4 ms·

This is an absolutely terrible headline. Voyager is communicating with Earth, full stop. The data from it's scientific instruments is coming back in a fixed, re

This is an absolutely terrible headline. Voyager is communicating with Earth, full stop. The data from it's scientific instruments is coming back in a fixed, repeating pattern, meaning we aren't getting anything meaningful from it, but it is absolutely still communicating with Earth.

SkyPuncher 3y ago
No, it’s an accurate headline for the general population. It’s sending nothing useful.
- mholt 3y ago
  The headline doesn't say useful though. Just that it stopped communicating, which is false.
- h2odragon 3y ago
  "im still here" is useful. if it had hit the wall and gone totally silent, that would be a different thing entire.
- disconcision 3y ago
  bad news everybody, grandmas dead where by dead we mean that the entropy of her current utterances is failing to move extant priors
- lukeschlather 3y ago
  It's the most distant transmitter we're receiving anything from. Just the signal itself is useful and communicates that the probe is still powered.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > the signal itself is useful and communicates that the probe is still powered It also tells us that ca. 1970s kit can survive past the termination shock, i.e. in interstellar space.
  - dylan604 3y ago
    um, it's the most distant man made transmitter we're receiving anything from. there's lots of things much further away broadcasting information to us. just go outside at night and look up. you'll see a bunch of 'em
bmitc 3y ago
Communication means an exchange of information. Receiving a signal does not.
- mongol 3y ago
  We receive information that its radios are still working.
  - bmitc 3y ago
    Communication is exchange of information. The sun is not communicating with us, and we know its "radio" is still working. It's a pedantic, and incorrect, argument against the headline. The guidelines actually say not to do this, even when you're right.
    - Jerrrry 3y ago
      >Communication is exchange of information. exchange actually does too much heavy lifting here. This almost passed, but no; communication is the transfer/movement of information. One-way communication can convey (even if requiring a previously agreed upon compression mechanism) information - even a single bit or even the existence of a signal at all can be used - think about using the time between signals as a medium, etc. Heartbeat signals (inverted dead-man switches) exchange information; it doesn't have to be the same type. The beat source explicitly proclaims it's existence in space-time and the receiving end can infer it's existence at a certain time. Like natives' smoke patterns of Morse code of radio waves, using periodicity to convey bit value
    - leptons 3y ago
      >Communication is exchange of information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Models_of_communication#:~:text=Linear%20transmission%20models%20understand%20communication,and%20responding%20as%20simultaneous%20activities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Models_of_communication#:~:tex.... One-way communication is a valid type of "communication".
      - 3y ago

SkyPuncher 3y ago

No, it’s an accurate headline for the general population. It’s sending nothing useful.

mholt 3y ago
The headline doesn't say useful though. Just that it stopped communicating, which is false.
h2odragon 3y ago
"im still here" is useful. if it had hit the wall and gone totally silent, that would be a different thing entire.
disconcision 3y ago
bad news everybody, grandmas dead where by dead we mean that the entropy of her current utterances is failing to move extant priors
lukeschlather 3y ago
It's the most distant transmitter we're receiving anything from. Just the signal itself is useful and communicates that the probe is still powered.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > the signal itself is useful and communicates that the probe is still powered It also tells us that ca. 1970s kit can survive past the termination shock, i.e. in interstellar space.
- dylan604 3y ago
  um, it's the most distant man made transmitter we're receiving anything from. there's lots of things much further away broadcasting information to us. just go outside at night and look up. you'll see a bunch of 'em

bmitc 3y ago

Communication means an exchange of information. Receiving a signal does not.

mongol 3y ago
We receive information that its radios are still working.
- bmitc 3y ago
  Communication is exchange of information. The sun is not communicating with us, and we know its "radio" is still working. It's a pedantic, and incorrect, argument against the headline. The guidelines actually say not to do this, even when you're right.
  - Jerrrry 3y ago
    >Communication is exchange of information. exchange actually does too much heavy lifting here. This almost passed, but no; communication is the transfer/movement of information. One-way communication can convey (even if requiring a previously agreed upon compression mechanism) information - even a single bit or even the existence of a signal at all can be used - think about using the time between signals as a medium, etc. Heartbeat signals (inverted dead-man switches) exchange information; it doesn't have to be the same type. The beat source explicitly proclaims it's existence in space-time and the receiving end can infer it's existence at a certain time. Like natives' smoke patterns of Morse code of radio waves, using periodicity to convey bit value
  - leptons 3y ago
    >Communication is exchange of information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Models_of_communication#:~:text=Linear%20transmission%20models%20understand%20communication,and%20responding%20as%20simultaneous%20activities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Models_of_communication#:~:tex.... One-way communication is a valid type of "communication".
    - 3y ago