Role of ambient humidity underestimated in research on correlation between radioactive decay rates and space weather

TL;DR

This paper highlights that ambient humidity's influence on radioactive decay rate measurements has been underestimated, suggesting it may significantly affect correlations with space weather observed in recent studies.

Contribution

It reveals the overlooked impact of ambient humidity on measurement stability, emphasizing the need to consider it in studies linking decay rates to space weather.

Findings

Ambient humidity significantly affects detector stability.

Humidity influence was previously underestimated.

Reassessment of decay rate fluctuations considering humidity.

Abstract

In recent work, Milian-Sanchez et al. observed fluctuations in radioactive decay rate measurement series, and after excluding environmental influences (measured indoors) as root causes, they looked for possible correlations with astrophysical variables. In spite of the authors efforts to investigate possible influences of environmental parameters (such as ambient temperature, pressure and humidity) on the detectors stability, it turns out that the influence of ambient humidity on the instrumentation has been underestimated.