BUT! Heidi recently sent me the funniest link to a bunch of letter's from 3rd graders to the Scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, whose museum displayed that Pluto should not be classified as a planet. There were several kids who were quite distraught about it!Click HERE to read their letters, they are funny!
Anything having to do with Neil deGrasse Tyson reminds me of my favorite TV series where he guest starred. This scene is kind of long (90 secs) but pay attention to the part about Pluto! SO funny...
You should also recognize Bill Nye the Science Guy in this clip...
1 comment:
Actually, Pluto IS still a planet. It is important to note that Tyson has distanced himself from the controversial 2006 IAU decision, which he himself admits is flawed. At this point, he even admits that the debate is not over, that it might be too early in the study of planetary scientists for anyone to be defining what a planet is in the first place. This was pretty much his message at the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, which he moderated at the American Museum of Natural History on March 10, 2009.
Significantly, only four percent of the IAU voted on Pluto's demotion, and most are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately rejected by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto.
This debate is far from over. For another perspective, anyone interested in this topic should read "Is Pluto A Planet" by Dr. David Weintraub and "The Case for Pluto" by Alan Boyle.
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