superboy has a cool power with a stupid name. "tactile telekenesis." that is, he has certain telekenetic powers, but he can only use them at touch range. so, if he needs to lift something really heavy, he grab on to it and then use his telekentic powers to help him pick it up, thus making him seem stronger than he actually is. he can do other things, too, like telekentically repell objects (throw them harder), and can even affect the physical structure of whatever he's touching, using his telekenesis to make the physical structure more or less stable. that way, he can shore up weakening tank armor, holding it together longer and making it tougher, or he can do the reverse and make it weaker or even cause it to be unstable enough to explode.
he can also use that telekenisis on himself to give himself some semblance of invulnerability and to fly (sort of picking himself up with his mind... not an uncommon telekenetic trick).
superboy, for those who are interested, was supposed to be a clone of superman developed by a secret government lab called "cadmus." however, they found out that kryptonian genes cannot be cloned without the clone becoming unstable and going nuts (all kryptonian clones become "bizzaros"). so, they ended up cloning the director of the cadmus program and then splicing in these genes to give him super powers that would hopefully mimic superman's.
i never really thought about it, since superboy's powers are telekenetic rather than physical, but it does make sense when you think about it that way. i mean, not knowing how telekenesis works, how different is it to say that you're lifting something up via telekenesis rather than saying that you're lifting things up by altering the local gravity? maybe it's just two different ways of doing the same thing, or even two different ways of saying the same thing. dunno.
personally, i'm inclined to think they're somewhat different. telekenesis somehow uses mental energy to exert a force (which is admitedly vague, but what can you do?). my theory with superman's powers is a bit more complicated to explain.
basically, gravity is the result of matter warping space-time. the classic example (which isn't really accurate but does serve to get the basic idea across) is that space is like a giant rubber sheet. if you put something on that sheet, the sheet will bend around it (the object will make a dimple in the sheet). the heavier the object, the more the sheet will bend. and, if you put a second object on the sheet, it will move towards the first object, rolling or sliding down the bend. the closer you are to the object, the more the sheet is warped.
so, matter does that to space, bending it around itself in (last i heard) 16-24 dimensions. we feel that bend as the force of gravity.
my theory is that superman is able to change the shape of the warping that the mass of his body causes (and, perhaps to some degree, the mass of whatever he is touching), and that that's how he can fly, be invulnerable, super-strong, etc.
as anne says, that does seem pretty similar to superboy's "tactile telekenesis." i don't know. since neither power exists in this world, it's very hard to say.
it feels to me that it's two different ways of causing a similar effect, but what makes sense to me is not the same as what makes sense to others.
whatever. i need to be going. hope this has been more interesting than boring and/or confusing.
Paul
