Thursday, August 24, 2006

Pluto is no longer a planet

As reported here, Pluto has been demoted and is no longer considered a planet.

There is no truth to the rumor that its name will soon be changed to Wimpy.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But tune in to "Planet Wars II: Pluto Strikes Back!" in Rio, 2009! :-) Assuming we haven't all been eaten by Cthulu by then.

From what people were saying over lunch today, although the IAU decision is scientifically valid (as are most options - this is just an issue of semantics, not science), there are political disadvantages to de-planeting Pluto. Will this lead to less funding for Mike Brown and similar surveys of the outer solar system? Space missions (Pluto Express)? I'm still firmly in the "who cares" camp, but it's interesting to look at the issue from the funding perspective...

2:32 PM, August 25, 2006
Mason said...

I agree that it doesn't make a difference aside from the funding issues you mention, but I decided that the opportunity for this particular shameless Popeye joke easily justified a blog entry. :)

Certainly, funding and science bring different perspectives to the table.

This is also why normal people ("Ready normal people?!?") think things like string theory are more important than they actually are.

3:20 PM, August 25, 2006

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