Conveniently, more modern spacecraft than the Pioneers include separate range-finding hardware, which can be used to test the accuracy of the Doppler method.

ECONOMIST: A space oddity

The multi-core war may have begun, but the battle will be fought with software, although that's not to say that the hardware side has already been won: apparently the test chip is much larger than equivalent chips -- 275 mm squared, versus a typical Core 2 Duo's 143 mm squared -- and Intel currently has no way to hook up memory to the chip.

ENGADGET: Intel demonstrates 80-core processor

Earlier today, a study in Science Translational Medicine proposed that DNA sequencing could become a standard first-choice test for infants in neonatal intensive care units, because a combination of new software and hardware could allow doctors to get results in just 50 hours, answering questions about what is making a baby sick far faster when time is of the essence.

FORBES: DNA Sequencing: Is Science Fiction Becoming Medical Fact?