The search for the random numbers that run our lives

BBC ^ | https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240704-the-search-for-the-random-numbers-that-run-our-lives | Chris Baraniuk

[BenLurkin]

here are some things that computers, for all their prowess, don't do well – and one of them is randomness. Sure, computers spit out data all the time, why not random numbers? The problem is that computers rely on internal mechanisms that are at some level predictable, meaning the outputs of computer algorithms eventually become predictable, too, which is not what you want if you're running a casino. The same issue can cause headaches for cryptographers. When you encrypt information, you want the keys to the code to be as random as possible, so that no-one can work out how you garbled the original text since that could allow them to read the secret message.

People have long sought external sources of randomness as the basis of random number generators. In this search for true randomness, they have looked practically everywhere for chaotic phenomena that can't be predicted or manipulated. They have listened to the racket of electrical storms, captured pictures of raindrops on glass, and played with the tiniest particles in the known Universe.

Random numbers are essential for securing information, he points out, since they are used whenever a computer encrypts data so that it looks to any casual observer like mere gobbledegook. When you visit a website that begins "https://", for example, you're asking your computer and the server that stores the website to, among other things, generate some random numbers, exchange them and then use them to encrypt the data sent back and forth as you load the website and go on to use it. (This is an enormous simplification of the exchange that takes place in just a few milliseconds, but you get the drift.) When sensitive data is flying around computer networks, especially those accessible by the public, it's essential to secure that information.

[xoxox]

because “randomness” is a myth.

think about it.

[Gene Eric]

Are myths random?

[Sarcazmo]

I think AI could get close.

Come to think of it, why not just use some CCTV feed data from some busy street scene?

[dinodino]

Insufficient entropy.

[P.O.E.]

The set of integers alone is infinite. So a true random number might take weeks or years to even mention.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"why not just use some CCTV feed data from some busy street scene?"

There have been many such attempts to use chaotic and seemingly random physical processes to generate the seed for random number generators. The article says researchers have "...looked practically everywhere for chaotic phenomena that can't be predicted or manipulated. They have listened to the racket of electrical storms, captured pictures of raindrops on glass, and played with the tiniest particles in the known Universe."

Wiki --> "Many natural phenomena generate low-level, statistically random "noise" signals, including thermal and shot noise, jitter and metastability of electronic circuits, Brownian motion, atmospheric noise. Researchers also used the photoelectric effect, involving a beam splitter, other quantum phenomena, and even the nuclear decay (due to practical considerations the latter, as well as the atmospheric noise, is not viable)."

How about Cosmic Rays? Using cosmic rays to generate and distribute random numbers and boost security for local devices and networks

[Bob434]

90210

[T. P. Pole]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cUUfMeOijg&pp=ygUhbGF2YSBsYW1wIHJhbmRvbSBudW1iZXIgZ2VuZXJhdG9y

The Lava Lamps That Help Keep The Internet Secure

[SaveFerris]

[The article says researchers have "...looked practically everywhere for chaotic phenomena]

Might I make a suggestion?

[6ppc]

Patterns of Walmart shoppers pushing carts. I swear it comes as close to Brownian motion as anything!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOL...I truly laughed out loud! There is nothing more chaotic than that!

[Sarcazmo]

I should have known someone thought of that already.

[SaveFerris]

😄😂😆🤣🤣

[E. Pluribus Unum]

42.

[BipolarBob]

That is funny.

[SaveFerris]

Wonder if it would calculate Powerball numbers?

(Because I don’t have ENOUGH problems in life........) LOL

[Doctor Congo]

I just watched the NCIS episode where they use lava lamps to generate random numbers. Torres got to destroy them to save the day, and get revenge for burning him when he was a kid. “now we’re even”

[Fresh Wind]

The best random number generator that I know of is Joe Biden’s brain.

[moovova]

I keep rolling snake eyes.