posted
It wasn't mentioned here, I don't think, but I read in one or two places that there were people arguing for Pluto's status as a planet out of nationalistic jingoism. Hence my comment.
I'm definitely happy with this decision, myself. I was going to post a long-winded explanation of why all the quibbling about "a planet must clear its orbit" is reasonable and logical, but Krenim already did that for me. It's simply an issue of mass.
Now, all we need to do is find some way to recall Pioneer 10 so we can swap out its plaque...
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
From Livejournal:
SCENE: a dingy, gray-green office in a run-down inner-city police precinct building circa 1973. CAPTAIN SOL, a large, sweaty, loud black guy, is harassing DETECTIVE PLUTO, a thin-lipped, flint-eyed wiry hardass in a gray suit.
SOL: I don't LIKE you, Pluto! You're a loose cannon! You don't play by the book! You're outta control! Your orbit is elliptical and mysterious. I HATE "mysterious!"
PLUTO (taking a long, slow drag on an unfiltered cigarette): What are you saying, chief? You want me off the Xena case? If you ask me, that icy bitch had it coming...
SOL: I'm saying your license has been revoked, detective. Commissioner Terra wants your badge and your gun on my desk.
(PLUTO stands up and drops his badge on the desk dismissively. He reaches for his police-issue revolver and pulls it, tension on his face--but places it next to his badge, scowling.)
SOL: And the other gun.
(PLUTO reaches beneath his equator and withdraws a smaller revolver, putting it on the desk.)
PLUTO: You tell the Commisioner from me...he can cram this one sideways 'till the barrel reaches his molten core.
SOL: GET OUTTA MY OFFICE, PLUTO!
(PLUTO strides purposefully out of the precinct, "wokka-chikka-wokka-chikka" 1970's "cop movie" music following him out onto the street where the writer suddenly loses all interest in continuing the story. PLUTO is suddenly struck by a cable car that has the words "LOL SCIENCE" written on the side.)
THE END
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.
After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is � and isn't � a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.
I bet it was the Gas Giant lobby that did poor Pluto in.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
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-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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