Random numbers have different meanings and applications in various fields.
In the field of computer science, it is commonly used in areas such as encryption and identification.
A truly random number generator must satisfy three conditions:
（1）Unpredictable. Random numbers cannot be guessed, so they must be very large to prevent brute-force attacks.
（2）They must be different each time. Each randomly generated number should not be the same.
（3）Uniform distribution. The random numbers must be evenly distributed across all intervals, and not concentrated in certain intervals.
While browsing Ruanyifeng's weekly column today, I discovered another application of radio.
Generally speaking, true random numbers can only be obtained through hardware; software algorithms alone cannot achieve this.
Scientists worked tirelessly to come up with various methods for generating random numbers using hardware.
Random.org is a website specifically designed to generate random numbers.
It deployed multiple radio receivers worldwide, specifically designed to listen for atmospheric radio waves (also known as atmospheric noise, which can be understood as the Brownian motion of air). These receivers generate random numbers using random radio signals. The image below shows its early hardware equipment.
The world's largest CDN provider, Cloudflare, has taken extreme measures to obtain truly random numbers.
Its three offices each have a different random number generator.
（1）Headquarters in San Francisco. As soon as you walk in, there's a wall covered with dozens of lava lamps.
The interior of the lava lamp contains molten wax, which is constantly changing shape.
When you need a random number, take a picture of this wall. Each photo will be different, and then calculate the hash value of the image to use as a seed value, which will generate a random number.
Those who are interested can view the article:https://www.ruanyifeng.com/blog/2024/06/weekly-issue-305.html
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