WILLIAM SHATNER: The ability to survive freezing temperatures
through sheer force of will.
Ancient traditions
that protect the body from pain.
And extraordinary adventurers
who risk their lives to defy the limits.
How are certain individuals able to perform
incredible physical feats of strength, speed, or stamina
that most of us could never dream of doing?
Is it simply a combination of natural talent and training?
Or do some people tap into mysterious forces
when they achieve things that seem almost
superhuman?
Well, that is what we'll try and find out.
♪ ♪
SHATNER: Central Iceland.
Here, not far from a massive glacier
where temperatures average just above freezing,
a man has decided to sit outside in the cold
for over an hour,
wearing only a pair of shorts.
His name is Wim Hof.
And although most people would die
if they attempted such a feat, he finds it quite relaxing.
Wim has made a great impression on the world
because of his extraordinary ability
to withstand freezing temperatures.
His exploits have earned him the nickname "The Iceman."
WIM HOF: The most challenging
aspect of going into the cold
is your fear.
Control your fear
and let the body do what the body is capable of.
All the doctors said, "You are the Iceman.
"You are a freak of nature.
"You are an abnormality.
You are a superhuman."
But I'm as human as any person,
only I am challenging my body and mind
in nature.
SHATNER: Wim has performed a number of feats that, on the surface,
seem impossible,
such as climbing Mount Everest
wearing nothing but shorts and shoes,
and spending nearly two hours fully immersed in an ice bath.
But what motivated Wim to learn how to brave the cold,
in the first place?
HOF: As a young kid,
I was very interested in anything that was strange...
...and stories and deeds of people
going into the unknown, so-called.
And when I was 17, I began to go in freezing temperatures.
And there I found a deep connection
with my body, with my god, with a depth.
And that is now 45 years ago.
And since then,
I have never skipped a day going into the cold.
THOMAS COYNE: In these ungodly, below-freezing temperatures,
your average person can freeze to death
in less than 30 minutes.
It's not an environment that's suitable for humans.
So with Wim Hof, his ability to withstand cold
is really extraordinary.
It just makes absolutely no sense.
SHATNER: For an ordinary person,
attempting these feats would result in almost certain death.
And yet Wim Hof doesn't just survive
in frigid temperatures, he seems to thrive in them.
But how?
Well, according to Wim Hof,
this ability doesn't come from his body
but rather from his mind.
If we follow the breath...
(inhaling, exhaling)
...then the mind begins to cease.
I learned how to tap into my brain,
to have a much greater control
than doctors thought was possible.
When I go in a brain scan or in a fMRI,
and they put cold water upon my skin
with a skin temperature
measurement device,
I'm able to raise...
...my skin temperature so much that the cold water
is making my skin temperature not going down.
That means that through the psychology,
I caused something physiologically.
MITCH HOROWITZ: Wim Hof's work is being
widely studied right now in academic settings...
...and what's being found is that
he can get into a kind of transpersonal mental state
where the body is freed from perceived limitations,
making him more resilient
and capable of acts of greater stamina.
We're coming to a whole new realization
of the powers of the mind over the body.
SHATNER: Could Wim Hof's mind be able to regulate
his body's ability to withstand freezing temperatures?
Many experts believe it's possible.
And as evidence, they point to
an ancient Tibetan breathing technique known as "tummo,"
which, if done properly,
can raise a person's body temperature.
STEVE MAGNESS: Tummo was first
described in the 11th century
and what it translates to is "inner fire."
(chanting in foreign language)
And the practice is meditation guided breathing
where they literally imagine
that their spine is on fire and they can feel this flame
going from their deep inside
all the way to the top of their head.
And it's believed
that they can raise their core body temperature
and feel that heat
by practicing this meditation and breathing strategy.
Tummo gave them control
to be able to withstand elements and inner control
amidst this external chaos.
AMIR HUSSAIN: Through this meditative practice,
you're literally able to heat up your body
so you can withstand cold temperatures.
Harvard scientists were able to document Tibetan monks
doing their tummo meditation.
So here they are, stripped naked to the waist,
with sheets over them
in a very, very cold room
and the body heat that they're able to generate
literally makes steam come off the sheets.
It's as if they're covered in a hot, wet blanket,
but they're doing it internally.
It's a technique developed about a thousand years ago
among Tibetan monks in the Himalayas,
but it's a technique that anyone can use.
Anyone can be taught how to do this.
(chanting in foreign language)
SHATNER: If tummo can unlock the mind's capacity
to control body temperature,
then it naturally begs the question,
what other incredible abilities do our minds possess?
Well, in the case of Wim Hof,
it appears that he has taken his mental powers
to the next level in order to actually heal his body.
JUSTIN ROSALES: 15 years ago, Wim ran a half marathon barefoot in the snow.
After the half marathon,
one of the medics, um, examined his foot and said,
"Hey, this is, this is pretty bad."
And said, "He has irreparable damage:
third-degree frostbite."
And Wim just was so mad.
He just felt like he could do something to heal it.
So Wim was able to start healing his frostbitten foot
by doing his normal breathing exercises
that he had been doing for years
and focusing and visualizing his foot being healed.
And over a month and a half...
...it did get better.
The skin healed completely.
The "irreparable damage,"
that he was not supposed to come back from, was gone.
(exclaiming)
SHATNER: Is it really possible
that Wim Hof is simply using his mind
to perform these superhuman feats?
While that idea may sound far-fetched,
Wim is just the latest in a long line of people
possessing such remarkable abilities.
The concepts that Wim Hof is using
go back to ancient yogic
practices within Vedic or Hindu tradition...
...that are sometimes called siddhis.
For example, in yogic literature,
you will find records of
different yogis or meditators
who are able to lift enormous weights...
...or go for extraordinary periods of time
without food, without water,
without breathing.
There are some yogic traditions
in which people are able to pierce the body
or lay on beds of nails
or walk across coals without experiencing pain
or without being disabled by injury.
Could the ability to suppress pain
or even to heal our bodies
be connected to our thoughts?
It's an exciting notion.
And it also makes you wonder
is it possible for anyone to unlock such powers?
I don't think everything Wim does
can be explained by science...
yet.
But he is superhuman,
in a way that he challenges us to
find that part in us, too.
HOF: We have a much more possible control
over our mind and body
than meets the eye.
We can learn to raise our capacity to endure
pain and to tackle biological stress.
And that is there for anybody.
Through your mind, you are able to go
further than you have ever been before.
So, if we all just figured out
how to unlock the power of our minds,
would there be no limit to what our bodies could do?
Well, what if I told you there are people out there
who can push themselves to run hundreds of miles
without stopping?
SHATNER: In this small town, in the heart of Marin County,
lives world-renowned ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes.
And by all accounts,
he was born to run.
My earliest childhood recollections
are running home from school when I was in kindergarten.
Uh, literally, I remember sitting in the classroom
just waiting for the bell to ring.
And as soon as that jingle went off,
I was out of there.
I felt like, when I was running,
I felt most alive, like, most complete.
It's hard to describe, but I just remember the way
the air used to feel on my skin
and the leaves changing color.
I just started relating to the world through running.
LUKE: Dean's somewhat of an icon in the running community
in the sense that he can do things other people can't.
Dean's definitely a superman
in terms of being able to run long distances
repetitive days, back-to-back.
SHATNER: Among Dean's many
record-breaking running achievements
are completing 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days,
running 135 miles across Death Valley--
one of the hottest regions on Earth--
and accomplishing a 75-day, 3,000-mile run
across the entire United States.
But perhaps his most incredible achievement
occurred on October 12, 2005...
...when Dean ran 350 miles without stopping.
I think I decided to run 350 miles nonstop out of curiosity.
I want wanted to see
how far I could push my body and my mind.
And I completed it.
It took me 80 hours and 44 minutes of continuous running.
Three days straight without stopping to eat or sleep.
SHATNER: Dean's feats are astounding,
and he's arguably the greatest athlete in the history
of what is called ultrarunning.
MAGNESS: Ultrarunning is any distance running
that goes further than the marathon.
So it could be anything from 30 miles
all the way up to races
that are hundreds or even thousands of miles.
The six-day race was the precursor
to modern ultramarathon running.
It originated in the 1700s in England.
These athletes tried to cover
as much distance as they possibly could in six days.
So they would sleep as little as possible,
often only getting an hour or two of sleep during each day,
to try and cover as much distance as possible.
Early on, these athletes would run 400 and 500 miles.
But in 1888 George Littlewood set a new record
for the six-day challenge, covering 623 miles.
So that's over 100 miles a day of running or walking.
That was so good
that that record almost stood 100 years,
until Yiannis Kouros,
a Greek runner who was one of the best
ultrarunners in history, finally broke it.
So that gives you an indication of how good these athletes are.
SHATNER: But it's not just athletes
who choose to run such mind-boggling distances.
In fact, there's an entire community
that runs just as far as ultramarathoners do...
...and they've been doing it for thousands of years.
Here in this harsh region of 10,000 foot plateaus,
far from modern civilization,
live a group of people known as the Rarámuri.
Descended from a prehistoric society
of foragers and hunters,
the Rarámuri still live in relatively primitive conditions.
But incredibly, they possess a unique ability to run
for hundreds of miles in a single day.
TOK THOMPSON: The name Rarámuri seems to be derived from
meaning "those who run fast."
So, not surprisingly, the Rarámuri are known
as exceptional long-distance runners,
far in excess of what most people think
people should be able to do.
They have running competitions and running rituals
that would put a lot of other long-distance runners to shame.
They don't have the modern accoutrements
or modern sneakers.
They tend to run in either sandals
or barefoot.
And they do this as a big part of their culture.
SHATNER: Since the dawn of mankind,
our ability to run for a long period of time
has given humans a great advantage...
...especially when it came to hunting and searching for food.
THOMPSON: Humans are one of the best long-distance runners
in the entire animal kingdom.
We could actually run down things like deer and antelope.
We're not as fast in the short run,
but in terms of long-distance running,
a human being could, theoretically,
run down just about any animal on Earth.
SHATNER: In ancient times,
running was not only used as a means of stalking prey.
It was also a method of long-range communication.
MAGNESS: Running served a vital purpose for the Ancient Greeks.
They served as couriers or messengers.
They were essentially the ancient mail system
for the Greeks,
and it was vital for military strategy in particular.
RIC RADER: In antiquity, the best way to convey messages,
especially matters of war,
matters of religion, and so forth,
was to send a "hemerodromos."
So that's the Greek word for a day runner.
It was a special class
of people specifically trained for this and specifically
equipped physiologically
not only to deliver a message in a timely fashion,
but to do it
over very rugged terrain,
over several hundred miles.
So, in that regard,
the extent to which the hemerodromos can perform
these amazing feats would suggest
that it requires a kind of superhuman ability.
SHATNER: In the case of Dean Karnazes,
his superhuman running ability
may be due to the fact that he is actually of Greek descent.
KARNAZES: I think my ability to run long distances
is influenced, definitely, by my Greek heritage.
I'm 100% Greek
and Greece is the birthplace of long-distance running,
and I've known that for a long time.
I think I have the natural ability
to run long distances from my heritage.
But having the will to do it is another thing.
And I think I just have the will to do it.
Is the ability to run for days on end actually hereditary?
Well, even if that's true,
it doesn't explain another superhuman ability:
the ability to swim hundreds of feet underwater
without taking a single breath.
SHATNER: Lying within the coastal mountains
of this frigid landscape
is Lake Qorlortoq.
Covered beneath a million tons of ice,
its crystal blue waters hover at a hypothermia-inducing
33 degrees Fahrenheit.
One degree above freezing.
Wearing only a pair of swim trunks,
four-time world champion free diver Stig Severinsen
plunges into the icy water
in an attempt to set a new record
for the longest swim under ice.
Without an oxygen tank and unable to surface,
he risks unconsciousness and death
as he swims 250 feet underwater,
or nearly the length of a football field.
SEVERINSEN: When most people
jump in ice-cold water...
(snorting) ...they start gasping and they panic.
Within minutes,
you become icy cold to the core,
and your body can simply shut down.
I understand that people think it's crazy or wild
or stupid, even.
You know? Unbelievable.
But I love to challenge science.
I love to challenge the human physiology.
Human potential.
-That is great. -Wow.
SHATNER: Stig's swim beneath the ice
wasn't the first time he went to extremes.
In May of 2012, he also held his breath
for an astonishing 22 minutes.
But what would compel someone to push themselves to the limit,
risking death just to pull off a stunt?
HOROWITZ: Some of us
seem to be hardwired to push the limits.
Some of us seem to crave
excitement, intensity, euphoria.
There seem to be a certain fraction of people
in need of physical activities
or other kinds of activities that push the limits of
safety or human possibility or perseverance.
Now, it's a question as to whether
these people are seeking euphoria
or whether they're seeking some greater,
more visceral connection with themselves.
Humans have this drive and this need to seek novelty,
to see what's on the other side of the unknown.
And it's something that is incredibly dangerous,
but also makes us able to do insanely difficult things.
SHATNER: In the late 18th and early 19th centuries,
a new breed of thrill seekers popularized
the public display of pushing the limits of human ability,
risking life and limb to perform death-defying feats
in pursuit of fame and fortune.
And the first of these daredevils
was a man named Sam Patch.
DARRIN McMAHON: Sam Patch was the Evil Knievel
of the early 19th century.
They called him "the Jersey Jumper,"
"the Yankee Leaper."
He liked to jump off things.
Famously, they had a platform erected in Niagara Falls
so that he could jump into the water,
but from a really high level: 75 or 100 feet.
Unfortunately, it's risky business,
and in 1829, on Friday the 13th,
he either slipped or fell awkwardly
and didn't go in feet first as he normally did.
The audience of several thousand heard a splat,
and he was never seen from again.
SHATNER: But Sam Patch's tragic demise
did not deter other would-be daredevils.
Over the next century, countless more
followed in his footsteps,
increasing the danger with every attempt.
Including one who went to the next level
by taking to the skies.
SCOTT EDEN: Clem Sohn was an aerialist,
one of the first, maybe the first to build for himself
a kind of gliding suit.
He would jump out of airplanes
with the wings attached and a kind of tail structure.
McMAHON: One of his nicknames was "the Birdman."
He would glide for thousands of feet
and then eventually pull the ripcord
and parachute to safety,
and he did this on both sides of the Atlantic.
Unfortunately, outside of Paris in 1937,
in front of a crowd of as many as 100,000 people...
...he glided through the air,
and then his first chute failed to open...
...and then the second one, and he plunged to his death.
SHATNER: The practice of performing
thrill-seeking feats is alive and well today,
even if not all daredevils survive their attempts
to push the limits.
But why do so many human beings
feel the need to pursue incredible feats,
even if it means risking our lives?
MAGNESS: Pushing boundaries and pushing limits
is part of our human nature.
You would think that would be counterintuitive.
Seeking pain seems like not the brightest thing to do
because we're going against our survival.
If you look at any animal in the animal kingdom,
none of them really do things that go against
survival instincts.
They just want to survive.
Human beings, on the other hand...
...we will seek out things that put us
at immense risk and not for any external reward,
but really for the internal reward of doing it.
Seeking something difficult, something hard,
often makes people feel alive.
Is it possible that by risking death,
people can unlock the ability to perform superhuman feats?
Well, there's a famous story from American folklore
which suggests that might be true.
It's the tale of someone who defied the odds
in a competition that pitted man
against machine.
SHATNER: For centuries, mankind
has told stories about people
who have the ability to perform feats
that require extraordinary physical strength.
But why are we so fascinated
by these superhuman characters?
LYNNE McNEILL: We love stories
about humans that push the boundaries of exceptionalism.
And history is full of this kind of folk hero...
...who is stronger than any other human.
We have characters like Hercules who are half god.
That's the source of his strength.
There's someone like Samson, from the Bible,
whose hair gives him strength
beyond what a normal human might have.
And nowadays, we have superheroes:
Batman, Spiderman, characters who similarly are human,
but a little bit better than other humans.
All these stories
let us talk about the possibilities
of human endurance and human capability.
How far can we push ourselves?
How much faster and stronger can we be?
SHATNER: Here, at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains,
lies a decommissioned railroad tunnel
known as the Great Bend Tunnel.
According to folklore,
this was the site of a famous legend
from the 1870s
about a superhuman railroad worker
named John Henry.
TEMPLE: The legend is that John Henry was six-six, 280 pounds,
muscular, solid, glistening.
You could see him half a mile away.
The legend has it that he was born in enslavement,
and he had all these goals for his family
coming out of enslavement.
And he says, "I want a good job.
I want to provide for my family."
And he saw the C&O railroad laying track
and John Henry shows up and says, "I'm your guy."
The fable has it that any man who signed up to work
would get 50 acres of land if they completed the railroad.
And sometimes this railroad
had to be completed through a mountain.
And so John Henry not simply laid rail, the railroad track,
but he had to drive a stake into the rock,
which creates enough space to then load dynamite.
John Henry was the best steel driver,
and then here comes a man with a steam drill.
The legend speaks of this race taking place
between John Henry and the machine.
(train whistle blows)
SHATNER: As the story goes,
there was a competition between John Henry
and the machine to see which of them
could drill farthest into the side of the mountain
in a single day.
During the contest,
the strength of John Henry was reportedly so powerful,
that the blows from his twin sledgehammers
shook the mountain itself.
The story is that
the steam drill only went nine feet.
John Henry went 14.
And so John Henry is superhuman
and more supreme than the machine.
NAMA: John Henry
beats the machine in this competition.
But he passes away:
he dies of a heart attack.
He dies from overexertion.
And what we have here
is John Henry begins to symbolize
this overpowering physique of a muscleman
and the ability to achieve
in the face of extreme odds.
TEMPLE: The legend of John Henry represents this Black man,
this hero who did superhuman feats,
from the 19th century.
It overshadows the harshness of the Reconstruction period,
but it also shows us how
Black men who were able-bodied,
who had that spirit of
willing to do anything they needed to do
to provide for their families.
McNEILL: Most of us know about John Henry from a literary work.
Like so many folk heroes
from the same time period in American history,
Paul Bunyan, Joe Magarac, Pecos Bill,
they are all compatriots of John Henry in this
larger-than-life, super capable
American folk hero model.
And what they capture is the spirit of industry
that our nation so badly wanted to embody
and project to the rest of the world
at this point in history.
(playing "John Henry")
SHATNER: The legend of John Henry's battle against the steam drill
was first immortalized in an African American folk ballad,
and since then, the inspirational story
has also been celebrated numerous times
in magazines, plays, and books.
Another superhuman feat of John Henry
is that he was able to inspire so many.
And so whether it's inspiring
in terms of actually working on the railroad
or other industries, John Henry was a beacon of that.
Also, in terms of him losing his life,
that's a sacrifice
that those who came after him could appreciate,
as they strive to be as good as John Henry.
NAMA: There also is an overlap,
certainly, with John Henry and superheroes.
In the early 1990s, Superman passed away,
and that set up a situation
for the comic book version of John Henry
to come in and save the day...
...as the character of Steel
in order to save the citizens of Metropolis.
He builds a suit, encased in steel,
and carries, of all things-- would you believe it?--
a sledgehammer.
And that speaks to kind of, like,
the reinterpretation of John Henry
within the framework of the superhero afro-futuristic
sci-fi version.
TEMPLE: The idea that John Henry is a superhero,
standing firmly in that space of post-enslavement
and Reconstruction, is really phenomenal.
The legend of John Henry proves that human strength
is inherent in all of us.
Was John Henry's victory over the steam drill just a myth,
or did it actually happen?
Either way, the story suggests that people can perform
incredible feats when placed in dire circumstances.
Like in the case of two teenage girls
who saved their father from certain death
with a sudden burst of superhuman strength.
SHATNER: While clearing the grounds of his property,
Jeff Smith loops a chain around a tree stump...
...and attaches the other end to his tractor.
But when he throws
the 3,000-pound vehicle into reverse, disaster strikes.
My boots were fairly muddy,
and my foot slipped off the clutch.
And the whole tractor just tipped flat back over on me.
Ah!
The steering wheel ended up burying into my chest
right about where my heart is,
and pinned me in between the tractor and the ground.
SHATNER: Pinned beneath 3,000 pounds of steel,
Jeff screams out in agony.
(screams)
His anguished cries draw the attention
of his teenage daughters, Hannah and Haylee.
But with the nearest town 20 minutes away, there's no time
to wait for help to arrive.
(groaning)
While my dad was under the tractor, he was...
He couldn't breathe,
his oxygen was really low.
He kept going in and out of consciousness.
He was pale, his lips were kind of blue.
Me and my sister knew at that point
that we were the only ones
and the only chance that my dad had.
HAYLEE SMITH: I was just like
so frozen and just so shocked.
(groaning)
And I go and I look at my dad.
He's just like, could not talk,
and his blood vessels in his eyes,
you could see them popping one by one.
And it was just horrible. I had no idea what to do.
So my sister says...
(sniffles) "Come help me lift it."
(groaning)
SHATNER: As their father gasps for breath,
the two sisters frantically grab the front
of the massive tractor,
set their heels into the ground,
and lift.
(grunting)
HAYLEE: When we tried to lift it,
it did not move.
I was just done, and Hannah was just screaming,
"We have to do it again, we have to do it again."
And I just remember putting my hands up,
and I was just like,
"How?"
And she just said, "Count." And so we counted.
And I just remember thinking, like, "God, help me.
Give me the strength to do this."
And she said, "One, two, three" and we lifted it.
(grunting)
SHATNER: Together, the two teenage girls
managed to hoist the tractor one foot off the ground...
(grunting)
...allowing their father enough room to wiggle out and escape.
My girls lifted a 3,000-pound tractor off me
and saved my life.
So, I mean, if my girls had not have
shown that kind of mysterious strength
of being able to lift that off my chest...
...I don't think I would have lasted another five minutes.
What boggles my mind to this day,
which is almost ten years later, is that...
they were able to do it.
It's just, to be able to lift that much weight and...
and save my life is...
...incredible.
It's insane to think that that was even a possibility.
SHATNER: How did two teenagers--
each weighing no more than 125 pounds--
find the strength to lift a massive tractor?
Scientists believe the source of their
superhuman strength may have actually been
a surge of adrenaline.
There's many stories that you hear about
of people doing superhuman feats of strength...
...and this usually is driven by adrenaline.
Adrenaline is that hormone
that can tap into resources of strength that you might have
when you need it in that split second
to drive your whole body
to push to the limits
and do whatever is necessary.
You see it in battle.
You hear about it in an emergency.
Adrenaline can make the body do amazing things.
SHATNER: Scientists have been studying
the remarkable effects of adrenaline
since it was first discovered in 1901.
McMAHON: Jokichi Takamine was a Japanese chemist
who spent most of his career in the United States,
and he's the first person to identify,
purify, and eventually trademark adrenaline.
And he was able to isolate the naturally occurring hormone
adrenaline in sheep and oxen
and to withdraw it and to purify it.
EDEN: Jokichi Takamine described
the whole idea of the adrenaline rush
as a harnessing of reservoirs
of power and a violent sort of
explosion of energy that occurs in people
who are in crisis situations.
SHATNER: Did a rush of adrenaline allow Hannah and Haylee Smith
to lift a 3,000-pound tractor?
It's a fascinating possibility,
and suggests that we all have untapped strength
that can be unlocked at a moment's notice.
JEFF: I feel like that their love
granted them enough power to be able to do what they had to do.
But when it comes down to it,
I think everybody's got a little bit of
that kind of superhuman ability in them.
It's just a matter of tapping into it
and finding the right situation where it drives them to do it.
The idea that a shot of adrenaline
can give an ordinary person the ability to perform
remarkable feats is fascinating.
Believe it or not, there are scientists who are currently
trying to harness other kinds of natural powers
to turn us all into
superhumans.
♪ ♪
SHATNER: At the University of Connecticut's
Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences,
there is a lab that is home to
dozens of genetically altered mice.
While these rodents might appear quite ordinary,
their DNA has actually been modified
to make them 30% stronger than normal mice.
Researchers have found ways to increase muscle mass,
muscle tissue
in ordinary mice to demonstrate
extraordinary endurance.
It's a kind of Mighty Mouse effect.
And so the question becomes whether this can be translated
to the human form.
The possibility that DNA manipulation
might enable people to enjoy heightened strength and stamina
is intriguing.
And in fact, humans have been searching for ways
to enhance our natural abilities
for thousands of years.
EDEN: If you go back to the ancient Greeks,
the original Olympics,
there are historical records of them
working with wine potions
and various herbs
to give themselves performance enhancement.
And then, in terms of
modern use of performance-enhancing drugs,
it's the Cold War.
The Soviet Union had
a massive drug doping program
as part of its sports programs
in efforts to defeat the West in every level,
militarily as well as in sport.
So the urge to do that, to outcompete
everyone else on the playing field
has been with us for, uh, forever.
HOROWITZ: Since the early 1980s, the military has been interested
in researching the creation of super soldiers...
...using exoskeletons
or robotic assists to limbs,
or using magnetic waves
to help people overcome the problems
of fatigue associated with sleep deprivation,
or increasing strength, increasing sight,
increasing the ability to see around corners,
see in the dark, see behind you,
to allow them to perform
incredible feats that are otherwise impossible.
McMAHON: Our desire always to improve ourselves
is at the source of so much of what we do.
At a very elementary level,
human beings want to distinguish themselves.
We want to do what others haven't done.
We're always restless, questing for something else,
pursuing something else,
and it's somewhat of a perverse need.
SHATNER: Will technology push human performance
beyond its natural limits?
Many scientists believe it's possible.
But the truth is that human beings already possess
extraordinary capabilities
that we are only beginning to understand.
LUKE: I think,
in some cases,
people don't know that they have
these talents and capacities...
...until they're put in the right situation
where they have to call on them.
And as we start understanding more about the science of genes,
we'll realize that there may be talents
and potentials that we can unlock
that we didn't otherwise know about.
Just when we think we know the limits of our mental
and physical capabilities,
another extraordinary person
comes along and performs
a superhuman feat that breaks the boundaries
of what is possible.
So, perhaps in the future,
mankind will unlock even more incredible abilities
that, for now, remain...
...unexplained.
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