Cosmic rays gave the Fantastic Four their incredible powers — but what do they really do?

(Main) An illustration shows a retrostyle rocket leaving Earth and encountering cosmic rays (Inset) a still from the forthcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps in which the heroes receive their powers through cosmic ray bombardment.

"You know we haven't done enough research into the effects of cosmic rays!"

Ben Grimm, Fantastic Four #1, 1961

Ben may have been right way back when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created him and the rest of the Fantastic Four 64 years ago, but we know a heck of a lot more about cosmic rays today.