Fried chips: Cosmic rays put new-generation microcircuits to the test

Iria · Jan 6, 2007, 06:01 AM

Source: Yahoo! News
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MARSEILLE, France (AFP) - On May 18 2003, officials overseeing an election in Schaerbeek, a suburb of Brussels, got a shock.

An electronic vote-counting machine declared that 4,096 more people had cast their vote than the ballot slips testified.

The machine had been thoroughly tested and deemed perfect. So what went wrong?

The answer was, literally, a strike from the heavens.

Technicians pointed the finger of blame at cosmic rays -- particles that zip across the cosmos at huge speed and, while rightly ignored by humans as a health concern, can wreak havoc with highly sensitive microelectronic circuits.

mike2h · Jan 6, 2007, 07:05 AM

chad anyone?
florida should have thought of that one.

CDsDontBurn · Jan 6, 2007, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike2h

chad anyone?
florida should have thought of that one.

yea, and then Gore would have won

Jan 6, 2007, 06:01 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 76	Fried chips: Cosmic rays put new-generation microcircuits to the test Source: Yahoo! News ________ MARSEILLE, France (AFP) - On May 18 2003, officials overseeing an election in Schaerbeek, a suburb of Brussels, got a shock. An electronic vote-counting machine declared that 4,096 more people had cast their vote than the ballot slips testified. The machine had been thoroughly tested and deemed perfect. So what went wrong? The answer was, literally, a strike from the heavens. Technicians pointed the finger of blame at cosmic rays -- particles that zip across the cosmos at huge speed and, while rightly ignored by humans as a health concern, can wreak havoc with highly sensitive microelectronic circuits.

Jan 6, 2007, 07:05 AM	#2
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 76 System Specs	chad anyone? florida should have thought of that one. __________________