Pluto Demoted

[the_peridexis]

sorry! sorry! i completely had my mind on neptune. ha...

-peri

[bluesalamanders]

I do think it's been coming for a while, Sean - I've certainly been hearing about it for a while. I went to NYC in 2001, for instance, and that's when I was at the Rose Center and saw the Hall of Plants sans Pluto.

Peri - Although Sean said that change isn't always good, it's also true that change isn't always bad. Textbooks and science fiction stories have changed in the past. How many SF stories are there about Mars, talking about it in ways we know for a fact are untrue? Dozens, hundreds! How many textbooks have been written that were eventually found to contain false information? Thousands. Just because something is written down somewhere doesn't make it true, and doesn't mean we shouldn't change it. That's simply not a good enough reason.

I agree that they did a bad job of redefining "planet", from what I've read. That doesn't mean that what they're doing overall is wrong, though, Peter; perhaps just that it's not finished yet. They did what they could at the time. Committees and all that, you know. If they removed the "clearing a path" (or whatever) section, as some people have mentioned, would you like the definition better? It seems like it would make more sense. I don't think the textbooks need to be scrapped just yet, anyway. Not until the wrinkles are ironed out. There are many textbooks with incorrect information that are used for a little longer, but teachers just point out that this bit or that bit isn't considered correct anymore.

Blue~

[the_peridexis]

I never implied I'm against the change blue. :P If it sounded like that, sorry! My personal opinion of the matter is that I don't mind very much, because it is not something that will affect us to the point of needing too much of our, or just my, attention. I have better things to do than worry about something millions of miles away. Not to sound insulting, of course, but I'd rather be helping a homeless kid or a hurt animal than dabbling in something that won't help many people. I don't mind the Pluto being demoted, though I think it is interesting. Hope that cleared things up a little.

-peri

[Lazy Leopard]

I think this one's likely to simmer a while, if the BBC's report is anything to go by:

Pluto vote 'hijacked' in revolt

A fierce backlash has begun against the decision by astronomers to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.

On Thursday, experts approved a definition of a planet that demoted Pluto to a lesser category of object.

But the lead scientist on Nasa's robotic mission to Pluto has lambasted the ruling, calling it "embarrassing".

And the chair of the committee set up to oversee agreement on a definition implied that the vote had effectively been "hijacked".

(From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5283956.stm )

[bluesalamanders]

My sister said she heard on NPR that that is how most voting in that group takes place. That it's not unusual at all. So maybe they should be trying to change the voting procedure and then calling for a revote, instead of just griping about how it was "hijacked".

Blue~

[Lazy Leopard]

I'm waiting until I've had a chance to chat with a friend who was at the conference. I have no doubt he'll have an opinion on the matter. I would expect there to be discussion on matters like this at a conference of that nature, but the final resolution seems so much more muddled and subjective than the resolution as originally proposed, that I can't help thinking the discussion was not sufficiently dispassionate...

[Angel_Star]

This is going to confuse me sooo much. At least it was last in the list of planets, so it's like chopping it off at the end instead of messing up the entire order. The only way I remembered the planets way back in elementary when I had to for something or another was to list them all in order and make up a little sing-song-ish thing for it. Poor little Pluto. I'm sure it feels quite dejected right now. Anyway, beyond it messing up the information already settled in my mind, it doesn't bother me.

[mouse]

poor pluto, and think of all the books they have to rewrite!and they have to come up with another acronim (sp?)... i feel bad for pluto


~~~mousiewashere~~~
"sweet,a plactic cow"
"in other news,i got hit with a flying giraffe today....what?....STOP LAUGHING!"

[Dragon Writer]

You know, it seems kind of strange that everyone's going so crazy over all this...of course, in a world where people argu about weather a tomato is a vegitable or a fruit, it shouldn't seem so odd..