We use tech every day, often without thinking about what’s happening behind the screens, but some have truly strange and fascinating back story’s that most people never hear about. We thought we’d have some fun this week and put together a list of ten strange tech facts that might change the way you look at the digital world.

1. Cosmic Rays Can Crash a Computer

High-energy particles from outer space regularly pass through the Earth’s atmosphere. When one of these particles hits a computer’s memory, it can flip a single bit from a 0 to a 1. This is known as a soft error. Most of the time nothing noticeable happens, but occasionally it can crash software or silently corrupt data. Data centres and aircraft systems experience this more often, which is why servers often use ECC memory to detect and fix these errors.

2. Routers Deliberately Drop Internet Traffic

It sounds like a fault, but it’s actually a feature. When a network becomes too busy, routers intentionally drop small amounts of data to signal devices to slow down. This controlled packet loss prevents total congestion and keeps the internet running smoothly. Without it, online services would grind to a halt every evening.

3. Your Computer Clock is Wrong Almost All The Time

The internal clocks in computers drift constantly. They rely on internet time servers to stay accurate. Without regular synchronisation, even modern systems can be seconds or minutes out within days. In business environments, incorrect time can break logins, encryption and backups, which is why time syncing is so critical.

4. Mobile Phones Negotiate Their Power with Phone Masts

Your phone is constantly adjusting how strong its signal is, often hundreds of times per second. The network tells it when to increase or reduce power to maintain a reliable connection. Using the lowest possible power saves battery, reduces interference and helps thousands of users share the same network. This is why your battery drains faster in poor signal areas.

5. Computers Have Two Different Zeros

In standard computer maths, there’s a value called negative zero. It behaves differently from positive zero in certain calculations, even though they look the same when displayed. This comes from how floating-point numbers are stored in binary and is part of the global IEEE standard.

6. Turning on Logging Can Fix Bugs

Some software errors disappear when developers add extra logging or debugging output. The extra instructions slightly change how the program runs, which can stop the fault from appearing. These are known as Heisenbugs, named after the uncertainty principle, because observing them changes their behaviour.

7. A Computer Can Run the Wrong Instructions on Purpose

Modern processors use branch prediction, which means they guess what code will run next and start executing it early. If the guess is wrong, the results are thrown away. This makes computers much faster, but it also leads to major security flaws like Spectre and Meltdown.

8. Data Can Leak From Cables

Electrical cables emit tiny electromagnetic signals while transmitting data. With the right equipment, these signals can sometimes be detected and reconstructed without physically tapping the cable. This type of attack has been studied by security agencies for decades.

9. Time Can Go Backwards on a Computer

When a system synchronises with a time server, it may discover its clock is wrong. Instead of jumping forward, some systems slowly correct themselves, which can cause the system time to move backwards for a moment. This can break databases and security systems if not handled properly.

10. Digital Data Slowly Decays Over Time

Stored data can slowly degrade over time, even on powered-off drives. This is known as bit rot. Magnetic fields fade, electrical charges leak and materials age. Without verification and backups, files can become corrupted without any obvious warning.

Why This Matters for Businesses

These facts are fun, but they also highlight an important truth, modern IT is built on layers of physics, engineering and clever compromises. Even the most advanced systems are affected by forces you can’t see, from cosmic radiation to electrical noise.

If you’d like to know how well your systems are protected, we’re here to help.