic series bound together in one single publication, without ads, without interruption, in glorious high quality paper, ink and four color awesomeness. I kid you not. Graphic novels are the best of the best. They also cost a mint so be prepare to kiss your spending cash goodbye. Most of the time they ARE worth the effort and the painful sucking sound from your wallet.

• Secret Wars – Battleworld – And the final solution for helping you with the history of the Marvel Universe. A solution so drastic, I can only show you one image:

Bet you thought I was going to show you their Battleworld logo…

They threw it all away.

That’s right, for a limited time only (or until fans scream, cry, tear out their eyes or their hearts on video) Marvel has decided to REBOOT THEIR UNIVERSE! What this means is, if you started reading in the next few months, there would be no previous continuity required for you to know to enjoy their publications. You would be free of the burden of history because everything that was happening right now was happening for the first time in this new universe.

For the new reader this is a great boon and a terrible loss (yes, together). The boon is you are free to learn about Marvel, the same way old fans did. When it was fresh and new and unseen, unknown, without any idea what was happening next.

So long, Earth-616. We’ll miss you (at least until the next retcon…)

A loss because there are so many wonderful stories you may never get to know about unless you plumb the internet for pieces of those great stories and then wander the isle of comic book stores where store owners who look like these guys may be able to help you with their encyclopedic knowledge of the former Marvel Universe:

Comic Book Men is an AMC television show where geeks become famous talking about comics. Who knew?

To recap:

• It’s a good time to enter the Marvel Universe since they just blew it up and made a new one. Everything is new, tacky costumes are bound to be everywhere until they decide on what everyone should look like.
• Stories won’t be connected together, right away at least, so you should be able to pick a character you like and read their book without having to buy a four hundred page crossover series.
• Comics ain’t cheap, bub. And they aren’t getting any cheaper. Be sure to have a good job to support your comic habit because if you collect more than a few titles they will get very expensive, very quickly.
• Go online to get your history fix. You can go to Marvel.com: The Official Site you can go to the Marvel Wikia, you can go to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Stack Exchange where there are histories and story information on lots of characters.
• If you want to check out a hero or villains most awesome now historical moments, search the internet for (“your hero/villain’s name” and “greatest feats” or just “feats”). Comic fans are some of the most loyal web citizens out there and have compiled amazing dossiers.
• I haven’t addressed the issue of whether the comics are good for one reason. They haven’t happened yet. So I can’t say if it will be worth it, only that you have a shot at starting over and maybe they can do a better job than they have been doing in the last ten or fifteen years. Good luck.

Welcome to the new Marvel Universe. Maybe they can make a “true believer” out of a new generation. Excelsior! (Something Stan Lee used to say on the end of his editorials, back in the Comic Jurassic Age.)

REFERENCES:
Marvel.com: The Official Site
Wikipedia: Amazing Spider-Man
How Much More Do Comic Books Cost Today? (the article is from 2012 but you can see just how much comic costs have evolved.)

If I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe (movies and TV) should I read the comics? If so, where should I start. Is it worth it?

Who would win in a fight between Superman Prime and Galactus? Why?

My @Quora answer to Who would win in a fight between Superman Prime and Galactus? Why?

Answer by Thaddeus Howze:

LAST SONS

Disclaimer: As I have said in other mashups, pitting characters from one universe against another is juvenile and pointless as neither company would want to have their character lose to the other.

With that said:

• On the left, we have the Man of Steel, the Last Son of Krypton, and the Man of Tomorrow all rolled up into one, The greatest and most powerful hero in the DC Universe, Superman Prime!
• On the right, we have the Devourer of Worlds, the Scourge of the Spaceways, the Last Survivor of the Previous Universe, the terrifying, the awe-inspiring, the mighty Galactus!

The Tale of the Tape…

Before you get to see who takes this battle, you need to know who the players are, so without further ado, let's get to know our space gods, up close shall we?

WHO IS SUPERMAN PRIME?

(Not to be confused with Superman-Prime, yes a hyphen makes a world of difference – we'll explain later.)

Superman Prime (One Million) is arguably one of the most powerful versions of Superman to have ever existed (canon or not). He was so powerful, he was responsible for lending a portion of his fantastic powers to his descendants to utilize across the solar system to protect Human endeavors.

• As to his connection to DC canon, the character appears in a what was dubbed "a possible future". The Justice Legion came back in time to the canon DC Universe to recruit the Justice League, so his canonical nature is deterministic at best. That possible future was erased with the previous DC Universe, so this version of Superman currently cannot exist under canon.
• Superman Prime (Kal-El) left Earth after the death of Lois Lane and traveled the Universe for 700 years before returning to Earth. During his travels, he acquired vast abilities and skills from every being he met and gained perfection over all the abilities he received. He left the Earth defended by his descendant who was dubbed "Superman Secundus".

• It is believed Kal-El broke through the Source Wall during his travels and training and studied under the Source itself, meaning he could have a portion of the Source's power or more, the true extent of abilities he received from the Source are unknown. (The Source is believed to be the originator of metahuman ability in the DC Universe and the center of the power of Jack Kirby's New Gods line of heroes.)

The Source Wall, the boundary to the DC Multiverse and believed to be the source of metahuman abilities in the DC Universe. Beings who seek its power and are deemed unworthy become part of the wall adding to its protection.

• When he returned he forged a covenant with his descendants, he would bestow upon them a small fraction of his power as long as they served for truth and justice. He also gained the abilities of his lineage and magnified them with his own power; ie. the Superman of the 67th Century married the queen of the 5th Dimension, GZNTPLZK, which in turn gave Superman Prime the abilities and powers of a 5th Dimension Imp. (See: Mr. Mxyzptlk) After the covenant he left and returned to his Fortress of Solitude in the center of the Super Sun."

Superman Prime's Fortress of Solitude is inside what was now dubbed the Super Sun. All of his descendants draw their power from it and must recharge regularly or lose them after only a few days.

• Kal-El is the creator of the Superman Dynasty which protected Humanity in his absence. During is absence, the Superman Dynasty added to their powers by adding to their genetic heritage over the centuries. Superman Prime was still more powerful than they were, even after their genetic improvements.

In addition to the entire suite of superhuman abilities (super-strength, invulnerability, speed, vision powers, etc) common to the most powerful versions of Superman, Superman Prime had several advantages which pushed his powers to a level unforeseen by nearly any version of the character:

• Vast Energy Absorption Powers: Superman Prime remained in the Earth's sun for 15,000 years. It was theorized there was no upper limit to his powers at this point. Given his feats after only a few decades of living on Earth, this extended time "sun-dipping" increased his powers to a level that dwarfed his incredibly powerful descendant, Kal Kent, who was already more powerful than the gravitation pull of a collapsing star and capable of traveling faster than light. Kal Kent is considered the equal of the most powerful canon version of Superman known up to that time: The Superman of Earth-One.
• Reality Alteration: Shown as capable, with the aid of the Superman of the 5th dimension, of turning a fragment of DNA inside-out through time into a full-fledged human being with the soul of the original individual, presumably among other capabilities.

He resurrects Lois Lane giving her an immortal and probably superhuman physiology from a strand of DNA.

He also restores Krypton, almost as if he snatched it out of Time itself.

• Power Bequeathment: Superman Prime is noted as being capable of sharing a portion of his power with his descendants, this fraction alone itself being a degree of power "far beyond any held by any metahumans ever" (though tying them inextricably to the Super-Sun that Prime inhabits as the source of their powers).

Kal Kent is the distant descendant of Superman and the leader of Justice Legion Alpha in the 853 century AD.

• Immortality: Superman Prime has not visibly aged since the late 20th/early 21st century. It is this version of the character which gave rise to the idea that Superman might age slowly or not at all as long as he was exposed to solar radiation.
• In addition: Superman Prime also had access to what is believed to be the last Green Lantern ring and had the capability of powering and using it.

This version of Superman is reputedly the apotheosis of everything Superman could ever hope to become, saving the Universe many times over, leaving a cosmic legacy of defenders across the galaxy, reaching and accessing the Source, moving through time and restoring/saving his entire doomed planet and species, and losing and finding his one true love. This version of Superman has the power to alter reality, courtesy of his access to Fifth Dimensional energies and thus is arguably more powerful than any version of the character to have ever existed.

Apocrypha

• It is rumored that the vastly powerful Superman Prime is the same version of Superman who appears in All-Star Superman and is a possible future version of the character. Kal Kent (or someone who looked suspiciously like him) claims to be from the far future and appears in All-Star Superman #6.

• Superman Prime (One Million) is also not to be confused with the canon character Superman-Prime aka Superboy-Prime (whose real name is Clark Kent) hailed from a Pre-Crisis reality (Earth-Prime) where superheroes didn't exist and were just comic book characters.
• When the Pre-Crisis DC Universe collapsed, he was one of the few survivors. Unfortunately that happy ending was not to be as he returned to the Post-Crisis universe as a power-mad despot with powers rivaling that of the Earth-One Superman (making him the most powerful version of Superman since that Silver Age, Pre-Crisis powerhouse.) He was responsible for the deaths of Conner Kent/Kon-El (Post-Crisis clone-Superboy) and Panthra of the Teen Titans among many others before his imprisonment in the Source Wall.

---

WHO IS GALACTUS

Galactus is a force of nature that wanders the Universe feeding on a select energy, the potential for sentient life deep within the surface of certain planets. His is a name feared throughout the Universe and his most common appellation is the Devourer of Worlds.

• When Galactus feeds from a world, it will either be barely capable of sustaining life in the future or it will be a destroyed husk reduced to rubble in space, depending on how hungry Galactus is before he feeds.

Galactus doesn't miss meals well. A hungry Galactus is a grouchy one, too.

• When his Herald finds a world rich in the sustenance he craves, he calls his starship and drains the world of all of its energy. There is no canon answer as to what specific type of energy Galactus is feeding upon when a world is selected by a Herald.
• Depending on the writer, the medium or the continuum being described, Galactus has used a variety of energy forms to survive on from nebulous and ill-defined "life-force energies" to the anti-matter energy of the Negative Zone or the background energy of the universe itself (perhaps vacuum energy), which may be just another way to describe the Power Cosmic.

He is a mystery to most of the Universe but here's what we do know:

• Galactus (as the humanoid Galan) was a survivor of the previous universe. He survives the cosmic crush of the Universe with the help of the Phoenix Force and is reborn as a fundamental/abstract being in our Universe. He is reborn from the Cosmic Egg as a brother to Eternity and Death. He is seen as a force between the two challenging all life in the Universe.
• Galactus does not have to completely destroy a world he has fed upon. If he is able to set up and use his Elemental Converter, he can leave a shred of life energy so that world can barely support lower level life (lichens and their ilk).
• He is able to draw the lifeforce from the world without his Elemental Converter, but if he does, the planet is often completely destroyed and unable to support life in the process. This is not his desired method since it wastes precious life-force energies.
• In a conversation/confrontation with the Phoenix, Galactus indicates both of them utilize the same energy, he using the spent remains of a civilization or barren life-bearing planet, and she the energies of life as yet unborn.

Even at his earliest stages, he was a power almost without equal. Discovered by one of the first most advanced races in the universe, a Watcher is horrified to discover how powerful Galactus was.

The Watcher after studying Galactus flees when he, as was the want of his people refused to destroy the potential threat he correctly perceives Galactus to eventually become. As Galactus leaves his incubation chamber, he consumes his first planet without technology leaving it a husk unable to support life, forcing its inhabitants to become the first Wanderers (beings forced from their world by Galactus).

Despite his humanoid appearance Galactus is a being who defies description, his powers are dwarfed by his physical appearance, which is now more than anything a construct perhaps in homage to his previous humanoid appearance. The Enchantress describes him: "What we normally see of Galactus is the merest tip, he's an iceberg of cosmic dimensions. No. Worse. He HAS no dimensions. No boundaries at all."

• He is equated on the same level of cosmic necessity as the other great conceptual powers of the Universe, including Death, The Living Tribunal, The Inbetweener, and Epoch, to name a few. Within his energy-filled body lives the destructive force of Eternity, Abraxas. Only the Other Cosmic/Abstract beings or the Celestials have proven to be his equal. In a confrontation against three Celestials however, Galactus was defeated (Fantastic Four #602, #603, #604) and rescued by a future Franklin Richards.
• The life force that Galactus feeds upon does not appear to need to be sentient, for Norrin Rad (the Silver Surfer) made it his duty during the time he served Galactus to find him worlds filled with the potential for life, but having no sentient life upon them. In the Marvel Universe, planets can have life-force like energies which can lead to beings such as Gaea/Jord (Earth-616) coming into existence and leading to an explosion of lifeforms over time. Perhaps it is this energy upon which he feeds.
• Galactus' recent death and resurrection implies Galactus' continued existence having been restored by the "beyond Omega-Level" powers of Franklin Richards and the threat of the Mad Celestials defeated. Galactus was re-powered by Franklin Richards who has no known connection to the Phoenix Force. Galactus was restored to full strength and was capable of destroying a Celestial after his renewal.

SPECULATION ON GALACTUS' EATING HABITS

• Considering Galactus' transition from the previous Universe to this one was through the interaction with the Phoenix Force, it may be he requires the re-infusion of Phoenix energy to sustain himself.
• The Phoenix Force is considered to be the unbridled energy of life in the Universe. Since his life was recreated by the Phoenix after the death of his Universe, he may be lacking a particular universal constant which is not available in our universe.

Taa's civilization was one of the last still in existence. Lethal radiation caused by the "Big Crunch" this universe was experiencing was wiping out all life across the universe. Galan, a space explorer, was dispatched to travel through the cosmos to find a means of saving Taa, but he found none.

The radiation eventually killed off all but a tiny fraction of the population of Taa. Knowing their deaths were inevitable, Galan proposed to the remaining survivors that they die gloriously by piloting one of their starships directly into the heart of the "Cosmic Egg."

As the starship containing Galan and his fellow survivors approached the focal point of the Big Crunch, the heat and radiation killed all the passengers except Galan, who strangely found himself filled with new energy.

At the moment Galan's universe met its end, the Phoenix Force amassed the positive emotions of all living beings in the cosmos to preserve them from eternal damnation, enabling the Sentience of the Universe — the previous universe's equivalent to Eternity — to meet with Galan.

Within the "Cosmic Egg" the Sentience of the Universe revealed itself to Galan and informed him that though they both would die in the final moments of the universe, they would both survive through a joint heir born into the next universe. The Sentience of the Universe merged itself with the mortal Galan and thus Galactus, the devourer of worlds, was conceived. —Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Galactus Entry

This is as close as we have gotten to seeing what's on Galactus' menu.

• It may also be that containing the destructive element of Abraxas within his "body" may require an infusion of life energy (Phoenix Force) to maintain his prison. In the very early years, Galactus could go for extremely long periods of time without feeding. This may have been due to his primal exposure to the Phoenix Force after the Big Bang. As the Phoenix Force dissipated and possible collected with worlds, it became harder for him to harvest from the background radiation of the Universe and he was forced to seek it out.
• Noting that Galactus has complete control of all normal electromagnetic phenomenon, the energy he is seeking must be very subtle or very unique, otherwise he would simply feed from stars or other highly energetic objects in our universe. If a star cannot feed his powers, he is seeking a very rare energy indeed. Since the Phoenix Force can manifest anywhere, it is possible he is seeking planets whose potential of that energy is still in an abundance enough for him to replenish his supply.
• It is noted that Galactus can utilize energy from the EM spectrum and can harvest the power of a star to replenish his cosmic energy for combat. He has also absorbed energy from a Protector of the Universe (Gravity) completely draining him of his powers but was able to temporarily sate Galactus enough to spare the Cosmic being Epoch from Galactus' hunger. It is possible Galactus can feed on alternative energy sources, but this varies from writer to writer just as his power level does.

Galactus possesses the immeasurable Power Cosmic and is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, having near-limitless godlike powers.

• He was once referred to as "the most awesome living entity in the cosmos."
• Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet ranked him around the same level of power as Odin, Zeus, the Celestials, and the Stranger, but well below Master Order, Lord Chaos, Mistress Love, and Sire Hate, who in turn are well below Eternity and Infinity, who are well below the Living Tribunal.
• As such, Galactus is able to employ the cosmic energy within him to produce virtually any effect he desires. After devouring four planets, Galactus has been shown capable of fighting four Mad Celestials, and destroying one of them, although when they fused together into a powerful Voltron Celestial he was defeated.
• A few of the abilities he displayed are:
  • Immortality: Galactus is said to be the oldest living entity; therefore people consider him as an ageless being.
  • God-level Strength, Stamina, and Speed: Nearly matchless levels of superhuman strength and stamina. Despite his size, Galactus can fly at speeds that greatly surpass the speed of light.
  • Invulnerability: Galactus is immune to all diseases, ailments, and toxins. In addition, he is enormously resistant to damage, but was almost killed by a planetary impact, despite being nourished at the time.
  • Energy Discharges: After absorbing the energy from several planets, Galactus proved capable of destroying at least three solar systems. It has been speculated that Galactus might be able to destroy entire galaxies utilizing the Power Cosmic to destabilize them.
  • Energy Absorption: Arguably his most viable power, as his survival depends on absorbing the Life Force from planets or stars. During his fight with Mephisto, he showed that he is even capable of absorbing an entire domain.
  • Size-Alteration: Galactus's base height and weight will diminish when he is greatly in need of life-giving energy. Galactus has the ability to increase his size and mass at will, the extent of which is unknown. He once grew to a stature so great that he could wrestle with the Wraithworld sun.
  • Adapted Appearance: Although Galactus is usually represented in humanoid form, each sentient being perceives him having a form resembling their own. Hence, humans see Galactus as an enormous armor-clad humanoid, while an amoeba-like species, for example, would perceive Galactus in an enormous amoeba-like form. Although as Galan, Galactus was indeed a humanoid, his true current form is unknown.
  • Molecular Restructuring: Galactus can manipulate, reshape and rearrange the molecular complexions of any organism, allowing him to rebuild or redesign things internally.
  • Matter Transmutation: Being a cosmic being, Galactus can control matter in any object which allows him to turn something tangible like lead, into something intangible like water.
  • Teleportation: Galactus can make himself, other people, and objects appear anywhere in the entire universe that he wishes with a mere thought. He has even teleported the planet Galador from one galaxy to another.
  • Force-Fields: Galactus can erect near-impenetrable energy shields.
  • Interdimensional & Intradimensional Portals: He can create wormholes between dimensions and within dimensions.
  • Telepathy: Ability to read or communicate with other minds across universal distances.
  • Telekinesis: Ability to move enormous amounts of mass through mental concentration.
  • Cosmic Awareness: Galactus can sense disturbances or changes within the cosmic ether on a universal scale.
  • Resurrection: He can raise the dead.
  • Creation: Galactus can create complex, sentient, biological or bio-technical life-forms from nothing.
  • Soul Control & Manipulation: Galactus can control and manipulate the souls and spirits of living beings at will. He uses this power to alter the memories and emotions of others.
  • Recreation: Being a cosmic being, Galactus was able to recreate the entire planet Zen-La, including population, etc. in every detail.
  • Power/Ability Bestowal: Galactus' heralds, whom he has endowed with a minuscule fraction of his cosmic power, are able to manipulate matter and energy in ways that are far beyond human comprehension.
  • Vitakinesis: Galactus is able to heal himself and others from physical wounds although this may simply be molecular reconstruction.

SPOILERS

Galactus is now thought to be a Herald of Franklin Richards (this is implied from a statement from Nathaniel Richards, Reed Richard's father) after a confrontation with the Mad Celestials in which Galactus appears to be defeated and potentially mortally wounded. He is resurrected and restored with the powers of Franklin Richards. Whether this is hyperbole or a statement of fact remains to be determined. It is also noted Franklin and Galactus will be aware of each other for billions of years in the future. Stand by for your moment of awesome:

Galactus being raised from the dead by Franklin Richards. Fantastic Four #604

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We're gonna sum it up right now…

• With the potpourri of powers heaped upon Superman Prime despite Galactus' long, incredible and storied history, the Scourge of the Spaceways would inevitably fall before Superman Prime range of fantastic abilities.
• What ability would take its toll upon the Mighty Galactus? The powers of the 5th Dimensional Imps. Beings from a higher reality, the Imps of the 5th dimension are able to alter reality in our dimension the same way you and I could wad up a piece of paper and throw it away. Or set it on fire. Or change it into something else with technology.
• The Imps simply do this because they are able to see our dimension, our state of being as something able to be manipulated and controlled the same way we do to things in our 3-dimensional space. Three of the most well known of these beings are Mr. Mxyztplk, Bat-Mite and Yz the Thunderbolt.
• The obvious question is why or how could beings so powerful as to be able to alter reality (from our perspective) at will, ever be stopped by normal metahumans? Because they want to be. For them, our universe is the equivalent of a game of Call of Duty or World of Warcraft.
• They interact with people because it gives them something to do. They were generally meddlesome and being all powerful was boring to them, so they usually handicapped the interaction in some way to make it more interesting to them.
• In Mr. Mxyztplk's case, he would torment Superman until the Man of Steel could make him say his name backward. Then he would retreat back to the 5th Dimension for 90 days.
• Bat-Mite's admiration for Batman was so great, he would come to follow his idol on missions, often getting in the way with his admiration by increasing the threat level on missions forcing Batman to be more inventive to escape. Trust crafty Batman to turn the little menace to his use from time to time.
• Yz the Thunderbolt actually worked for the good guys as a partial member of the Justice Society. His handicap? He could only do what he was told. Literally. His first handler Johnny Thunder wasn't the brightest light in the box but he meant well. Later handlers put him to better use but his literalness meant he could be as much a hazard as a help.

• Superman Prime would acquire access to these powers when his descendants would marry members of a 5th Dimensional family and transfer their powers to him.

Does this mean Galactus just rolls over and takes it?

Hardly. In his early literary career Galactus was THE original name on the block. He was one of a trinity of beings whose existence predated the Marvel Universe itself. As a member of these fundamental beings, Galactus can be attacked, damaged, and even apparently destroyed, but somehow the Universe will find a way to restore his existence. He is, an as yet undisclosed but necessary part of the Marvel Universe.

His powers have few equals though writers have taken liberties with his powers reducing them significantly so that he might take part in events in the Marvel Universe and experience a little stress in the doing so.

In his heyday he was so powerful, he didn't even interact with lesser beings, leaving the light work to his magnificent creations, The Heralds of Galactus. His greatest herald, the Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic bequeathed to him by his master, is more than a match for most sentients in the Marvel Universe.

Is there any way Galactus could come out on top?

Absolutely. Remember that old adage: "Old age and treachery can overcome youth and skill."

A battle between two such cosmic-powered beings would surely destroy any world where such a titanic struggle could take place, so it might be best done somewhere far from any civilization. Such a struggle might actually take place not only in space but through time as well and possibly even in lower and higher dimensions we wouldn't even be privy to.

To be fair, Superman Prime and Galactus are so powerful, neither would likely confront the other because at their power scales, they are more likely to destroy sections of the galaxy around them before they seriously damage each other.

(Galactus had to teach this lesson to the Phoenix when the two of them battled. Phoenix was more powerful but her powers utilized life energy from the Universe, destabilizing the balance between Life and Death.)

Since the powers of the 5th Dimensional Imps would not be native even to the incredibly old Superman Prime (from his perspective he is from the 853 century on Earth), he might be reluctant to use them and this may give Galactus an advantage.

Galactus is billions of years old and his mastery of the Power Cosmic is absolute. While Superman Prime holds the capacity for greater power, he has had his powers FAR less long and could find defeating the ancient space god, more difficult than he might imagine. One mistake might be all it took for Galactus to come home a winner.

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*Parts of this essay have come from earlier essays I've written on these two characters on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Stack Exchange.

REFERENCES:
Is the Golden Superman Canon and What are His Powers?*
What was Galactus feeding on in planets?*
What, of the planets he consumes, provides Galactus with sustenance?*
Galactus (Earth-616)
Galactus' Heralds
Superman Prime (One Million)
How Powerful is Superman Prime?

Who would win in a fight between Superman Prime and Galactus? Why?

Which superheroes can defeat Superman?

My @Quora answer to Which superheroes can defeat Superman?

Answer by Thaddeus Howze:

You don't tug on Superman's Cape. You just don't do it.

Few superheroes in the DC Universe would even consider entering the ring with Big Blue.

• Most supervillains who engage him are counting on his restraint (his fear of hurting innocents or causing egregious collateral damage) and whatever plan they have concocted to allow them to gain the upper hand.
• Superman is arguably one of the most powerful metahumans on DC Earth. Since the DCnU reboot, it has not been determined if there is single metahuman who is physically more powerful.

But if I were to consider all of the canon versions of Superman as a reference, Superman could be defeated by several heroes using a variety of techniques. Superman is amazingly tough and fantastically durable but not completely unstoppable.

• To put his power in perspective, we have almost never seen Superman go full out against many enemies for fear of collateral damage on an epic scale. (See: Man of Steel (2014) for an indication of what could really happen if Superman fought at his peak ability.)

Superman vs Doomsday

• When Superman fought Doomsday to a standstill and both were effectively killed, Doomsday had already fought his way through the entire Justice League, including Wonder Woman, Guy Gardner, and the Martian Manhunter. They were barely able to slow him down. Most were lucky Doomsday was still partially restrained or they would have been killed.

https://youtu.be/KIWle6pVv1wSuperman vs Darkseid, Animated Adventures

• Superman invariably fights with restraint. With good reason, a use of his casual strength can destroy almost anything he touches. He describes it as "a world made of cardboard."

• If he fought using his powers at their maximum, speed blitzing, super-strength unfettered by restraint, and his energy projection powers, most of the Justice League or any force rallied against him would be rendered insensate in seconds.

Superman vs Imperiex

• In the previous version of the DC Universe, he was taught to fight unrestrained by his enemy Mongul to battle against the cosmic enemy, Imperiex. Imperiex was so bad-assed, he sent multiple smaller versions of himself to fight all over the Earth.
• Each one was equal to Superman on a good day and whenever anyone destroyed one, it required a sacrifice: one took an atomic tank to self-destruct to destroy, one required Wonder Woman to fight to the brink of death to defeat it. The other pretty much mowed their way through Earth's heroes pausing for soliloquy.
• Only Superman could fight one unaided. And he only did it well once he had been trained to remove his self-imposed physical restraints on his powers.

Battle Plan

To have any chance at all against Superman you must attack at one of his key weaknesses and have a strategy:

• The chaotic energies of magic – he isn't weak to magic, he just gets far less of the bonuses normally associated with his invulnerability. Powerful users of magic have the best chance of being able to stop him with creative use of their powers.
• The deadly radioactive material, Kryptonite – the radiation from Kryptonite pushes his stored solar energy out of his body replacing it with the poisonous radiation and killing him. He becomes powerless and nearly unable to defend himself in any way. In the new DCnU, the availability of Green K is pretty rare, but it can be simulated with a Green Lantern's ring.

OR

• You must fight him to a standstill draining away all of his stored solar energy and survive long enough to do that. (Only been done effectively, once, by Doomsday).
• Bring him into an environment where he no longer is able to recharge his solar energy, i.e. an arena with a red sun

BONUS ROUND

• If you have psionic abilities, you may find Superman somewhat less difficult to handle, but several incarnations of the character had formidable mental defenses called Torquasm Vo and Torquasm Ro. And despite his lack of mental powers, his sheer willpower has defeated far stronger psychics.

• Recent data in the DCnU/New 52 indicates his new superpower – "Solar Flare" uses all of his power in a catastrophic explosion of energy, leaving him temporarily without use of his solar-derived Kryptonian abilities.

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Heroes assigned to the Superman Hit Squad

Magical Opposition

• Zatanna, Zatara, and Doctor Fate: All are powerful users of magic, a primary weakness of Superman. They would have to be very crafty and likely would work best if all three of them were coordinated in their efforts. There are other lesser masters of magic, but their efforts would probably be insufficient to the task.

• The Spectre: Considered the wrath of God in previous versions of the DC Universe, his power was nearly without limits. Even Superman's prodigious abilities would be second to a fully unleashed, magically powered Spectre. Unfortunately the Spectre is an unreliable entity whose powers wax and wane often depending on the being acting as a host for his powers.

Physical Opposition

• Captain Marvel/Shazam: Easily capable of going toe to toe with Superman for at least a while, Captain Marvel's greatest advantage is the magical origins of his powers. Any magical manifestation of his power would give him a good chance of damaging Superman and gaining a possible advantage.

The good Captain has sucker-punched the Man of Steel for a quick KO. Most of the time their battles are much less conclusive.

• Wonder Woman: The strongest woman warrior in the DCnU, her physical prowess was once nearly the equal of Superman and she was trained as a warrior in a number of combat disciplines and doesn't hesitate to kill her enemies if she can. Superman acknowledges how dangerous she can be.

• Her skill with weapons has few equals in the Justice League and all of her weapons were forged by the Gods, making them magical and able to harm Superman.
• Of all the physical opposition capable of being rallied by the heroic side of the scoreboard, Wonder Woman is capable of bringing the smack-down with extreme prejudice.

• The Martian Manhunter: while he is just shy of Superman's raw physical power, his mental might is unequaled in the Justice League and he would be capable of attacking Superman both physically and mentally at the same time.

• In coordination with a team of heroes, the Manhunter's mental might would definitely keep Superman off-balance. His ability to coordinate the team would also aid in their chances of taking the day.

• Icon: an alien being whose physical powers equal or perhaps even exceed that of the Kryptonian. He has in the past proven to be capable of holding his own against Superman, which is no mean feat.

Technological Opposition

• Orion and Big Barda of the New Gods (whose fate is unknown in the DCnU): Both incredibly powerful beings, physically and technologically, they would definitely give Superman a run for his money. Both have weapons capable of emitting radion energy, a signature energy of their worlds, capable of harming or even killing Superman.

Orion of New Genesis – physically capable of holding his own in direct confrontation with the Man of Steel and has technology from New Genesis capable of harming him.

• The Green Lanterns of Earth (Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, Jon Stewart, and Hal Jordan) with their oanite rings powered by the Green energy of Oa, they are able to create functional radiation signatures similar to Kryptonite with comparable effects. They can also temper the radiation to limit the effect as well, binding or incapacitating him. Given the currently transforming state of the Lantern powers, their capabilities may be even greater than they have been in the past.

• Batman: A masterful fighter, one of the finest on Earth, has also kept a ring made of Kryptonite in case Superman ever went rogue. In previous continuities, it was Superman himself who suggested that Batman keep such a weapon, just in case. While exposed to Kryptonite, Superman would be far more vulnerable and with the proper application of force by Batman, he might be able to defeat Superman in a confrontation.

All this is assuming Superman wants to be stopped…

None of these scenarios guarantee anything. They only mean a coordinated attack with individuals who know his weaknesses and aren't facing a Superman intent on killing them have any chance at all.

If Superman were prepared and had decided to SUN-DIP, a state where he flies to the sun, immerses himself absorbing all the solar energy he is capable of holding and then some, if he returned to Earth, nothing Earth's heroes could muster have any chance of stopping him.

Sun-dipped Superman is capable of moving worlds…

Which superheroes can defeat Superman?

In the Marvel Universe, how do civilians know the difference between a mutant and any other super-powered human?

Ans: In the Marvel Universe, how do civilians know the difference between a mutant and any other superhuman? @Quora

Answer by Thaddeus Howze:

By who's chasing them. Seriously.

Giant robots screaming "mutants detected" and "terminate mutant with prejudice" don't lend credence to the idea that mutants are good. If they destroy your neighborhood or car or livelihood while they are trying to terminate said mutants, you are even less likely to hold them in high esteem.

On the other hand if you see this:

You may be inclined to believe people being celebrated are good and different from those nasty mutants (see above), even though the amount of destruction caused by the two groups is comparable. Once group is celebrated, the other reviled.

How does Joe Six-Pack tell the difference? He doesn't.

Unless you are using advanced technologies or enhanced senses (sometimes it takes both – See: Cerebro, below), it is almost impossible to distinguish between the two. In some cases it requires very advanced technology to tell the difference between a mutant who wants to look and pass for human.

As in our universe, most people are unconcerned with things they cannot change and the Marvel Universe resembles ours in that their media is a powerful force in determining what the common man thinks of metahumans in general for good or evil.

• The common man does not distinguish between mutates and mutants. To him, mutants are bad, and the term mutate is not used in the common parlance of normal people.  (Neither is the term Inhuman but the recently popular Agents of SHIELD may change that.)

• Popular metahumans who get good press become superheroes. The origin of their powers is less important than what they do, have done, or have fought for or against in the public's perception.

• The Fantastic Four are mutates, but no one really cares about that. They care, the Fantastic Four protect New York against threats such as the Mole Man or Galactus. Good press goes a long way. Cooperation with the government is also a powerful tool toward maintaining good will. This is how the Avengers got over for decades. They maintained good relationships with the government, so much so, they had their own government liaison.
• Superheroes who become embroiled in events where the word mutant is associated (i.e. giant Sentinels invade a section of town shouting about mutants and randomly capturing them) or have major collateral damage because of those battles become mutants to the general public, and because of bad media coverage or general government disinformation, the word becomes a pejorative.

OR

• Mutants who cannot hide their mutations (which are often disfiguring) gain the scorn of the common man who can barely deal with racial differences let alone genetic aberrations like those seen among the Morlocks.

• If a mutant is well-known, pushes a mutant agenda, or are particularly destructive, such as the early rampages of Magneto did, this often paints mutants in a highly negative light even if they are seen performing good deeds. The public, and rightfully so, avoids anything to do with metahumans as a whole due to the potential for accidental death during their conflicts.

In the Marvel Universe, how do civilians know the difference between a mutant and any other super-powered human?

Which is the most important picture of Nepal’s earthquake?

Answer on @Quora by @mukta_priya to Which is the most important picture of Nepal's earthquake?

Answer by Mukta Priya:

It has to be these. A 5 month old trapped in debris for more than 22 hours and survived without a scratch. Alive, safe and happily smiling in his mother's arms- giving us the hope- no matter what human kind will emerge from any disaster.  We will find our way.

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DESTRUCTION OFTEN LEADS TO CREATION

20 year old Maya gave birth to a baby girl after second earthquake hit Nepal.

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Source- Nepal — Birth amid the ruins

Which is the most important picture of Nepal's earthquake?

Which is more powerful, Mjolnir or Green Lantern’s ring?

My @Quora answer to Which is more powerful, Mjolnir or Green Lantern's ring?

Answer by Thaddeus Howze:

"Mjolnir vs the Green Lantern's ring? Which is more powerful?" or better known as "Apples and Oranges: are we still comparing them?"

DISCLAIMER: Comparing power levels between comic universes is both juvenile and useless. Different comic companies with different writing styles, different standards, and often comparing objects used in entirely different ways is ultimately unsatisfying because there will never be a true test of comparison between the universes that both companies will agree on.

With that pesky disclaimer out of the way: Let's compare two of their respective universe's most powerful weapons:

• In this corner of the DC Universe, weighing five ounces, the rings of the Lightsmith Lantern Corps including the most famously known Green Lanterns Corps. The deliverers of colorful justice across the spaceways, the bringers of light to dark places, the destroyers (or perpetrators) of evil, the minions of bald headed, blue-skinned galactic meddlers, THE GREEN LANTERNS!
• In this corner of the Marvel Universe, weighing between 50 lbs and 3 billion depending on who you ask, the hammer forged of Uru metal by height-challenged craftsmen who work without union pay for an Asgardian demiurge, a weapon destined to slay the Midgard Serpent, the Asgardian Hammer "that which smashes", and the Body Slammer, MJOLNIR, THE HAMMER OF THOR!

Before we begin this titanic tale of the tape, I want you to consider the following image:

A scalpel, the CERN Large Hadron Particle Collider and Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear event to ever occur on Earth.

What we are comparing are tools, devices designed to perform purposes necessary to their function and here is where we have the primary disconnect between the two:

• The ring of the Green Lantern (or any other lightsmith) is first and foremost a tool, something that facilitates a variety of scientific, diplomatic and defensive functions of which combat is ONE of its many functions.
• Mjolnir, on the other hand, has a primary function with a number of secondary powers which are very similar to the powers of the Green Lantern ring but it is first and foremost a weapon of WAR, an engine of destruction.

Any meaningful comparison between the two is basically moot because they are rarely going to compare equally in any given demonstration.

The Tale of the Tape

The Oan Power ring is a complex omni-tool, a Swiss Army knife, capable of any number of amazing feats powered by the will of the user, including:

• Energy Projection: The ring can be used to fire blasts of Oan energy or create weapons such as projectiles of them. The ring can project beams of force powered by the will of the user. These energy displays can be as powerful as the wielder can imagine. Users whose familiarity with weapons, physics or other exotic knowledge can create even greater displays of destructive force equal to antimatter annihilation events.
• Force Field: The ring can create various forcefields of various sizes and shapes to protect the wearer and others around him. With the cosmic scope of a Green Lantern's duties, it is only natural that the power ring is designed for operation in space. The ring creates a force-field around the wearer, protecting him/her/it from the hazards of the void including filtration of stellar radiation and microscopic particulate matter which would ordinarily be fatal should the space debris strike the ring wielder at high speeds. An atmosphere appropriate to the ring wielder's biology is created inside the force-field, body temperature is maintained and waste products are removed.

• Energy Constructs: The ring can form constructs of Oan energy. The primary function of the Power Ring is to provide a weapon capable of transforming the wearer's thoughts into physical constructs through the wearer's strength of willpower. A Green Lantern can create any particular items or construct that they can imagine as long as they have the willpower necessary to will it into existence. The constructs are made out of green energy, which is a tangible form of pure willpower, and they exist only as long as a Green Lantern is fueling it with their willpower. Items created by the rings are not indestructible and are only as powerful as the willpower of the Green Lantern creating them. The types of constructs usually reflects the ring wearer's personality. Green Kryptonite has also been constructed using a Ring.
• Phasing: The Power Ring allows the wearer to pass through certain solid objects, such as walls.
• Environmental Playback: Upon request, the power ring can recreate a holographic environment based on data in its memory banks. The ring wielder can observe events in a ghostlike state, but the ring wielder cannot alter the outcome of the playback.
• Invisibility & Light Refraction: A ring wielder can render him/her/itself invisible by willing the ring to bend light waves around his/her/its form, as well as that of the power ring.
• Energy Absorption: The ring can absorb and store most other energies. Doing so does NOT replenish the normal store of energy the ring has. A ring that needs recharging but contained a store of electricity could only discharge that electricity, for example.
• Flight: By the manipulation of anti-gravitons and directed molecular movement, the ring allows the user to fly at incredible speeds. In atmosphere, a Green Lantern has been known to fly as fast as Mach 10 in atmosphere by creating an aerodynamic envelope around his body. Towing others, usually within a bubble, his speed is limited to the twice the speed of sound or 1440 mph. In space, Green Lantern's speed can be significantly greater and has been known to approach 80% of lightspeed in normal space.

• Wormholes & Spacial Warps: The power ring grants its wearer access to wormholes in space, enabling the ring wielder to rapidly cut time and distance needed for transport. The Guardians established at least one known wormhole to Oa, which required the use of a power ring to enter. Black holes can be navigated by experienced ring wielders. During a battle with Sinestro and his ally, Mad God Sector 3600, members of the Green Lantern Corps of Earth and the Green Lantern Corps of the Klyminade traveled through a black hole to be deposited outside a white hole in Space Sector 872. The power ring cannot generate a Boom Tube, as it needs a Mother Box and a sample of the highly unstable X-Element.
• Time Travel: Time travel is possible with the power ring, though the further forward in time a ring wielder travels, the more willpower it takes. As Green Lantern, Hal Jordan once explored as far as the 70th century. Jordan had also traveled to the 58th century as Pol Manning, a role later adopted by Salaak of Slyggia.
• Limited Cellular Regeneration: This ring has a limited ability to heal physical injuries; this seems to be a feature held over from the previous incarnations of the ring.
• Electromagnetic Scanning: The ring has a wide range of detection abilities based on the imagination of the user. If one can conceive of it, he can probably detect it. Magical effects like clairvoyance, seem to be beyond the scope of the ring. Most normal electromagnetic phenomena are within the range of the ring, including radio, television, infrared, ultraviolet, and high frequency band communications.
• Search Probes: A user was capable of sending probes through their Power Ring that were tasked with locating specific targets or individuals.
• Galactic Encyclopedia: The earlier rings worn by the Corps functioned as references for their users. Having the vast knowledge of the Oans to draw upon, each ring functioned as a ready reference on most peoples, stellar events and conditions that may have been seen by other rings or other Green Lanterns. The rings also served as a repository of adventures had by the Green Lantern and these mission reports were stored in the Prime Battery on Oa for review and training.
• Universal Translator: The power ring can translate virtually any language in the universe, facilitating diplomatic encounters rather than violent confrontations. Complications can arise, though, when a frame of reference for translation is not available, as evidenced during Katma Tui's induction of Rot Lop Fan into the Green Lantern Corps.
• Material Alteration: The Green Lantern's uniform is not made out of fabric. It is created by the Power Ring whenever the wearer wills to wear it. It automatically appears over the wearer's normal clothing, and vanishes when the wearer wills to return to their civilian attire. Most Green Lanterns wear similar uniforms that are programmed into the ring by default, such as Hal Jordan's uniform. However, each Green Lantern is able to adjust their uniform to fit their own needs, personalities and whims.
• Ring Duplication: Most Power Rings are capable of automatically duplicating themselves. Each duplicate typically shares the qualities and capabilities of the original ring. Each duplicate still requires to be recharged by a personal power battery. Some "temporary" rings can also be made, as well as rings with severe limitations and pre-programmed commands. All power rings, as being based upon the green ring templates created by the Guardians of the Universe, are all programmed to be able to duplicate themselves on a specialised command known apparently only by the Guardians.
• Emergency Beacon: A Green Lantern in distress can use his/her/its power ring as an emergency beacon. The alert can be directed to a Green Lantern's neighboring sector, or it can be a Corps-wide alert.
• Homing Beacon: A homing beacon in the power ring can lead one Green Lantern to another. This was one of the recent power ring upgrade features added by the Guardians of the Universe. The power ring can be ordered to disguise itself to elude power ring wielding trackers. Most often ring wielders will allow the beacon to signal their location to others. The Green Lantern Corps of Earth found the remnants of the Green Lantern Corps of The Klyminade by tracking them through their power rings.

• Mind Alteration: Though the ethics of mind tampering may be debatable, sometimes it is necessary. As the power ring relies on thought and will to operate, mind tampering is not impossible. The difficulty lies in properly applying the power. There lies a risk of catastrophic damage to the mind should mistakes be made. A ring wielder can use the power ring to erase portions of an individual's memories. They are taught to build mental defenses to protect themselves from psionic attack. The power ring can also be used to beam information from the ring wielder to another being. Green Lanterns have used this technique to share information regarding their enemies during combat situations.
• Pocket Dimension: Within the ring exists the possibility of an entire world. When Green Lantern Abin Surof Ungara defeated the evil sorcerer Myrwhydden, he reduced the magician to submicroscopic size and imprisoned him inside the power ring, into a world created by the Green Lantern's will. This undefined space may be a tesseract or a virtual reality created by the power ring. Whether or not this area exists in all rings has yet to be proven. Years after Abin Sur's death, Myrwhydden's power grew, allowing him to alter his environment and escape to battle the next Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. The power ring's interior appeared as a barren wasteland, dotted with dead trees and sea shells which Myrwhydden used during an escape attempt.
• Security Protocol: The rings can be programmed. They are coded to the wearer to make them unusable if stolen. The ring will refuse to take an action that would kill a being unless they are on Oa or with permission. The Guardians recently removed the lethal force prohibition, first to allow lethal force against members of the Sinestro Corps, then against all enemies of the Green Lantern Corps.
• Preset Conditions: Commands can be stored in the ring to be executed at a later date, even if the bearer is not wearing the ring.
• Thought Relay: Otherwise known as a telepathic link.
• Levitation
• Hope Symbiosis: When in the presence of a Blue Lantern Power Ring, a Green Lantern Power Ring gains a power boost, as well as allowing the Blue Lantern to fully utilize his or her powers.
• Compassion Absorption: Similar to other lanterns natural "purge" of certain Power Rings, the Green Lanterns' Power Ring has the ability to absorb energy of Indigo Lantern's. This is made possible by their natural weakness found in Will Subversion.
• Skill Magnification:  Any skills held by a particular user can be augmented by the ring. A trained doctor would have greater healing capacities, an architect can create constructs with greater integrity, a warrior creates weapons with greater damage dealing capacity, an artist could create constructs whose abilities simply defy what would normally be known to be possible due to their heightened imagination.

This list is not all inclusive of the powers of the other Lightsmith colors who may have individual limitations or heightened powers depending on the emotional color their power has dominion over. This list is based primarily in the Green Lantern's ring powers.

Mjolnir: the Hammer of Thor
Unlike the Oan Power rings, the Hammer Mjolnir is unique to Thor and designed around his physical abilities as a god of war and storm. While his hammer possesses many of the same abilities as the Oan Power ring (how strange) the focus of Mjolnir is dealing damage, protecting Thor and killing his enemies.

Mjolnir has had an amazing number of powers, some of which could not be manifested without Thor or another god-like being using the hammer. One of its primary powers prevents it from being used by anyone else who isn't worthy…

• Worthiness Enchantment: This enchantment surrounding Mjölnir prevents it from being wielded by anyone save those who have been found worthy. Thus far, this includes Thor, the Red Norvell, Buri, Bor Odin, Beta Ray Bill, and Captain America. To anyone else, Mjölnir cannot be lifted from the ground nor wrested from Thor’s grip. Those who are deemed worthy are able to wield Thor's powers.

One of the features which makes Mjolnir an even more terrifying weapon is its ability to return to Thor when thrown.

• Mystical Link: Mjölnir obeys Thor’s commands as though it were alive, and if Thor’s will is strong enough, the hammer can pass through nearly any barrier to reach him should he so choose; Mjölnir will even carve its way through the very center of entire planets to get back to Thor.

Mjolnir's greatest power is its ability to create alter weather and manipulate the environment around the God of Thunder

• Weather Manipulation: Wielding Mjölnir grants Thor the ability to control the base elements of a storm, i.e. rain, wind, thunder, lightning and more. He can create giant raging electrical storms complete with thunder, lightning, hurricane-force winds, tornadoes, blizzards, tidal waves, exploding volcanoes, earthquakes and torrential rains across entire planets at a moment's notice. He can also create any of these phenomena individually. Another aspect of this power allows him to stop any of these weather conditions instantly as well. Thor can create storms on a planetary wide scale or larger if needed, and is not limited to the normal limits of Mother Nature and can go beyond and defy what natural weather can do such as creating rain in space where there is no atmosphere. Thor's ability to control and create storms extends to any and all storms as he has been shown to control and create raging temporal storms in time, create Solar Flares, powerful stellar winds in space and so on.

• Flight: Thor is capable of hurling Mjölnir with great force and, by holding onto the leather thong, is capable of flying through the air at tremendous speeds. While in an Earth-like atmosphere, Thor generally flies at roughly the speed of sound, roughly 770 miles per hour. Thor can fly so fast that he is invisible to the naked eye. He has been clocked flying at three times the speed of light, and is capable of achieving speeds far greater than that. He can perform complicated maneuvers in the air, and change course in mid-flight at the speed of thought. He can use the winds to hover and has shown the ability to fly without the aid of Mjölnir.

• Energy Projection: With Mjölnir, Thor can project powerful mystical blasts of energy. He can even channel his personal life force energies for stronger energy attacks including his God Blast, the Anti-Force and his planet-destroying Thermo-Blast. These projections of his personal energies are so powerful they have destroyed planets and even routed the mighty Galactus. But the use of these energies are so powerful and life draining Thor could actually die if he uses these powers indiscriminately. Thor will rarely use these powers on Earth due to their potential for cataclysmic destruction.

• Barriers: With Mjölnir, Thor is capable of creating powerful barriers, force fields and vortexes that are impenetrable. Not even Earth's most advanced weapons could weaken Thor's barrier field that shielded the U.N. headquarters. Thor stated that he could have contained a cosmic flash attack from Stellaris, this blast was strong enough to destroy the planet Earth.

• Energy Sensing: Mjölnir can detect practically all types of energy. It reacts particularly strongly to evil psychic energy, and supernatural energy.

• Energy Absorption and Redirection: Thor is able to use Mjölnir to absorb any energy blasts directed towards him as means of attack. Once the energy is absorbed, Thor can redirect it back amplified many times over towards the source and/or use it as a weapon of his own.

• Teleportation: By grasping Mjölnir by the leather thong and rapidly swirling it, Thor can channel energies for the purpose of opening gateways through means of a vortex and in this vortex time has no meaning, which means he and others can pass through it to their destinations instantaneously.

• Matter Manipulation: By spinning Mjölnir in a precise manner at cyclotronic speeds, Thor can manipulate matter from a molecular level to a vast scale, which allows him to create other configurations and even allows him to transmute the elements themselves.

Due to Thor's very long history, he has exhibited powers he rarely uses or in some cases, only used once. The limited nature of the use of these powers likely means they are very difficult or take a great deal of his personal power to perform or were used primarily as plot devices and haven't been used since.

• Resurrection: While channeling his power through Mjölnir, Thor was able to resurrect a man he had wrongly killed.

• Negation of Mystic Energy: He used this ability on the Juggernaut himself to negate the mystical energies that grant him his mystical invulnerability, allowing him to defeat Juggernaut in combat. He was able to stop Mephisto from taking human souls to the Dark Dimension.

• Cosmic Energy: Mjölnir allows Thor to produce and control Cosmic Energy to an unknown limit for a variety of purposes.
• Invisibility and Intangibility: Thor can turn himself or others, using Mjölnir, completely intangible and/or invisible. An offshoot of this ability is that Thor can use Mjölnir to completely disrupt the phasing abilities of super humans such as the Vision, Shadowcat etc.

• Event Recall: Thor can use Mjölnir to recall past events.

• Transmigration of Souls: Thor's hammer has the ability to manipulate souls.

• Life Force Absorption: Thor used this ability on the super villain the Presence, who was forced to surrender to prevent himself from being reduced to a lifeless husk.

• Illusion Detection: Mjölnir can distinguish images, holograms, and different illusions from reality: Thor once commanded the hammer to strike the demon lord Mephisto, who was hiding among false images of himself.

• Interdimensional Messaging: Thor can used Mjölnir to send psychic messages between the nine realms.

• Undead Lethality: As a former religious relic, Mjölnir is lethal to undead. Thor once threw Mjölnir at a vampire, with contact causing the vampire to burst into flame and crumble to dust.

• Transformation: When Thor was living on Earth under his mortal guise, he could use Mjölnir to transfer from his Donald Blake persona into Thor and vice versa. Thor loses this ability when Odin permanently separates the two personas.

• Immunity to Other Forces: Even without activating the powers of Mjölnir, Thor's hammer, enchanted by Odin, is impervious to nearly all forms of change, as he himself claimed that no power in the universe but the All-Father's could affect Mjölnir, shown when Amora's magical efforts during her first confrontation with Thor to change it into a deadly serpent availed her naught.

• Time Travel/Chronokinesis: Mjölnir can bend space and time and allow itself and its holder to travel through time. Mjölnir lost this ability when Thor was convinced by Immortus to remove it to help the planet Phantus, which was trapped in Limbo. This was later revealed to be a hoax by Immortus to deprive the Avengers of their main means of time travel. In spite of this, Mjölnir is still capable of manipulating time.

• Allspeak: Thanks to the Allspeak, the wielder of Mjölnir can communicate and be understood by all races.

Which weapon/tool is the best?

Which of these weapons is the best? I think it depends on what you want to accomplish:

• If I wanted to investigate the unknown, protect an entire galaxy of independent worlds, communicate with alien lifeforms, then I think the DC Universe's most powerful omni-tool is the device best suited for this.
• When things go wrong, it can go from scientific/diplomatic tool into a weapon of phenomenal destructive capability depending on the user of that tool and their predisposition.
• The benefit of the Green Lantern Corp is there are 7,200 such wielders of said weapon at any one time, an army whose powers are rarely capable of being matched should those powers be leveled in any singular enemy's direction.
• If I need someone to do something deemed impossible under almost any other circumstance, I find a Green Lantern, the impossible is part of their every day working experience.

On the other hand

• If I needed to repel a destructive enemy whose powers dwarf everything in my known universe, whose destructive capacity has no equal, the ability to destroy planets, stars and perhaps entire galaxies, then Mjolnir and the very unique child of Gaea and Odin wielding said weapon is the only choice.
• A warrior who has been blooded against the most powerful forces in the Marvel Universe, the abstract entities, Magog, the Mad Titan, Thanos, Ego, the Living World, and the mighty Celestials, a being who doesn't know the meaning of quitting and rarely ever tasted defeat, Thor Odinson and the mystic warhammer, Mjolnir.

POWER REFERENCES:
Marvel Wikia: Mjolnir
Green Lantern Wikia: Green Lantern Power Ring

Which is more powerful, Mjolnir or Green Lantern's ring?

How to Solve America’s Biggest Problems with Bernie Sanders!

If you’re new to my blog, you may wonder who that young firebrand challenging the political status quo is. His name is Bernie Sanders and he is running for President. Some of you may be discovering who Bernie Sanders is for the very first time, and this is okay. Bernie Sanders is one of those best kept secrets, a politician who has both a brain and a heart. Compassionate to a fault, Sanders is one of the few politicians who is neither beholden to corporate interests nor concerned about catering to corporate economic dismantling of the dwindling “middle class” in America. I came to know about Bernie Sanders a number of years ago through a podcast/YouTube broadcast called The Thom Hartmann show, where Bernie Sanders meets with Thom on Fridays to discuss the issues of the nation. Bernie takes calls, answers questions and challenges issues that need challenging, in plain language, no BS, no filler.

A junior senator of Vermont, Sanders considered himself an Independent, working neither of the major parties and sometimes finding fault with both. He’s been a senator since 2007 and has been involved in politics since 1979. I’m not going to spend a lot of time going through Bernie Sander’s political history, that’s what Wikipedia is for. What I will say is this: if you have read my blog, particularly the entries on politics, political funding, educational funding, prison advocacy and other ideas which promote equality and opportunity in this nation, you will see Bernie Sanders and I agree on almost EVERY level.

If I were Frankenstein seeking to create the perfect politician to run for office on the ideals I believe this nation should be supporting, I would have created Bernie Sanders (I might have made him a bit younger) but I suspect, should Bernie win, the energy and vitality he has brought to his job as Senator Sanders will only increase as President Sanders. I plan to transcribe this speech when I don’t have as many deadlines pending. Listen to it while you are doing something else if you’re really busy, but listen to it. He is talking about the things few, if any politicians are saying today, things that need saying and changing. If he should win the Democratic nomination, I would vote for him without hesitation (and if he could convince Elizabeth Warren to run as vice president) it would be the most fantastic nomination ticket in the history of the United States, or at least since Senator Barack Obama…

Published on Apr 11, 2015

Watch Bernie and be inspired! Vermont’s Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaks on topics from climate change to income inequality in a Town Hall Meeting in Austin, Texas, on March 31st, 2015.

The Town Hall Meeting discussion items includes: How to . . . 1) Overturn Citizens United and Get Big Money Out of Politics; 2) Deal with Obscene Wealth and Income Inequality. 3) Combat Climate Change. 4) Create Democracy NOT Oligarchy. Learn more at: http://BernieSanders.com Videography/Editing by Jeff Zavala, Grace Alfar and Ruwan Perera An Austin Indymedia Production http://austin.indymedia.org

• Category: Nonprofits & Activism

• License: Standard YouTube License