Influence of Sun on radioactive decays?

[zoki85]

Hi All,

http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.0205

Quite unbelievable!
Anybody knows what is going on with the research of this, are the results confirmed, propositions of the cause?

 

[wabbit]

Hmmm "Influemce of Sun on radioactive decay" ? From the abstract it sounds more like their detector is picking up some extraneous signal, which looks plausibly related some solar phenomenon they haven't yet identified.

 

[mfb]

There are tons of things that vary every year, most notably the temperature (and they see a clear yearly trend in temperature). Even the line voltage shows some yearly variation (figure 5). An experiment deep underground, at the equator or in the southern hemisphere would be interesting I guess. Or at least heat the whole room with the experiment and see if it changes anything.

The inconsistency of the relative intensity of the daily cycle between day and night (GSI sees the opposite effect of other measurements) is a strong hint towards unaccounted or underestimated systematic effects.

Sure, it needs more investigation, but I would be surprised if it is a real effect.