Editing Cosmic ray (section)

===Effect on electronics===
{{See also|Radiation hardening}}Cosmic rays have sufficient energy to alter the states of circuit components in [[electronics|electronic]] [[integrated circuit]]s, causing transient errors to occur (such as corrupted data in [[random-access memory|electronic memory devices]] or incorrect performance of [[CPU]]s) often referred to as "[[soft error]]s". This has been a problem in [[electronics]] at extremely high-altitude, such as in [[satellite]]s, but with [[transistor]]s becoming smaller and smaller, this is becoming an increasing concern in ground-level electronics as well.<ref>[http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/401/curtis.html "IBM experiments in soft fails in computer electronics (1978–1994)"]. In [http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd40-1.html "Terrestrial cosmic rays and soft errors"], ''IBM Journal of Research and Development'', Vol. 40, No. 1, 1996. Retrieved 16 April 2008.</ref> Studies by [[IBM]] in the 1990s suggest that computers typically experience about one cosmic-ray-induced error per 256 megabytes of [[Random-access memory|RAM]] per month.<ref>{{cite web|author=Scientific American|author-link=Scientific American|date=21 July 2008|title=Solar Storms: Fast Facts|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-storms-fast-facts/|publisher=[[Nature Publishing Group]]}}</ref> To alleviate this problem, the [[Intel Corporation]] has proposed a cosmic ray detector that could be integrated into future high-density [[microprocessor]]s, allowing the processor to repeat the last command following a cosmic-ray event.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7335322.stm "Intel plans to tackle cosmic ray threat"]. ''BBC News'', 8 April 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.</ref> [[ECC memory]] is used to protect data against data corruption caused by cosmic rays.

In 2008, data corruption in a flight control system caused an [[Airbus A330]] airliner to twice [[Qantas Flight 72|plunge hundreds of feet]], resulting in injuries to multiple passengers and crew members. Cosmic rays were investigated among other possible causes of the data corruption, but were ultimately ruled out as being very unlikely.<ref>[https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/3532398/ao2008070.pdf "In-flight upset, 154&nbsp;km west of Learmonth, Western Australia, 7 October 2008, VH-QPA, Airbus A330-303"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505014942/https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/3532398/ao2008070.pdf |date=5 May 2022 }} (2011). Australian Transport Safety Bureau.</ref>

In August 2020, scientists reported that ionizing radiation from environmental radioactive materials and cosmic rays may substantially limit the [[Quantum decoherence|coherence]] times of [[qubit]]s if they are not shielded adequately which may be critical for realizing fault-tolerant superconducting [[quantum computer]]s in the future.<ref>{{cite news|title=Quantum computers may be destroyed by high-energy particles from space|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2252933-quantum-computers-may-be-destroyed-by-high-energy-particles-from-space/|access-date=7 September 2020|work=New Scientist}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cosmic rays may soon stymie quantum computing|url=https://phys.org/news/2020-08-cosmic-rays-stymie-quantum.html|access-date=7 September 2020|work=phys.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Vepsäläinen|first1=Antti P.|last2=Karamlou|first2=Amir H.|last3=Orrell|first3=John L.|last4=Dogra|first4=Akshunna S.|last5=Loer|first5=Ben|last6=Vasconcelos|first6=Francisca|last7=Kim |first7=David K.|last8=Melville|first8=Alexander J.|last9=Niedzielski|first9=Bethany M.|last10=Yoder|first10=Jonilyn L.|last11=Gustavsson|first11=Simon|last12=Formaggio|first12=Joseph A.|last13=VanDevender|first13=Brent A.|last14=Oliver|first14=William D.|title=Impact of ionizing radiation on superconducting qubit coherence|journal=Nature|date=August 2020|volume=584|issue=7822 |pages=551–556|doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2619-8|pmid=32848227|arxiv=2001.09190|bibcode=2020Natur.584..551V|s2cid=210920566|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2619-8|access-date=7 September 2020|issn=1476-4687}}</ref>