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The Heart of a Superhero

The Heart of a Superhero

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 In this episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia team up with special guest Rengasayee “Sai” Veeraraghavan, professor of biomedical engineering at The Ohio State University and head of a nano-cardiology lab, to ask a deceptively simple question: what kind of heart would a superhero have? Starting from the nanoscale structure of heart cells and the way electrical signals orchestrate each beat, Sai walks us through how real hearts move blood, adapt to stress, and sometimes fail under emotional and physical overload.From there, the crew jumps straight into comics and sci-fi: what would it really take for the Flash’s heart to keep up with super speed, or for Superman’s alien physiology to survive our gravity and atmosphere? Could Iron Man’s arc reactor and shrapnel-magnet setup possibly work, and what do LVADs and artificial hearts tell us about the limits of human engineering? Along the way they detour into stress cardiomyopathy (“broken heart syndrome”), octopus and whale hearts, Doctor Who’s two-heart anatomy, the Grinch’s cardiomyopathy-level heart growth, and why some villains literally stash their hearts outside their bodies.They also dig into the symbolism that’s haunted us for millennia: why we put love, courage, and evil in the “heart,” how myths and fairytales turned the heart into a vessel for souls and power, and why the cartoon heart shape looks nothing like the anatomical organ. The episode closes with nerdy joy—Batman, Kingdom Hearts, Davy Jones’ chest, Spider-Man’s spider senses—and a surprising real-world twist: how COVID can trigger heart arrhythmias through the immune system, not the virus itself.Links:Rengasayee “Sai” Veeraraghavan, PhD — Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State UniversityCheck out what the RHR crew is creating:Joe:Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories Anthology featuring a new story by Joe!Chicago Writers Association Podcast: Talkin’ Science Fiction with Joe AustinEssay by Joe: From Beyond Press: Specific Knowledge: Jotham Austin, II, PhD on Transformations in FictionJoe explores how many calories it would take to transform into monsters across sci-fi and horror—think 222 Big Macs and tubs of Cherry Garcia.It’s Science for WeirdosWant to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):Which fictional character has your favorite “weird heart”: two hearts, missing hearts, mechanical hearts, cosmic hearts, etc?What superhero (or villain) clearly needs a heart upgrade based on the science we discussed?What heart-related myths, stories, or characters should we explore in a future episode (Besides Sai’s favorite: Batman)?Future Episodes & EventsEpisodes:Episode 50 – Gremlins and Holiday ScienceGuest: Chris GuzmanA festive foray into chaos theory, creature features, and the secret science behind cinematic holiday mayhem.Episode 51 – Season 2 Recap: PJs and Holiday MoviesGuests: ???Grab your pajamas and join the crew as we toast two seasons of curiosity, chaos, and science—plus a sneak peek at what’s coming in Season 3.For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, Notes and Fun Facts, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!Join Rabbit Hole of Research on Discord: https://discord.gg/2nnmKgguFVDon’t forget to give us 5 stars or a like! Get full access to The Rabbit Hole of Research at jothamaustin.substack.com/subscribe
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