If you had true, problem-free super speed, the limits on the possible race away. You could travel forwards through decades of time on a whim, just to see what the future was like. With Flash-like powers you could move so quickly that the pace of human life would be meaningless to you. But what happens when one extreme super power meets an equally extreme construction of science fiction? Could someone like the Flash…touch a lightsaber?[brightcove video_id=”5970075087001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=”rJs2ZD8x”]In my latest episode of Because Science, I’m taking a delightfully nerdy thought experiment sent in by a viewer. How I interpret the question is: could the Flash—or anyone with super speed—safely touch a lightsaber. That is to say, is super speed fast enough to allow someone to touch a lightsaber when it’s turned on without burning themselves? We want to know then, how quickly one would have to pull a hand away from a lightsaber before its heat energy did something really bad to it. And you know the Star Wars universe hates hands…After you watch the new episode, check out my last video on how powerful Fallout‘s lasers could get, buy a Because Science shirt, mug, hat, or collectible pin, and follow me on Twitter or on Instagram to give me a suggestion for the next episode. Want Because Science even earlier? Subscribe to Alpha for access to the show two full days before anyone else.

Catch up on the latest Because Science!

• Never do a “superhero landing”
• Can you block bullets like Deadpool?
• Why you don’t want the power of invisibility