Out of the Blue

Pioneer 10 calls home on birthday is one of many interesting links passed along for today by AndyS. Aren't these probes supposed to start transforming themselves into doomsday devices soon? I remember the plot of at least one Star Trek episode as well as Star Trek: The Motion Picture (veeger) centered around just that. I guess that shouldn't be the most likely scenario, but it seems more plausible than still being able to contact this thing 30 years later.

Play Time: Conway's Game of Life. Come to life on the web. Thanks EvilToast.
Weird Science: Tiny bubbles create nuclear fusion -- maybe. Thanks Jamie Fullerton.
Wild Science: Huge ice field found on Mars. Thanks [MP] Wolverine [MP]. And remember what the bard said: 'beware the ice of Mars...'
Auction of the Day: The Excite Mazda Miata. Thanks Daniel LiButti.
Image of the Day: APOD - Earth in True Color. Thanks again AndyS.
Movie of the Day: Torm3ntor. Thanks Tomas Skoie.

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1.
 
ummmmmmmm
Mar 5, 2002, 09:40
anon@65.43
1.
ummmmmmmm Mar 5, 2002, 09:40
Mar 5, 2002, 09:40
anon@65.43
 
since no one has pointed this out yet I will take honors of admitting I know this. Veeger (was that how it was spelt?) was not from an episode but from the motion picture lol and as much as I think on it I am sure that was the only startrek episode with anything like that in it lol.
2.
 
Nomad
Mar 5, 2002, 09:45
2.
Nomad Mar 5, 2002, 09:45
Mar 5, 2002, 09:45
 
You're thinking of the probe Nomad (Must sterilize!) from the episode "The Changeling", TOS #37. V'ger was from ST: TMP.

End Star Trek geek mode.

3.
 
11.9 billion kilometers. . .
Mar 5, 2002, 10:16
3.
11.9 billion kilometers. . . Mar 5, 2002, 10:16
Mar 5, 2002, 10:16
 
Anyone want to do the math for us non-metric folks how many miles 11.9 billion kilometers is?
ZigZang
4.
 
Re: 11.9 billion kilometers. . .
Mar 5, 2002, 10:43
4.
Re: 11.9 billion kilometers. . . Mar 5, 2002, 10:43
Mar 5, 2002, 10:43
 
7394660000 miles or there abouts...

depends whether its a US billion or a European billion

i think
alnya


5.
 
Re:
Mar 5, 2002, 11:04
anon@208.35
5.
Re: Mar 5, 2002, 11:04
Mar 5, 2002, 11:04
anon@208.35
 

Is there a typo in the Weird Science link?
6.
 
Re: 11.9 billion kilometers. . .
Mar 5, 2002, 11:23
6.
Re: 11.9 billion kilometers. . . Mar 5, 2002, 11:23
Mar 5, 2002, 11:23
 
Whats the difference between a US billion and a Euro billion?
ZigZang
7.
 
The difference
Mar 5, 2002, 11:29
anon@68.40
7.
The difference Mar 5, 2002, 11:29
Mar 5, 2002, 11:29
anon@68.40
 
A US billion is a thousand million, or 1,000,000,000. A European billion is a million million, or 1,000,000,000,000.
8.
 
Link of the day
Mar 5, 2002, 11:44
anon@129.97
8.
Link of the day Mar 5, 2002, 11:44
Mar 5, 2002, 11:44
anon@129.97
 
This should be a link of the day, if it hasn't been already:

http://www.jaybill.com/~jaybill/article.php?articleID=49

Be warned, it's VERY shocking.
9.
 
ST: TMP
Mar 5, 2002, 11:49
9.
ST: TMP Mar 5, 2002, 11:49
Mar 5, 2002, 11:49
 
Okay, at the risk of being exposed as the closet trekkie that I am...

'Veeger' appeared in the first Star Trek movie: Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The story was that a Voyager probe, lauched from earth in the distant past (distant past to Kirk and his boys), somehow ends up on a planet that is inhabited by a race of super-intelligent machines, which recognize Voyager as one of thier kind (albeit a bit on the primitive side). They give old V-ger a few upgrades (like a bajillion giga-quads of CPU power) and send it back out to fulfil its mission (which is to learn everything it can about the universe and return that info to its creator--us).

It's probably about the best plot in any of the Star-Trek movies to date (my opinion only, back off) and I'd recomend renting the re-released (2002) version with all new special effects (Shatners hairpiece is digitally restored).

-©-
---
Chris.
10.
 
puns
Mar 5, 2002, 13:03
anon@24.127
10.
puns Mar 5, 2002, 13:03
Mar 5, 2002, 13:03
anon@24.127
 
I think you win Pun of the Day, Blue.
11.
 
Re: The difference
Mar 5, 2002, 13:16
11.
Re: The difference Mar 5, 2002, 13:16
Mar 5, 2002, 13:16
 
That's the dumbest fucking thing I ever heard. So what's between a million and a billion for our Euro-friends? What would 1,000,000,000 be then? <Dr. Evil> One thousand million dollars? <Dr. Evil>.

You must be joking.
ZigZang
12.
 
Re: The difference
Mar 5, 2002, 13:30
12.
Re: The difference Mar 5, 2002, 13:30
Mar 5, 2002, 13:30
 
1,000,000,000 is indeed one thousand million.

That said, there are few people who would consider a billion to be anything other than 1,000,000,000 - even us weird Brits

13.
 
Re: The difference
Mar 5, 2002, 13:49
13.
Re: The difference Mar 5, 2002, 13:49
Mar 5, 2002, 13:49
 
So what's between a million and a billion for our Euro-friends?

A milliard, of course. You Americans must, at some point, have swapped milliards and billions (never get anthing right, concerning units, eh? :D).
The correct (i.e. European) order is: million, milliard, billion, billiard.

P.S. Before I start another flame war: I firmly believe in everyone's right to count however they want. Besides, is there really much of a difference between owning a billion dollars or owning a milliard dollars? I'll take any of the two

Fully automatic backups with Ocster Backup Pro 3
http://www.ocster.com
14.
 
Re: Link of the day
Mar 5, 2002, 15:01
14.
Re: Link of the day Mar 5, 2002, 15:01
Mar 5, 2002, 15:01
 
Jesus $#&&^n christ! O_O
I'm going to have nightmares for weeks.

This comment was edited on Mar 5, 15:02.
Xombie x0mbie x0mb|e Xombie
15.
 
star trek
Mar 5, 2002, 15:10
15.
star trek Mar 5, 2002, 15:10
Mar 5, 2002, 15:10
 
star strek sucks its for nerds

16.
 
Re: star trek
Mar 5, 2002, 15:48
anon@65.165
16.
Re: star trek Mar 5, 2002, 15:48
Mar 5, 2002, 15:48
anon@65.165
 
says the guy posting on a video game message board....
17.
 
Good ol Nasa
Mar 5, 2002, 16:10
anon@207.228
17.
Good ol Nasa Mar 5, 2002, 16:10
Mar 5, 2002, 16:10
anon@207.228
 
I think it's pretty neat that we are actually able to communicate with the thing from such a far distance. Goes to show how much thought and workmanship went into building it. Too bad the cameras don't work on it would be kinda neat to see what (if anything) is out there.

Maybe some day we'll have some kind of spacecraft to be able to catch up to it...
18.
 
Wild Science
Mar 5, 2002, 18:14
18.
Wild Science Mar 5, 2002, 18:14
Mar 5, 2002, 18:14
 
Mars is not the kind of place to raise your kids, in fact its cold as Hell.
**************************************************

"Not all those who wander are lost."
19.
 
Re: The difference
Mar 5, 2002, 20:36
anon@64.133
19.
Re: The difference Mar 5, 2002, 20:36
Mar 5, 2002, 20:36
anon@64.133
 
I dunno I must be high...but that just sounds like a joke man... One thousand million dollors?!? That just cracks me up for some reason...
20.
 
Pioneer 10
Mar 5, 2002, 20:53
Jim
20.
Pioneer 10 Mar 5, 2002, 20:53
Mar 5, 2002, 20:53
Jim
 
Its amazing that the transmitter still works after 30 years, and is still "audible" given its limited power and great distance. How much stuff do we still have around from 1972 that still works?

One of the most interesting aspects of these things to me is what is called "round trip light time", or how long before acknowledgement is received for a signal sent to a distant spacecraft. 22 Hours in Pioneer 10's case. But Voyager I is even further out, and I check the status of the Voyager probes on the JPL page once or twice a year: http://vraptor.jpl.nasa.gov/voyager/voyager.html

23h 18m round trip light time- nearly a full day. Call the spacecraft at 8:00 today, and it will be 7:42 tomorrow before you get an answer. By comparison, when the Apollo astronauts were on the moon, the signal delay was just under 3 seconds.

Jim
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