Computer programs exist that attempt to generate random numbers, but no such program can fully replicate a truly random selection. Computer programs are, by definition, a set of instructions that use an input to generate an output. If both the input and the algorithm are known, the result is fully predictable. Even the best random number generation programs can only be called pseudo-random because the input itself is generated by the program. As a result, a pattern will emerge within the results, even if the program is sophisticated enough to make the pattern very complicated, and that pattern can be used to predict future results. True random number generation often depends on measurement of an unpredictable physical phenomenon, such as weather patterns or atmospheric radiation, and using that measurement as an input to generate a result.
The passage provides information sufficient to infer each of the following statements EXCEPT:
A The outputs of random number generators that provide their own input could, with enough information about past results, eventually be predicted.
B If a person knew both the algorithm that a corporation used to generate a truly random number and the atmospheric measurements that served as the input, the person would be able to generate the same output obtained by the corporation.
C With a sufficiently large table of the results of a pseudo-random number generator over time, it would be possible to derive the input and algorithm used to generate those results.
D The integrity of applications for which the unpredictability of the result is vital, such as lotteries or data encryption, can be best preserved by using a method of random number generation that is truly random.
E It is impossible to know the exact amount of atmospheric radiation emitted at a particular location and time until after a measurement is taken.