3 ms·

We’ve reached Neptune - over 4 billion km away, and Pluto is over 5bn, so billions is a relative walk in the park. Sadly Proxima Centauri is 40,000 billion km

by iso947 7y ago

We’ve reached Neptune - over 4 billion km away, and Pluto is over 5bn, so billions is a relative walk in the park. Sadly Proxima Centauri is 40,000 billion km away, so a bit further to go. At 500m km/year our fastest probes would take 80,000 years to get there.

lolive 7y ago
Fortunately we can send emails at the speed of light!!! (of course, the alien race living on Proxima will have to be fluent in english, ASCII, TCP/IP, SMTP and a few other prerequisites in order to receive our messages in proper conditions).
- bryanrasmussen 7y ago
  Email certainly isn't delivered at the speed of light.
  - mrec 7y ago
    Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000. http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles
    - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
      https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5321#section-4.5.3.2 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5321#section-4.5.3.2 anyway given that their network was 100% switched, and "time to connect to a lightly-loaded remote host on a nearby network would actually largely be governed by the speed of light distance to the destination rather than by incidental router delays." I'm thinking it doesn't apply to email delivery to Proxima Centauri or basically most places. on edit: though with a long enough distance to the destination it would be pretty close to speed of light as the various times to respond etc. would be negligible.
    - bmgxyz 7y ago
      I didn't know about this and enjoyed reading it. What a pleasing little story. Thanks.
  - dougmwne 7y ago
    Yes it is and no it isn't. Learn from Admiral Grace Hopper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eyFDBPk4Yw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eyFDBPk4Yw The speed of light in fiber optic cable is about 2/3 the speed of light, which is why SpaceX's Starlink will have a potential latency advantage over oceanic fiber optics. It also gives good perspective on what's being thrown away when you add a single ms of latency through a router or a display. 186 miles at the speed of light. Many on HN don't get this, but this is why cloud gaming is perfectly feasible if we're running with low latency displays and inputs, low distance to the edge compute, and few routing hops.
- Iwan-Zotow 7y ago
  Dear beloved Friend, I know this message will come as a surprise to you, but my desire is to have business relationship with you. I'm a daughter of late Sultan of Proxima B. My father left with with 5 tons of fine gold here, on this cold planet. I'm here seeking the way to transfer funds to you and your lovely green planet into your account for investment purpose. Please answer me and provide me with your account # and routing #.

by iso947 7y ago

lolive 7y ago

Fortunately we can send emails at the speed of light!!! (of course, the alien race living on Proxima will have to be fluent in english, ASCII, TCP/IP, SMTP and a few other prerequisites in order to receive our messages in proper conditions).

bryanrasmussen 7y ago
Email certainly isn't delivered at the speed of light.
- mrec 7y ago
  Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000. http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles
  - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
    https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5321#section-4.5.3.2 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5321#section-4.5.3.2 anyway given that their network was 100% switched, and "time to connect to a lightly-loaded remote host on a nearby network would actually largely be governed by the speed of light distance to the destination rather than by incidental router delays." I'm thinking it doesn't apply to email delivery to Proxima Centauri or basically most places. on edit: though with a long enough distance to the destination it would be pretty close to speed of light as the various times to respond etc. would be negligible.
  - bmgxyz 7y ago
    I didn't know about this and enjoyed reading it. What a pleasing little story. Thanks.
- dougmwne 7y ago
  Yes it is and no it isn't. Learn from Admiral Grace Hopper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eyFDBPk4Yw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eyFDBPk4Yw The speed of light in fiber optic cable is about 2/3 the speed of light, which is why SpaceX's Starlink will have a potential latency advantage over oceanic fiber optics. It also gives good perspective on what's being thrown away when you add a single ms of latency through a router or a display. 186 miles at the speed of light. Many on HN don't get this, but this is why cloud gaming is perfectly feasible if we're running with low latency displays and inputs, low distance to the edge compute, and few routing hops.
Iwan-Zotow 7y ago
Dear beloved Friend, I know this message will come as a surprise to you, but my desire is to have business relationship with you. I'm a daughter of late Sultan of Proxima B. My father left with with 5 tons of fine gold here, on this cold planet. I'm here seeking the way to transfer funds to you and your lovely green planet into your account for investment purpose. Please answer me and provide me with your account # and routing #.