Slashdot Mirror
Pluto Making a Comeback
anthemaniac writes "Space.com reports that the American Astronomical Unions Division of Planetary Scientists recognizes the IAU's authority to make a new planet defintion but expects it to be altered. Separately, 300 astronomers have signed a petition saying they won't use the definition. All this stems from the discontent over how only 424 astronomers voted on the proposal that demoted Pluto. Looks like this little dog is on the comeback trail."
...in other news today, doctors tried to demote any penis that is not at least 7 inches long to 'dwarf penis' status.
Too late, solar system already took Pluto off of his Friends List.
For those of you at home who are playing along, here's the score so far:
~800 bc - Roman god of the underworld.
05-01-1930 - New planet. Also Mickey's new canine companion. Retains position as god of the underworld.
08-10-2006 - Still a planet. And a dog. Takes time off as god of the underworld to "spend more time with his new ceslestial family".
08-24-2006 - Demoted as a planet. Reclassified as a "dwarf planet" (or as they prefer to be called "Little planetiods"). Resumes job as god of the underworld.
Today - A planet again. Maybe. Title of "Roman god the the underworld" undisputed. Still a dog.
(ps. Tomorrow - Profit ???)
Shameless plug for my photos on Flickr
The rest of the world can use the metric planets that evolved in our solar system.
There. Everyone happy now?
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
I am much happier thinking that astronomers are in a hole somewhere in the middle of the night staring into the sky adding to the human body of knowledge [rather than] sitting in a giant auditorium fighting over meaningless bullshit and operating at the lowest forms of the intellectual discourse
:-)
Kind of like Slashdot, you mean?
Table-ized A.I.
We can't take it back now, we've arlready sent it out in the "Arecibo message". We're going to like pretty silly to the aliens in the m13 cluster. So are we going to have to resend that signal, saying "Whoops our bad, its eight not nine planets....no really, we do know how to count."
I am much happier thinking that astronomers are in a hole somewhere in the middle of the night staring into the sky adding to the human body of knowledge, then sitting in a giant auditorium fighting over meaningless bullshit. . .
You're new here in science, aren't you?
Just pick a god damm definition.
Big Ass Round Thing! Big Ass Round Thing! Big Ass Round Thing!
Come on people, let's show these Bozos the power of the Web. Send letters, emails, customized party poppers, whatever; and let 'em know we want our Big Ass Round Things.
KFG
We can't take it back now, we've arlready sent it out in the "Arecibo message". We're going to like pretty silly to the aliens in the m13 cluster. So are we going to have to resend that signal, saying "Whoops our bad, its eight not nine planets....no really, we do know how to count."
:)
No, it's a plausible deniability thing. If they're good aliens, they come here, we explain that we were very primitive but have since learned to count.
If they're bad aliens, we say "What? We only have eight planets. This isn't the solar system you're looking for. Move along..."
If they are bad aliens, we simply ask them if they want the same fate as the 9th planet had. They won't mess with us after that.
2*31*37*263
So, you want school children to learn millions of planets instead of eight, just so Pluto can be a planet?
Then they'd have to learn things like, "My Very Eager Mother Just Sent Us New Pajamas Which Didn't Fit Properly So We Had To Go Back To Walmart And Exchange Them For Better Ones But We Didn't Have The Receipt So There Was Nothing Else To Do But Cause A Distraction In The Store And Run Out With The Correct Ones And Then We Went To McDonald's And I Had A Big Mac With Small Fries But Then..."