Watch out, Watchmen!
Remember the Watchmen? Maybe not. Let’s review:
The Watchmen was a 12-part comic series published in 1986 and 1987. One of these characters, Doctor Manhattan, had an unforunate run-in with an “intrinsic field subtractor.” I am not sure what that is- a type of calculator? (subtract. ha.) Anyway, the U.S. government contracted some of his superpower work, dubbed him Mr. Manhattan.
Doctor Manhattan, by Dave Gibbons.
Interestingly enough he’s the only Watchman with actual super hero powers- I’m not sure what that says about the story…
And he always seems to be naked. Not sure about that either, really.
Dr. Manhattan can control atoms, he can breathe in space, and he sometimes sees into the future. All good skills, sometimes.
Run-ins with “Intrinsic Field Subtractors” are more common than you would think. It happens in real life too and these instances may have inspired this nude, blue man.
I am pleased to present an example of such a run-in: the Australian earthworm, Terriswalkeris terraereginae:
Image from American Digest
Do you see where I’m going with this? This earthworm is BLUE. And not like a natural indigo or whatever color- true Doctor Manhattan BLUE. AND it’s naked! AND it seems to be the only worm that is blue among all his colleagues. (Coincidence…? I think not.)
This worm is luminescent and grows up to 2 meters long! (6 feet). It’s rare to get a glimpse of one of these, despite the size, but they are sometimes seen in construction sites and when rain has saturated the soil and it comes to the service.
How did it get so blue? The intrinsic calculator thing may be a safe bet…
Or is the gummy worm industry keeping something from us?
Image from http://www.retailgourmet.com
Little else is known but check out the science blog here for more wormy facts.
