Superman's Powers - Part 2
The enhanced structure of Superman's sensory organs combined with the increased capacity of his nervous system provides for the greatly enhanced senses. His range of hearing extends from the subsonic through to the point where signal modulation in broadcast communications can be sensed and demodulated into "sounds" if he concentrates. He can distinctly hear soft sounds anywhere on Earth if he is listening for them. He has perfect pitch. He has, on occasion, sat and perceived every sound on Earth as a symphony of a living planet.
His visual reception range covers the entirety of the electromagnetic spectrum. The difference between human and Superman's vision is that Superman has the capability to see a much wider band of the electromagnetic spectrum; while humans only sense a very narrow band of the spectrum we call visible light. Superman can change the spectrum he perceives at any given time, by changing the chemical receptors in the rods and cones of his retinas. He can adjust his photovoltaic detection as an act of will to sense longer wavelengths down to the infrared, and higher energy light, up to X-ray and gamma radiation.
Kryptonian muscle tissue when super-charged with solar-energy, can generate a powerful gravitational field. These fields in combination with Superman's personal bioelectric field give him the ability to negate gravity, allowing him to fly. When in flight, he's fully suspended by this energy, almost completely repelling Earth's gravimetric influence over him. He becomes his own center of gravity, and no longer has to physically leverage against the gravity of whatever planetary body he's on, or any object. By instinctively controlling an output of energy from his aura, he is able to mentally push himself to a direction and speed of his own liking through sheer force of will. Controlling his motion, Superman is capable of Mach speeds in excess of Mach 10 in atmosphere. He can fly to the Moon in minutes, but faster than that outside of atmospheric interference. His control of his flight is perfect and he can perform aerobatic feats such as hovering, flying backwards and even lifting great weights while flying.
Superman can use the gravitational fields generated by the muscles in his eyes to produce a gravity lens, allowing him to focus far beyond the range of the human eye. Combined with Superman's sensitivity to light, he can magnify an image a virtually countless number of times. Superman can see through solids objects by using a combination of these telescopic and microscopic visual abilities to see through the atomic structure of an object and focus past it, as a camera focuses beyond the dust on a lens. Certain dense materials, notably lead, obstruct this ability.
Superman has the ability to expel stored (solar/electromagnetic) internal energy in the form of focused beams of radiation from his eyes. He emits light along various frequencies in high energy bursts that flash-melts materials in seconds, weaken structural integrity over a smaller area, such as melting the barrel of a gun but leaving the handle untouched. Superman can control his heat vision and direct it wherever he wants to. He directs it with his eyes.
In actuality, Superman could not emit the beams directly from his eyes. The energy is actually built up on the surface of the bio-energetic field surrounding his body and emitted from there. This allows his body to be protected from the energy and absorbing stray electromagnetic energy back into his body. Superman's energy reclamation aura is so efficient that any radiation, even those emitted from him, once in the environment are able to be reabsorbed.
The heat beams are psionically controlled and that control is reflexive, so he can shut it off without accidentally damaging anything that he does not want to. He can emit the radiation visibly or invisibly at lower settings. His energy has a high visibility profile if emitted at higher levels.
Superman has the power to release gale-force winds from his lungs. He can create ice blocks from his breath, as well as freeze objects and opponents. The psionic portion of his powers are made evident by these depictions. The only way for objects to freeze is if their molecular composition slows down in motion at an incredible rate. The application of intense winds from Superman's breath is actually not sufficient to freeze things. Since Superman can agitate molecules to increase in motion, he can do the reverse. He is using the same effect that amplifies converted solar energy in reverse. He is using it as a catalyst to access higher-order energies through an unknown physical mechanism. That same amplification mechanism is reversed to dampen or neutralize energies in the environment to produce freeze breath. Additionally, his vast lung capacity is not physically possible given the dimensions of the humanoid physique. However, his super-breath includes tesseract-type properties.
Both Superman's Kryptonian physiology and the fact that his engrams are stabilized by a solar-frequency hologram reinforcing his neural matrix allow him near-perfect recall of events he pays specific attention to or that have emotional significance or are particularly striking.
Superman is a talented mimic, and can reproduce most sounds that he can hear. He can modulate his voice to transmit on radio or microwave/radar frequencies, and can expel a minute amount of air in space at a warm enough temperature and speed to carry sub-vocalized sound directly to one or more targets.
Superman requires solar energy to function at peak capacity, or his powers fade to greatly reduced levels, some disappearing entirely if his solar reserves are empty. Superman cannot absorb energy from the lower frequency orange O-class stars and cannot process the higher-frequency White K or blue F classes. Blue B and yellow G type stars are ideal.
Superman's body stores and processes solar energy at a rapid rate and for a variety of effects, which are explained in his other powers. His storage capacity is sufficient to let him function at full capacity for up to 14 days depending on his physical condition and state of rest. While under a star of the right class (G-type dwarfs in the blue-white through yellow spectrum are ideal) and within a planetary atmosphere, he replenishes energy at a constant rate.
If forced to expend large amounts of energy over a relatively short time, or to maintain constant exertion over longer periods of time, he tires and his power begins to diminish. Constant exertion will revert him to normal humanoid levels after 14 days without rest. The power recovers at the rate of normal rest, and a full recharge can be accomplished with two days of no more than moderate, normal-level exertion. A process of solar recharge is also known, but requires massive amounts of fusion energy of solar/light-based superpowers.