At first when I watched the Game Theorists video on why electric/lightning Pokèmon aren’t that great, I was like, “Oh interesting.” Also, finally someone explained volts, amps, and ohms in a way that wasn’t completely confusing. But then as expected, at two in the morning my brain was like, “Oh my gosh! Air resistance!!”

In the video, it explains how air has a high ohm factor, which means that it is a very good insulator against electricity. Like they said in the video, “It’s why we don’t get electrocuted every time the wind blows.” There needs to be a lot a build up before a lightning strike. This mattered to me because I could use it in my science fiction books.

My main character has the power of telekinesis. From this I get people saying, “Why does he need to get in close to fight his opponent? Why not just toss him from afar or drop a car on him?” I explained part of this as a battle of wills. A person generally does not like to be thrown against a wall, so the foe’s will is fighting against the protagonist’s will to throw him, which drains the hero of energy. But now, I can add in air resistance/insulation. The further away the protagonist is from the opponent, the more resistance there is for his “psychic” energy. So to conserve his energy, he needs to fight hand-to-hand.

Now, I can respond with something other than, “it’s fiction; give it a rest.”

And they say you can’t learn anything from video games.

Do you have a strange story of inspiration? Let me know in the comments below.

Until next wormhole…thanks for reading.

Join in the adventure as Joe and company deal with everything from waking up in the morning to stopping an alien invasion in the Christmas themed eBook Gift of the Minion. Releases Dec. 3. Preorder for $0.99, regular price $2.99.