Thursday, June 19, 2008

When I was your age, Pluto was a planet.

Initially, this Facebook group just made me laugh. Whether that is because I am easily entertained or not is a different story all together - but, think about that for a minute. The children growing up now will be educated with the solar system as Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. No Pluto.

This is quite a turning point in history, just as we will always remember Columbine, where we were when the read the OJ Simpson verdict on TV or how scared (and small) we felt on 9/11. Granted, this event isn't as tragic by any stretch of the imagination - but still significant.

This all began a mear two years ago when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted Pluto to a "dwarf planet" status. Last week, the IAU took another jab at Pluto and requested Pluto from here on out referred to as a "plutoid" - a word not even recognized in the English language. To read the whole story, please visit here.

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