It’s a bit of a slow news day. People are still talking about the Oscars and how horrible they were, but they do that every year. It’s like Saturday Night Live. A couple that was thought to be kidnapped turned out to just be on a trip. Arnold Schwarzenegger went out on a date with a hot younger woman (well, at Arnold’s age, they’re all younger, but if this girl wasn’t a teenager, she could still play one in the movies). Maria Carey wore a dress. Stuff like that.
Pluto’s moons, from Pluto
So, I went over to the science pages. The universe never sleeps. There is absolutely amazing stuff going on all the time and with each move forward, the pace picks up a bit. Three stories struck my eye. First, all the Trekkies ganged in and swamped internet voting, again (Trekkies are as bad as Paulies, that way), so that one of Pluto’s 5 moons might now be named Vulcan.
I’ve got no objection, it’s as good a name as any other, but what I noticed in the article is that Pluto has 5 moons. That should make it a planet, because otherwise what the hell are those 5 “moons” orbiting. I don’t put it on the same level of importance as ending world hunger or freeing Bradley Manning, but I feel Pluto got the shaft and should be reinstated.
I feel the same way about Pete Rose, but I’m not holding my breath.
Then, there was an article about how scientists are going to start to look for planets around white dwarves, because (I’m serious) the light’s better. The argument is not as ass backwards as it appears to be at first glance. If it turns out, as it’s looking now, that planetary systems orbiting suns are about as rare as seaweed at the beach, we may as well look for them around white dwarves. They’ll be there as wellas everywhere else.
The 3rd article that I read was really interesting, if you’d like to live to be about 200 years old. You won’t get to keep the same body, though.
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