14 DAY TRIAL // The new “Fantastic Four,” out this August, tells the tale of a group of researchers who travel to an alternate universe only to be blasted with high levels of radiation and return to Earth with a brand new set of skills to testify to their epic adventure. Yup, we're talking superpowers.
What's interesting is that, while visits to alternate universes and having people develop superpowers are still stories of the imagination (bummer, right?), the Fantastic Four actually make sense scientifically-wise. Not much though, just some.
In a new video released this past Tuesday, scientists with the American Chemical Society explain that, when exposed to high levels of radiation, the human body can either wither and die - the most likely scenario - or experience a little something called DNA reconfiguration.
In a nutshell, DNA strands get broken down, and when put back together, their newly fashioned pattern is different enough to allow for the manifestation of new abilities like, say, what we call superpowers. Again, something like this is virtually impossible to happen.
Like the Fantastic Four, it might be that the Hulk also owes his powers to DNA reconfiguration, in turn the end result of Bruce Banner getting hit by massive amounts of gamma radiation.
