In the Epilogue of "Murmurs of Earth" (1978), Sagan writes:
"It is a difficult computer task to calculate what stars might by chance be along the Voyager spacecraft trajectories 50,000 or 100,000 years from now. Mike Helton of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has attempted to make such a calculation. He calls attention in particular to an obscure star called AC+79 3888, which is now in the constellation of Ursa Minor -- the Little Bear, or Little Dipper. It is now seventeen light-years from the Sun. But in 40,000 years it will by chance be within three light-years of the Sun, closer than Alpha Centauri is to us now. Within that period, Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light-years of AC+79 3888, and Voyager 2 within 1.1 light-years. Two other candidate stars are DM+21 652 in the constellation Taurus and AC-24 2833 183 in the constellation Sagittarius. However, neither Voyager 1 nor Voyager 2 will come as close to these stars as to AC+79 3888.
"Our ability to detect planetary systems around other stars is at present extremely limited, although it is rapidly improving. Some preliminary evidence suggest that there are one or more planets of about the mass of Jupiter and Saturn orbiting Barnard's star, and general theoretical considerations suggest that planets ought to be a frequent component of most such stars.
"If future studies of AC+79 3888 demonstrate that it indeed has a planetary system, then we might wish to do something to beat the odds set by the haunting and dreadful emptiness of space -- the near certainty that, left to themselves, neither Voyager spacecraft would ever plummet into the planet-rich interior of another solar system. For it might be possible -- after the Voyager scientific missions are completed -- to make one final firing of the onboard rocket propulsion system and redirect the the spacecraft as closely as we possibly can so that they will make a true encounter with AC+79 3888. If such a maneuver can be effected, then some 60,000 years from now one or two tiny hurtling messengers from the strange and distant planet Earth may penetrate into the planetary system of AC+79 3888."
We know so much more about exoplanets today than we did in Sagan's time, and have so much more computing power to bring to bear. Knowing the trajectory thrusters still work, it would be a fitting tribute to try one last interstellar bank shot into the corner pocket, and see if we couldn't honor Sagan's last wishes, and give the Voyagers a destination worthy of their journey and their cargo.
I've always thought that this was the most likely reason for our simulation, and the most telling evidence for it:
In a universe where intelligent life is common throughout the galaxy, there'd be no way to tell what our species would have become left to its own devices. What discoveries we would have made, what cultures we would have created, what our destiny might have been.
The only way to discover it would be to simulate human life on a planetary scale in a universe where other intelligent life is mysteriously absent. Which is exactly the situation we find ourselves in.
I wish this would catch on again. Swatch Internet Time was a pre-Twitter invention, and the live global connection to one another was weaker than it is now. I'd love to see it supported as a timestamp in forum software, Twitter clients, etc.
Anonymity doesn't make any "normal person" start spewing death threats and rape threats. The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory is just an excuse bad people tell themselves to justify their antisocial behavior.
Does this problem (the growing widespread network insecurity of everyday objects) have a specific name, like "security rot"? If it does, I don't know it. I do know that once you give a complex problem a label (like "net neutrality" or "the Internet of Things"), it becomes a catalyst for discussion. People begin to understand and recognize the label, it becomes a brand that journals and conferences and books and blogs can all focus on. This phenomenon needs a label if we're going to make real progress on it.
It was such a strange mistake for Toyota to abandon their little QRIO robots. Even at their small size, they always seemed to be head and shoulders above ASIMO, and frankly, they still do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGtxPmcsXfg
(This is an old video. They cancelled their robotics line in 2006.)
"It is a difficult computer task to calculate what stars might by chance be along the Voyager spacecraft trajectories 50,000 or 100,000 years from now. Mike Helton of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has attempted to make such a calculation. He calls attention in particular to an obscure star called AC+79 3888, which is now in the constellation of Ursa Minor -- the Little Bear, or Little Dipper. It is now seventeen light-years from the Sun. But in 40,000 years it will by chance be within three light-years of the Sun, closer than Alpha Centauri is to us now. Within that period, Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light-years of AC+79 3888, and Voyager 2 within 1.1 light-years. Two other candidate stars are DM+21 652 in the constellation Taurus and AC-24 2833 183 in the constellation Sagittarius. However, neither Voyager 1 nor Voyager 2 will come as close to these stars as to AC+79 3888.
"Our ability to detect planetary systems around other stars is at present extremely limited, although it is rapidly improving. Some preliminary evidence suggest that there are one or more planets of about the mass of Jupiter and Saturn orbiting Barnard's star, and general theoretical considerations suggest that planets ought to be a frequent component of most such stars.
"If future studies of AC+79 3888 demonstrate that it indeed has a planetary system, then we might wish to do something to beat the odds set by the haunting and dreadful emptiness of space -- the near certainty that, left to themselves, neither Voyager spacecraft would ever plummet into the planet-rich interior of another solar system. For it might be possible -- after the Voyager scientific missions are completed -- to make one final firing of the onboard rocket propulsion system and redirect the the spacecraft as closely as we possibly can so that they will make a true encounter with AC+79 3888. If such a maneuver can be effected, then some 60,000 years from now one or two tiny hurtling messengers from the strange and distant planet Earth may penetrate into the planetary system of AC+79 3888."
We know so much more about exoplanets today than we did in Sagan's time, and have so much more computing power to bring to bear. Knowing the trajectory thrusters still work, it would be a fitting tribute to try one last interstellar bank shot into the corner pocket, and see if we couldn't honor Sagan's last wishes, and give the Voyagers a destination worthy of their journey and their cargo.