microcode, compilers, and supercomputer architecture - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

6 Apr 1999

...

 ::> > I have heard of Airbuses crashing because the controls were poorly
 ::> > designed. I've never heard of a 777 crashing. I've also never heard
of any
 ::> > medical machines failing, though this would tend to be underpublicized.

 ::Actually, the THERAC-25 radiation therapy machine is a good example of
 ::poor hardware AND software design which killed a number of people by
 ::giving them too high a dose of radiation, either for too long or 
 ::without the proper screen in place.

 !?!

 Has this been documented anywhere? Where did you find this out from?

I read an article about it several years ago, but I don't remember
what magazine it was it... One of the IEEE or ACM periodicals, I think.

A quick Alta-Vista search on "therac" turns up 476 matches, but a lot
of them are CS student papers.

Take a look at http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/lib/Therac_25/Therac_1.html
This is a reprint from IEEE Computer (might even be the original article
I saw :)

clint