A planet lost
It is weird sometimes, how the perception of the world (and in this specific case; the universe) changes dramatically without you really noticing it. But I can inform you that yesterday, our solar system lost a planet. Pluto is no longer with us in the form of a planet, but is now regarded as a dwarf planet along with 'Ceres' and '2003 UB313'. So hereforth we must realise that our solar system consists of eight planets, not nine.
I wonder how much time will pass until this redefinition makes a mark in the text books and what is beeing taught in the schools. Some teachers still teach that absolutely no new nerve cells are born in our brains after our birth. This notion was opposed already in mid 1960's by the two brilliant neuroscientists Altman and Das. That is more than 40 years ago, and still I know I was taught less than 10 years ago that the brain is fixed, and no new neurons are born. The rubbish that is being put into our heads. And all this information (crap or good) you can handle, maybe because of new neruons being born in your brain everyday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_redefinition_of_planet
posted by Sister Sweden @ 20:46
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I found this post to be particularly thought provoking. As a scientist, I'm sure that you are constantly discovering knowledge, even if it's only for your edification.
I'm of the opinion that knowledge is infinite (as opposed to when I was 20 and "knew it all.")
Every day, I'm amazed at how much I don't know. Knowledge seems to be increasing exponentially. But I don't think Cute Cat cares either way...
Have a lovely weekend.
Ciao,
Arlen
I really don´t get what this fuss over Pluto is about. It´s just a piece of rock out there, and it´s the same piece of rock no matter what we call it. The organisation of knowledge by categorising things is important to those who actually work in fields related to that specific knowledge. An astronomer needs to know what to call that piece of rock so that he or she can communicate efficiently with other astronomers. To the rest of us, it makes exacly no difference at all.
What really made me wonder about the state of the world was that the internet edition of a swedish newspaper had a poll on the subject. On whether people think that Pluto should be considered a planet. Based on what information? Should the classification of celestial bodies be based on gut feeling?
By the way, if a rock with a radius that is a third smaller than the radius of our moon is to be called a planet, the danes might as well call their less than 150 m tall hill something like Himmelbjerg (sky mountain). ;-)
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