Superscience books

[Aleolus]

Hey, all. A friend of mine is running a GURPS campaign, using psionics differently from normal. The way he is using it is, as he put it, superscience. Where you can see and manipulate various forms of science. For instance, someone who can read minds would see the neurons firing in other people's brains, and be able to interpret that as the thoughts the person is thinking. I commented that 'there is nothing new under the sun,' everything has been done or thought of, and he challenged me to name situations where this has been done before. Can anyone think of anything that fits the worldsetting? People having highly-evolved minds, and being able to see and manipulate scientific properties and so forth?

[LadyRushia]

I'm pretty sure that there are a couple of people in Heroes who can do something like that, granted that's a T.V. show. There's no problem with every idea already being used. It's mostly about putting an original twist on an overly used idea.

[ich1990]

Stargate SG-1 has a bunch of characters like that. Granted it is not a book, but it did use that plot device quite a bit. Higher evolved creatures such as the ori and the ancients could use various abilities such as telekinesis, mind reading, turn matter into energy, heal/cause diseases, and cause thunder storms. It was pretty cool.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

There was something similar with Mass Effect's Biotics.

[Aleolus]

Stargate SG-1 has a bunch of characters like that. Granted it is not a book, but it did use that plot device quite a bit. Higher evolved creatures such as the ori and the ancients could use various abilities such as telekinesis, mind reading, turn matter into energy, heal/cause diseases, and cause thunder storms. It was pretty cool.

Did those abilities function by use of science, where they see/manipulate it? 'Cause that's how it's working in this campaign.

[ich1990]

Did those abilities function by use of science, where they see/manipulate it? 'Cause that's how it's working in this campaign.

As a result of being a Sci-fi show, most of the supernatural occurances recieved at least a cursory explanation.

SG-1 minor spoiler:
[spoiler] For instance, the Ancients were able to, after their brains evolved to a certain level, convert their conciousness and body into energy so they can float around and cause thunderstorms and cool stuff. This conversion of matter to energy is in line with Einstein's E=MC^2, so in a sense it is possible. However, it is not explained how their higher brainpower alone allows them to will their own matter into energy. Or how they are able to keep their conciousness when they do so.

When they create thunderstorms, you do not see them create an imbalance between electrical charges, you just see guys getting fried. Nonetheless, a scientific explanation is always assumed even if it is not specifically reffered to.[/spoiler]