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Because the linked page doesn't include a description of what a Therac-25 is: > "The Therac-25 is a computer-controlled radiation therapy machine produced by A
by mrandish 2y ago
Because the linked page doesn't include a description of what a Therac-25 is:
> "The Therac-25 is a computer-controlled radiation therapy machine produced by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in 1982. The Therac-25 was involved in at least six accidents between 1985 and 1987, in which some patients were given massive overdoses of radiation. Because of concurrent programming errors (also known as race conditions), it sometimes gave its patients radiation doses that were hundreds of times greater than normal, resulting in death or serious injury. These accidents highlighted the dangers of software control of safety-critical systems."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25
- whycome 2y agoYou're missing one critical aspect of this nightmare. After an incident: "The AECL responded in two pages detailing the reasons why radiation overdose was impossible on the Therac-25, stating both machine failure and operator error were not possible."
- pmalynin 2y agoRBMK Reactors Do Not Explode
- sky2224 2y agoThere's another massive thing to highlight with this. Atomic Energy had a death and "fixed" the issues. Then they had more deaths. It really highlights the fact that proper and adequate testing is absolutely and unquestionably required for a system like this, and that if you don't have testing and issues do occur, then you're essentially just going to keep creating issues for yourself while fixing the issues you created in the first place. Therac-25 is genuinely horrifying.
- dreamcompiler 2y agoNot just testing. Any modern system this safety critical should be proven with formal methods.