When cosmic rays reach the Earth, they collide with atoms in the atmosphere, blowing them apart into subatomic particles (pions, muons, and neutrinos). Most of them only make it that far, but a few (about 100,000 per square meter per second) reach the ground. They can trigger lightning strikes, cause electronics to malfunction, or damage living cells. (Don't worry too much about this last one, though, you're at much greater risk from UV radiation than from cosmic rays.)
The chances of every atom in an organism being struck by a cosmic ray simultaneously are astronomical (no pun intended). But I decided to simulate what that might look like, with garden plants (mostly flowers) as my subject, using Stable Diffusion. Sometimes the plants stayed intact and color exploded around them. Sometimes the plants burst into a conflagration of extra leaves, stems, and petals that were still identifiable as the original plant, though twisted or distorted. Other times the plants were completely consumed by the explosion so that only streamers of color were left.
Calibrachoa
Calla Lily
Calladium
Campion
Canna
Carnation
Celosia
Cosmos
Crysanthemum
Clematis
Clover
Columbine
Crocus
Cymbidium
Daffodil
Dahlia
Dandelion
Datura
Delosperma
Delphinium
Dianthus
Dogwood
Dusty Miller
Echinacea
Eryngium
Euphorbia
Fern
Feverfew
Firethorn
These illustrations were drawn using Stable Diffusion 2.1.
