Cosmic rays can cause serious computer glitches

Kevin Lancaster

Kevin Lancaster

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Cosmic rays can cause serious computer glitches

Computer crashes and serious glitches may be caused by electrically-charged particles cosmic rays generate, Computerworld reported.

Dubbed a single event upset (SEU), the interference caused by cosmic rays is harmless to living organisms, but can have significant consequences for computer systems.
 
Note: The report referenced by MyBB is in fact fake news. This does not mean or imply MyBB are in any way at fault here.
I worked in this field and I am an expert at liberty to comment and debunk if requested to do so.
 
An SEU can cause a change as trivial as altering the colour of a pixel in an image, or as catastrophic as the crash of an aircraft.
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So indirectly harmful to living organisms?
 
Randy_The_Squirrel said:
Note: The report referenced by MyBB is in fact fake news. This does not mean or imply MyBB are in any way at fault here.
I worked in this field and I am an expert at liberty to comment and debunk if requested to do so.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that cosmic rays don't cause computer glitches?
 
Randy_The_Squirrel said:
Note: The report referenced by MyBB is in fact fake news. This does not mean or imply MyBB are in any way at fault here.
I worked in this field and I am an expert at liberty to comment and debunk if requested to do so.
Click to expand...
The part about cosmic radiation not being harmful to humans or where it says that cosmic radiation can inflict great damage on computer equipment?

My understanding is that cosmic radiation in higher doses than normal are indeed harmful to humans (it's ionized radiation for Pete's sake), but on the ground our bodies cope just fine. Cabin and cockpit crew, however, are affected, hence we see there are limits, and aircraft flying above 50 000 feet have radiation meters installed to monitor the level of cosmic radiation. Should it go over an imposed limit, pilots are required to descend.
 
Everyone knows that electrically-charged particles cosmic rays cause calendars to skip ahead to April 1[SUP]st[/SUP]. :D
 
Although SEU’s are rare, one has been blamed for causing a vote count error in Belgium in 2003. The flip of a bit caused a candidate to gain 4,096 votes they should not have received.
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Yeah right... :whistle:
 
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