Wow. I’m a Superman fan and all, but that’s just stupid.
Papermache Prince: Thanks for that useful link. I’ve been looking over some of the information presented therein, and I think I now undertand what Askia was alluding to earlier regarding the physical properties of solid-phase Kryptonite. Evidently I had been mistakenly conflating Kryptonite’s resistance to chemical denaturing with the invulnerability to physical damage exhibited by Kryptonian matter in general. Upon reflection, it seems clear that references to Kryptonite’s “indestructibility” refer to the fact that it can’t be transmuted into another, less harmful material (although I seem to recall that just such a process was discovered during the 1970’s; clearly my sources need updating). So although a given sample of Kryptonite can in fact be physically destroyed (and is apparently unique in this regard among materials of Kryptonian origin,*) doing so would not mitigate the danger, since the vaporized fragments would still be at least as deadly as the original mass. I am given to understand that extremely small samples of green Kryptonite can in fact be completely denatured by the intense application of Kryptonian heat vision, and that larger quantities are rendered inert in the heart of a yellow sun, but there is otherwise no practical way to eliminate the threat posed by the substance other than permanent storage.
All of this seems marginal to the question at hand, however, and it does not present any real obstacle to my central thesis. I stand by my initial assessment that Kryptonite odorant molecules likely cannot be detected by the Kryptonian olfactory system, whether from steric incompatibility with the odorant receptors or from interference with the action of the olfactory cells in question.
Either that, or Kryptonite just has no smell.
*My understanding is that any material of Kryptonian origin, with the apparent exception of Kryptonite, manifests a physical invulnerability on a par with that of living Kryptonians. Curiously, however, the invulnerability of inanimate Kryptonian matter is not affected by environment. Superman’s costume, for example, is made of a native Kryptonian fabric that cannot be damaged by any force less than that of Superman’s own heat vision. However, on occasions when Superman has been deprived of his powers (as, for example, by exposure to red solar radiation), his costume still retains its invulnerability, which affords him a degree of protection from attacks. Since the costume is evidently indestructible even in environments that mirror Krypton, it then would seem to follow that the material must also have been just as indestructible on Krypton itself. This presents a paradox, since there would seem to be no way that ordinary, non-powered Kryptonians could have originally worked the fiber to create the material in the first place. This argument also applies to all other super-tough Kryptonian substances: how could non-powered Kryptonians possibly have worked them? Clearly, Kryptonian materials science is as murky as its xenochemistry.
Well yea but most PC-Superman stories were fairly lame. One must remembert though, that a lot of them were either spoofs or little morality tales. Superman juggling planets was never meant to be taken seriously.
The Fenris Guide To Kryptonite
Back To The OP
IMO, in nearly all circumstances, Kryptonite in earth’s atmosphere is chemically inert and either indestructible or nigh indestructible. It doesn’t wear and produce Kryptonite particles to travel on air currents and be inhaled. So, there generally is nothing to smell.
There are a few hairsplitting minor errors in his otherwise excellent summary, but I’ll try not to overgeek myself by citing them.
Pre-Crisis Kryptonite was specificially described as not invulnerable several times, including one incident where a human criminal swallowed a piece of X-K, gaining superpowers. Supergirl fought him to a draw for several minutes until his stomach acids destroyed the fragment, as she’d expected.
Ah, but you forgot Subsection A of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states: “Except Kryptonite.”
Irrelevant. Isaac Newton wrote Subsection A while under the malign influence of Praline Kryptonite, a variety of Kryptonite that affects only Isaac Newton.
I thought everyone knew that.
… I’m back.
So whan we last left off, Terrifel had just about torn apart my hypothesis, DocCathode joined in, **Bryan Eckers ** refuted part of Terrifel’s assertions, and Miller and Terrifel jumped in with a really lame joke tag-team. What are you guys doing to my thread, man? You’re supposed to be GEEKS. Have some pride.
Please consider the following suppositions as follows.
Premise one: NOTHING IS TRULY TASTELESS OR ODORLESS! To have no smell or no taste, there would have to be absolutely no interactions between a given substance and your sensory organs, and I’m not sure I buy that unless we’ve perverted physics and somehow repealed the second law of thermodynamics or you suffer from some specific nerve damage. Human sense of smell is nowhere near is acute as a good bloodhound’s and a dog’s olfactory senses pales before many insects’ ability to detect pheromones. Similarly, I think a super-powered Kryptonian’s senses are far, far, FAR more acute than humans. I can account for many instance of his vision, hearing and sense of touch, which includes sensitivity and tolerance to temperature extremes. Clear so far?
I think if you’re in perfectly good health and do find something odorless or tasteless, there’re subatomic or molecular particles decay occuring too slowly, in compositions too simple and subtle, or in quantities too few, for your olfactory receptor cells and taste bud clusters to detect. It’s not that the object is odorless, it’s just that its signature odor exists beyond something I’ll call your “threshold of awareness.”
Premise two: PRE-CRISIS KRYPTONITE WAS RARELY INDESTRUCTIBLE! Rather than accept the dogma that kryptonite is an inert homogenous material with a consistent set of properties, let’s accept the evidence of our experiences: it’s a family of heterogenous materials of different types, each with shared characteristics and unique properties. Why? Because MY categorization helps explain inconsistencies in all the pre-Crisis stories I’ve read regarding its intensity, brittleness, melting points, mass, oxidation rates and chemical solubility: that’s why in this such-and-such story a green chunk of kryptonite can be mistaken for jade, while in this tale a hunk is so deadly it kills Kryptonians dead and turns their corpses green in mere minutes. If I’m right about that, there’s a good chance I’m right that at least SOME kinds of green kryptonite might leech more particles than others.
Premise three: PRE-CRISIS SUPERMAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SMELL NEARBY KRYPTONITE OR, ALTERNATELY, HAVE A NOTICEABLE-TO-SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTION TO IT! This is because of his other supersenses are so acute. I fail to understand why his ability to smell isn’t. Unless…?
Premise four: (CONCLUSION) PRE-CRISIS SUPERMAN’S THRESHOLD OF AWARENESS WAS SOMEHOW DAMAGED, UNDERDEVELOPED OR DELIBERATELY SELF-SUPPRESSED-- PARTICULARLY HIS SENSE OF SMELL! More on this later.