The computer errors from outer space
The Earth is subjected to a hail of subatomic particles from the Sun and beyond our solar system which could be the cause of glitches that afflict our phones and computers. And the risk is growing as microchip technology shrinks.
When computers go wrong, we tend to assume it's just some software hiccup, a bit of bad programming. But ionising radiation, including rays of protons blasted towards us by the sun, can also be the cause. These incidents, called single-event upsets, are rare and it can be impossible to be sure that cosmic rays were involved in a specific malfunction because they leave no trace behind them.
And yet they have been singled out as the possible culprits behind numerous extraordinary cases of computer failure. From a vote-counting machine that added thousands of non-existent votes to a candidate's tally, to a commercial airliner that suddenly dropped hundreds of feet mid-flight, injuring dozens of passengers.
As human society only becomes more dependent on digital technology, it's worth asking how big a risk cosmic rays pose to our way of life. Not least because, with the continuing miniaturisation of microchip technology, the charge required to corrupt data is getting smaller all the time, meaning it is actually getting easier for cosmic rays to have this effect.
By Chris Baraniuk 11th October 2022
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221011-how-space-weather-causes-computer-errors
Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) have been around for years. But they didn't trouble vacuum tube technology much because their power-hungry technology. A 5 volt surge would be such a small percentage of the circuit voltage, the equipment's performance was unaffected.
As micro-circuitry shrinks further that same 5 volt surge could cause serious results as Baraniuk examples above.
I've witnessed the consumer end of the digital revolution from the beginning. The digital revolution certainly isn't over. We're not even to quantum computing yet.
I have seen how digital, Silicon chip technology has insinuated and ingratiate itself into our lives.
Will this real problem of computer errors from space influence any of your life? Has it already?
What's the worst-case scenario? A computer system controlling U.S. nuclear weapons on land, sea, and air. Could such computer accident initiate a nuclear first strike? An invisible ray from the sun causes the computer to fire the missiles which end all humanity? A good day for the cockroaches?
The Earth is subjected to a hail of subatomic particles from the Sun and beyond our solar system which could be the cause of glitches that afflict our phones and computers. And the risk is growing as microchip technology shrinks.
When computers go wrong, we tend to assume it's just some software hiccup, a bit of bad programming. But ionising radiation, including rays of protons blasted towards us by the sun, can also be the cause. These incidents, called single-event upsets, are rare and it can be impossible to be sure that cosmic rays were involved in a specific malfunction because they leave no trace behind them.
And yet they have been singled out as the possible culprits behind numerous extraordinary cases of computer failure. From a vote-counting machine that added thousands of non-existent votes to a candidate's tally, to a commercial airliner that suddenly dropped hundreds of feet mid-flight, injuring dozens of passengers.
As human society only becomes more dependent on digital technology, it's worth asking how big a risk cosmic rays pose to our way of life. Not least because, with the continuing miniaturisation of microchip technology, the charge required to corrupt data is getting smaller all the time, meaning it is actually getting easier for cosmic rays to have this effect.
By Chris Baraniuk 11th October 2022
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221011-how-space-weather-causes-computer-errors
Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) have been around for years. But they didn't trouble vacuum tube technology much because their power-hungry technology. A 5 volt surge would be such a small percentage of the circuit voltage, the equipment's performance was unaffected.
As micro-circuitry shrinks further that same 5 volt surge could cause serious results as Baraniuk examples above.
I've witnessed the consumer end of the digital revolution from the beginning. The digital revolution certainly isn't over. We're not even to quantum computing yet.
I have seen how digital, Silicon chip technology has insinuated and ingratiate itself into our lives.
Will this real problem of computer errors from space influence any of your life? Has it already?
What's the worst-case scenario? A computer system controlling U.S. nuclear weapons on land, sea, and air. Could such computer accident initiate a nuclear first strike? An invisible ray from the sun causes the computer to fire the missiles which end all humanity? A good day for the cockroaches?