#index #research #physics/semiconductors #radiation/interactions # Cosmic Ray Bit Flips (or Single-Event Upsets) Motivation: eh why not  A [[Galactic Cosmic Rays|cosmic ray]] bit flip is when a [[Galactic Cosmic Rays|galactic cosmic ray]], often emitted from our sun strike the silicon in microchips commonly used in computers and other semiconductor-based technologies. The term "bit-flip" means that a bit's value changes from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0, thus creating a significant computational and memory error. This happens because the galactic cosmic ray deposits enough energy into the semiconductor, Silicon, and thus liberates a charge to cross [[Band Gap]], allowing currently to flow through where there shouldn't be, for example. ## Voting Machine Example A bit flip supposedly gave a political candidate exactly 4,096 votes. This might have been as result of a cosmic ray coming into the voting machine and flipping the bit for $2^{12}$. ## Super Mario 64 Speedrun Amusingly, a Cosmic Ray Bit Flip happened in a single Nintendo 64 for a speed runner playing [[Super Mario 64]], as Mario's y-position in Tick-Tock clock suddenly changed for no replicable reason. Thanks ionizing radiation! UPDATE: Okay this wasn't a cosmic ray bit flip, it was a loose connector pin on the cartridge, rip.