Thursday, 18 August 2022

The (not so) Amazing Mole Man -アメイジング(じゃない)モグラマン-

There are some superheroes who take their inspiration and powers from the animal kingdom.  Think of Spiderman.  He has the spider’s powers to cling to walls, and spin webs. 

If you could take your superpowers from the animal kingdom, then what animal would inspire you? 

How about becoming Funguswoman?  Some fungi can control the behaviour of ants.  Their fungus spores get into the brain of the ant and release chemical signals, forcing the “zombie ant” to climb a high tree and then bite hard into the trunk to stay in place.  As more and more fungus grows in the ant’s body, it eventually bursts out, showering the fungus spores over a large area of the forest.  Funguswoman would have the power to release spores that would get into the brains of bad guys.  Thieves would breathe in his spores and their infected brains would start to dislike stealing, and crave to knit, or help little old ladies across the road instead.  Funguswoman’s boyfriend would always put the toilet seat down after he had finished. 

How about becoming Moleman?  Moles are great at digging tunnels underground.  Perhaps Moleman would be a supervillain, who would tunnel beneath the city streets to reach bank vaults and steal loads of money without getting caught. 

Unfortunately, someone has already taken the idea of Moleman.  Recently, the BBC reported this:

“An Italian man has been rescued from a collapsed tunnel near the Vatican, and police suspect he could have been burrowing his way into a bank.  He is now recovering in hospital after firefighters spent eight hours digging him out from under a road.  But he may now need to dig himself out of further trouble, as police have arrested him and a second man for damage to public property.  Officers believe he may have been part of a gang that was trying to break into a bank." 

Maybe Moleman is not such a great idea after all.

 

Vocabulary:

to cling to something – to hold tightly to something

fungi – the plural form of fungus.  Yeasts, molds and mushrooms are fungi.  (Joke: Why was the mushroom invited to the party?  Because he was such a fun guy)

a spore – the thing that some organisms, such as molds, use to reproduce.  Many spores are released, and some can grow and reproduce if they land in the right place

a trunk – of a tree, the main body

to crave (to knit) – to have an extremely strong desire (to knit)

to burrow – of an animal such as a rabbit, to dig an underground tunnel

 




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