[QUOTE=ewmayer;352882]Did anyone else catch the exoplanetary, erm, I mean explanatory, hovertext?[/QUOTE]

No. I did not. Thanks for pointing it out.

@chalsall- You know I am literally obligated to yank Chappy's alleged chain. He would allegedly be literally decimated:innocent: if I did not.

I'm crying on the inside :)

[QUOTE=ewmayer;352866]It's not gone in the "no longer sending data" sense[/QUOTE]Obviously you are not a true fan of Douglas Adams, other wise you would have caught the allusion.
[QUOTE=chappy;352870][url]http://xkcd.com/1189/[/url][/QUOTE]Well, there are 3 different factors that point to the same time/location for leaving the solar influence area this time. I have followed the progress of the getting closer to the edge. This is the first time that I feel that it has 'made it'.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;352866]It's not gone in the "no longer sending data" sense - it's simply entered the final phase of its long and productive life. As the article notes, there should be enough juice to power at least part of the key systems package for another decade or so.[/QUOTE]

The mind-boggling thought is that it will not get near anything (i.e. a star) for 40,000 years, and even then, it will be over a light-year (or 18,600 Voyager-speed-years) away from *that*.

I wonder if NASA has done any calculations beyond that to see what Voyager's ultimate fate might be (floating for billions of years, crashing into an asteroid, falling into orbit around a star or planet, etc.).

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;353220]I wonder if NASA has done any calculations beyond that to see what Voyager's ultimate fate might be (floating for billions of years, crashing into an asteroid, falling into orbit around a star or planet, etc.).[/QUOTE]I doubt it. Things get very chaotic quickly. Even computing the paths of NEOs is troublesome and has (IMO) rather large error bars for predictions only a few years in the future.

[URL="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130912203216.htm"]Genes Linked to Being Right Or Left-Handed Identified[/URL]

[URL="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/center-for-brains-minds-and-machines-0909.html"]Artificial-intelligence research revives its old ambitions[/URL]

[URL="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/353090/description/Meteorite_that_fell_last_year_contains_surprising_molecules"]Meteorite that fell last year contains surprising molecules[/URL]

[URL="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130912143627.htm"]Functioning 'Mechanical Gears' Seen in Nature for First Time[/URL]

[URL="http://www.livescience.com/28828-10-strangest-sights-google-earth.html"]12 Strangest Sights on Google Earth[/URL]

You sure do come up with interesting stories, rogue. Not only that, but most of them have fascinating side-bars, too.

[QUOTE=kladner;352884]No. I did not. Thanks for pointing it out.

@chalsall- You know I am literally obligated to yank Chappy's alleged chain. He would allegedly be literally [U][B]decimated[/B][/U]:innocent: if I did not.[/QUOTE]

Well, Poop! I really hoped that someone would pick up on the all-too-commonly misused word emphasized above.

[QUOTE=kladner;353242]You sure do come up with interesting stories, rogue. Not only that, but most of them have fascinating side-bars, too.[/QUOTE]

I get a weekly newsletter via e-mail from Mensa. I don't link all stories, but I do link the ones that I suspect people here to have an interest in.

[QUOTE=kladner;353243]Well, Poop! I really hoped that someone would pick up on the all-too-commonly misused word emphasized above.[/QUOTE]

there was only a one in ten chance of noticing. Unless you are a roman legionnaire.

[QUOTE=chappy;353246]there was only a one in ten chance of noticing. Unless you are a roman legionnaire.[/QUOTE]
Excellent! TY!