X-traordinary People

There is a group of people whose physical and mental abilities have confounded science. Daniel Browning Smith from Los Angeles is one of these people. He believes he is the most flexible man in the world and scientific tests appear to back this claim up. Daniel started to contort his body at the tender age of four, believing that he was nothing special and that everyone could do the same. But he soon came to realise that he had an extraordinary talent and at 18 he ran away to join the circus.

Daniel now makes a living as a contortionist. Daniel is able to make his body do the seemingly impossible, flexing it way beyond the normal range of movement, using incredible control. He can squeeze himself into tiny spaces, partially dislocate his arms and even move his heart around his chest cavity. Scientists believe Daniel was born with amazing flexibility and that he has trained his ligaments and muscles to maximise his range of movement.

Tim Cridland doesn’t seem to feel pain like the rest of us. He astounded classmates at school by pushing needles into his arms without flinching and he now performs a terrifying act for audiences all over America. Scientific tests have shown that Tim can tolerate much higher levels of pain than are humanly possible. He explains that, by using mind over matter, he is able to push skewers through his body and put up with extreme heat and cold unharmed - but to do this safely he has extensively studied human anatomy, because puncturing an artery could be fatal.

Jez Rose from Oxford, England, uses a different kind of mind control. He is an amateur psychologist who uses his knowledge of the way the mind works to compel people to obey his instructions. He affects the choices of his subjects, getting the result he wants, even though they think they are making decisions of their own free will. Jez claims there is nothing psychic about the way he works - it is all to do with subconscious suggestion.

In Malaysia, Liew Thow Lin is known as the Human Magnet. He can make metal objects, weighing up to 2kg, stick to his skin and he is a scientific mystery because there is no trace of a magnetic field around his body. Scientists say his skin is also normal and there is no explanation for his unusual talent.

Austin Richards, from Santa Barbara, California, is known as Dr. Megavolt. He is a physicist with a love of lightning. At eight years old he was fascinated for the first time by a Tessler Coil, which throws out miniature bolts of lightning. Austin was so intrigued he built his own Tessler Coil, which gives out 150,000-volt bursts of lightning that he channels across his body by wearing a Faraday suit. Austin’s aim is to construct a mega-coil that will shoot 35ft bolts from his hands and head.