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Bit flips: How cosmic rays grounded a fleet of aircraft (www.bbc.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 1 point 11 months ago (4 children)

...disrupt tiny bits of data stored in the computer's memory, switching that bit – often represented as a 0 or 1 – from one state to another.

Top notch science journalism there.

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  • [+] 15 points 11 months ago (4 children)
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  • [–] -2 points 11 months ago

    And, if the top levels of the BBC weren't staffed with time-serving Conservative Party appointees who spend all their time interfering in politics, they could get their journalists to fact-check their articles by asking someone who knows what the fuck they're talking about.

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  • [+] -12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    So what do bits represent then, if not ones and zeros?

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  • [+] 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)
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  • [+] -15 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    A bit isn't represented by a one or a zero, that's nonsense. A bit can take the state of a one or a zero and is represented in various ways in digital circuitry.

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  • [+] 11 points 11 months ago (1 child)
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  • [–] -4 points 11 months ago

    those states are represented by binary numbers.

    The states represent binary numbers, not the other way around.

    https://www.britannica.com/technology/bit-communications

    A bit is a binary digit. That's what "bit" is an abbreviation for. That is, it's either a 1 or a 0. It's a logical thing, not a physical thing. It's a unit of information.

    The embodiment of that bit is the physical state of a certain tiny, addressable chunk of silicon. And there could be any of several other embodiments: the position of toggle switches, chalk marks on a board, pits on a metallic surface in a DVD, voltage in a wire at a particular time. The particular embodiment is an engineering choice that is distinct from the information itself.

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