January 13, 2026
Space rain vs. airplane brains
LANL's ICE House Tests Microelectronics for Cosmic Radiation Exposure
Los Alamos zaps plane chips; commenters cry ‘100 years in an hour,’ nitpick graphs, swap war stories
TLDR: Los Alamos’ ICE House blasts airplane electronics with neutron “space rain” to simulate decades of flight. Commenters hype the “100 years in an hour” claim, roast a messy graph, and trade nostalgia—agreeing tougher chips matter as electronics shrink and safety rides on rad-hard gear.
The internet just discovered that the Los Alamos ICE House literally blasts airplane electronics with neutron “space rain” to see if they survive decades at 35,000 feet—and the comments instantly went full popcorn. The community’s loudest chorus: “One hour of testing equals 100 years of cosmic radiation,” a jaw-drop from LAsteNERD that people repeated like a new fun fact at parties. Cue jokes about “new fear unlocked” and the viral line from the article—“just one neutron can stop a train”—spawning memes of rogue particles canceling flights.
Then came the drama: graph wars. dtgriscom didn’t hold back, calling out the first chart’s design and demanding a logarithmic scale, while others shrugged, saying the visuals matter less than “please make sure chips don’t freak out mid-flight.” Nostalgia also hit hard, with schaefer rolling in to flex: “I helped build this target,” sending the thread into “back-in-my-day” tales of analog dials vs. today’s digital dashboards. The vibe? A mix of awe that we simulate decades of space smackdown in an afternoon, anxiety that shrinking chips mean more glitches, and fascination with the OMG particle lore. It’s science, safety, and snark—served hot, with extra cosmic seasoning.
Key Points
- •ICE House at LANSCE irradiates microelectronics to evaluate and improve radiation hardness for aerospace and avionics.
- •Radiation exposure increases with altitude, making digital aircraft systems susceptible to charge-disrupting effects.
- •Cosmic rays create atmospheric ‘air showers’ that produce secondary particles; neutrons are most impactful for electronics.
- •Steve Wender explains that a single neutron can cause a semiconductor fault, necessitating safeguards and engineering.
- •The facility is described as the only place in the U.S. performing this specific testing, supporting safety and national security.