Scientists: Pluto is no longer a planet.

Toastburner B · 08-25-2006, 12:25 AM

Check out the story here.

Also, beware of nerd humor:

Quote:

"It could be argued that we are creating an umbrella called 'planet' under which the dwarf planets exist," she said, drawing laughter by waving a stuffed Pluto of Walt Disney fame beneath a real umbrella.

So...it turns out it was a good thing I never took astronomy...because it would of been lies.

mauve · 08-25-2006, 12:35 AM

Poor Pluto. EVERYTHING IT'S EVER KNOWN HAS BEEN A LIIIEEEEEE!!! It's gonna need sooo much counseling. But on the positive side, it's gone from being the dinkiest of the planets to being the king of the asteroids.

Crodevillian Team · 08-25-2006, 01:08 AM

This totally throws off the mnemonic and tosses my entire world into a whirlwind of confusion and melancholy. How many planets do we have now? What happened to the warrior princess?

Nique · 08-25-2006, 01:11 AM

"Better to rule in hell...?"

Also, this ruins a (very minor) portion of my beloved Star Trek continuity...

It's interesting, but a little strange... I mean, I guess my problem isn't with designating pulto as somthing other than a planet, so much as it is with a lack of general knowledge of what-the-heck-else is out there besides 9 (8) planets and a star. Let's see some moons and orbiting astroids on those Solar system mobile you make in 5th grade with paper-mache'...

Archbio · 08-25-2006, 01:21 AM

Quote:

I mean, I guess my problem isn't with designating pulto as somthing other than a planet, so much as it is with a lack of general knowledge of what-the-heck-else is out there besides 9 (8) planets and a star.

I think that the problem was, as a matter of fact, that there are too many things out there. There's a definite possibility that with too broad a definition we'd end up with a solar system that'd make the one in Firefly look reasonable.

Besides how restrictive it is, I'm not sure I like the terms of this definition. Having a "dwarf planet" category for things which are described otherwise as "not being planets" feels very ackward.

Sithdarth · 08-25-2006, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muave Mage

Poor Pluto. EVERYTHING IT'S EVER KNOWN HAS BEEN A LIIIEEEEEE!!! It's gonna need sooo much counseling. But on the positive side, it's gone from being the dinkiest of the planets to being the king of the asteroids.

Incorrect. There is a Keiper belt object quite a bit further out than Pluto that is also larger.They called it 2003 UB313. Not to mention they seem to be creating an entirely new classification for Pluto like bodies.

All in all, this as been quite the month for astronomy and astrophysics. First they find direct evidence of dark matter. Then they go and demote a planet. Man I am such a science geek.

Solid Snake · 08-25-2006, 01:51 AM

Personally, I'm glad they demoted Pluto. I was the kind of science dork who, in middle school, determined that Pluto really didn't deserve to be a planet then, and frankly what peeves me these days is that 60% of the population -- according to polls -- are actually pissed off at the scientists for making a totally objective desicion regarding whether Pluto deserved the classification or not.

I mean, here's the number one reason why most Americans are opposed to the empirically evident demotion of Pluto; because it wasn't what we were taught. Well, that's fine and dandy, right? Because science should always take a backseat to what we learned in our school classrooms, we'd never want progress to actually change the way we view our world.

What's next? After we discover a reasonable alternative to oil, will 60% of the American population go off and act all pissy because we were all taught to drive automobiles that consume gasoline?

greed · 08-25-2006, 03:11 AM

Umm yes..........
That's already kind of happening isn't it? "Hybrids are girls cars"
"Oil is bad for the environment and costs a shitload""Hey everybody let's go buy 4wds!"

Ontopic:Pluto wasn't meant to be a planet anyway was it, didn't they screw up the size or something and think it was like Mars sized at first and that's why it was a planet? And on it's demotion, it never really seemed like a planet from what I heard about it in the first place, so meh.

Hatake Kakashi · 08-25-2006, 03:20 AM

Of course, this will set off a rampant demand from the public school systems, demanding up-to-date Science books, costing governments even more money, which they will happily wrench from taxpayer's wallets... hooray for science. [/sarcasm]

Personally, I would've rather kept Pluto. So it was what I was taught... so what? It was always kind of interesting looking at that one little oddity we had amongst our 9/10/8 planets. Even so, I guess it had to be done.

Myst Warrior · 08-25-2006, 06:59 AM

Here's a more in-depth look at how it is affecting schools:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/new...%2C%22pluto%22

Basically, they want to replace the end of the pneumonic (pizzas) with nachos for some strange reason. It also says it isn't because of Pluto's size, but because of the fact it hasn't cleared it's orbit, like all good planets should. But that leads to the question of the fact Uranus hasn't cleared its orbit of Pluto at certain points, like when Pluto is closer to the sun than it is...

And I swear I didn't read this before I wrote my last statement.

08-25-2006, 12:35 AM	#2
mauve So Dreamy Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Someplace magical Posts: 6,863	Poor Pluto. EVERYTHING IT'S EVER KNOWN HAS BEEN A LIIIEEEEEE!!! It's gonna need sooo much counseling. But on the positive side, it's gone from being the dinkiest of the planets to being the king of the asteroids. __________________ Yoo Hoo!

08-25-2006, 01:51 AM	#7
Solid Snake Erotic Esquire Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 5,563	Personally, I'm glad they demoted Pluto. I was the kind of science dork who, in middle school, determined that Pluto really didn't deserve to be a planet then, and frankly what peeves me these days is that 60% of the population -- according to polls -- are actually pissed off at the scientists for making a totally objective desicion regarding whether Pluto deserved the classification or not. I mean, here's the number one reason why most Americans are opposed to the empirically evident demotion of Pluto; because it wasn't what we were taught. Well, that's fine and dandy, right? Because science should always take a backseat to what we learned in our school classrooms, we'd never want progress to actually change the way we view our world. What's next? After we discover a reasonable alternative to oil, will 60% of the American population go off and act all pissy because we were all taught to drive automobiles that consume gasoline? __________________ *WARNING:* Snek's all up in this thread. Be prepared to read massive walls of text.

08-25-2006, 06:59 AM	#10
Myst Warrior Formerly known as Earthmar Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 48	Here's a more in-depth look at how it is affecting schools: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/new...%2C%22pluto%22 Basically, they want to replace the end of the pneumonic (pizzas) with nachos for some strange reason. It also says it isn't because of Pluto's size, but because of the fact it hasn't cleared it's orbit, like all good planets should. But that leads to the question of the fact Uranus hasn't cleared its orbit of Pluto at certain points, like when Pluto is closer to the sun than it is... And I swear I didn't read this before I wrote my last statement. __________________ Assembly of Japanese motorcycle requires great peace of mind Last edited by Myst Warrior; 08-25-2006 at 07:19 AM.

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08-25-2006, 01:08 AM	#3
Crodevillian Team You -got- my postcard?! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Roewer Posts: 786	This totally throws off the mnemonic and tosses my entire world into a whirlwind of confusion and melancholy. How many planets do we have now? What happened to the warrior princess?