Just as an example, note musical sketch from 2009 where comedy group Axis of Awesome amaze their audience by playing 36 modern pop songs over the same four-chord structure, in one long sequence.

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Sensors at the midway point of the table detect the angle, speed, and trajectory of the not-exactly-oncoming puck, and instructs the mechanism how and where to fire the disc -- you slap it back, and the same sequence happens on your compadre's end.

ENGADGET: Airhockey Over a Distance

Friday's launch was part of what Esa calls the Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment (Verta) programme - a sequence of flights intended to demonstrate the rocket's capabilities whilst at the same time moving it towards full commercial service.

BBC: Esa's Vega rocket puts Proba-V vegetation mission in orbit