From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article <3fa1aa60$1@news.sentex.net>,   
   Nicholas Fitzpatrick  wrote:   
   >>>Can the electromagnetic radiation from this solar flare erase hard   
   >>>disks or other magnetic media?   
   >>No.  Except insofar as it might indirectly cause difficulties for software   
   >>or other hardware, which might respond poorly...   
   >   
   >Hmm ... not even the x-ray radiation?  I wouldn't have thought it would   
   >have been very healthy, for say, laptop hardrives on the ISS.   
      
   X-rays don't affect magnetic media at all.  (Much of the concern about   
   passing magnetic media through, e.g., airport X-ray machines is baseless   
   superstition.  To the extent that it's legitimate, the issue is magnetic   
   fields associated with the equipment, rather than the X-rays themselves.)   
   --   
   MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec    | Henry Spencer   
   pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well.  | henry@spsystems.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)