Is {pluto|sedna} A Planet?

Dr. Zowie writes "NASA's announcement last week of Sedna's discovery reignited the debate over whether Pluto is a planet. Dr. Alan Stern a noted planetary scientist and leader of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, pours on some gasoline with this article in which he skewers the various arguments against Pluto-as-planet. Choice quotes include 'You wouldn't deny a chihauhau a place among dogs because it is too small,' and 'if your brain was so completely full of names of people that it just couldn't take any more, would anyone new who you met after that, therefore not be a person?'"

Comments

I love this stuff

[Perianwyr Stormcrow]

Although you have to admit that we NEED a planet named after the god of the dead. Perhaps we can put some trash out there and christen it.

Re:I love this stuff

[Guppy06]

"The tomato=fruit idea was introduced long after the classification as a vegetable as well established.

The reason for the reclassification of tomatos by the biologists was that they started to buy into the evolutionary classification schemes. So the taxonomy was redefined to fit the new theory."

What the FUCK have you been smoking in your pipe?

Fruit (froot) [n]--the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant

What's the seed-bearing part of an apple tree? An apple. The seed-bearing part of an orange tree? An orange. And what part of a freakin' tomato plant holds the seeds?

A carrot is a vegetable. Celery is a vegetable. Lettuce is a vegetable. Potatoes... who the fuck cares about a potato is. But just because people are more likely to slice it up and put it in sandwiches or salads than eat it whole doesn't make a tomato a vegetable. Heck, some salads include slices of apples; does that make an apple a vegetable?

And the sad thing is I bet you're a biology major as well.

People?

[Tackhead]

> if your brain was so completely full of names of people that it just couldn't take any more, would anyone new who you met after that, therefore not be a person?

The two-legged things in my office have names?! Not just email addresses?

Mmmm... Flamewar..

[Anonymous Coward]

".. pours on some gasoline with this article..."

You haven't seen squat until you've seen astronomers argue.

Dog?

[vwjeff]

"You wouldn't deny a chihauhau a place among dogs because it is too small."

Dog? I always that chihauhaus were large rats.

Let the Astrologers decide.

[Melibeus]

My charts are going to have to all be recalculated if Sedna is a planet. What a PITA if there ends up being 900 planets! How will I ever be able to calculate this week's horoscope before the week is up?

We should have stuck to the original five. Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Earth doesn't count, since all these revolve around it.

Let's not mess with our destinies. Don't upset the natural systems any more.

Flawed metaphor

[flikx]

You wouldn't deny a chihauhau a place among dogs because it is too small,

chihauhaus are clearly rodents, not dogs. Therefor, Sedna is not a planet, but a rodent.

Re:Wrong

[hInstance]

What!? As any child can tell you, fruit tastes good, whereas vegetables are ucky. Therefore, the tomato is a vegetable. (Unless it's used in pizza sauce, at which time it is cast as a fruit)

Totally Wrong

[PingPongBoy]

Tomatoes are planets.