I was originally going to do my Assignment Two on the Pluto debate, but I found it impossible to find an academic article arguing on the subject. Pretty much all I found were articles summing up what happened, or books that people had written based on their arguments, but not really anybody arguing their point. Now I'm going to have to find a new topic, but I don't want all my Pluto research to go to waste, so why not blog about it?
About three and a half years ago the IAU (International Astronomical Union) changed the definition of what exactly makes something a planet. They had a vote on whether or not Pluto should remain a planet, and the voters decided that Pluto should be demoted to a dwarf planet. You'd think that with such a big vote they would try to get everybody in the IAU to partake. Wrong! It turns out that of the around 10,000 members of the IAU, only 424 voted on the subject. This point along with Pluto being the only planet discovered by an American and just people's resistance to change seems to be the basis of the debate.
I agree with redefining what makes a planet a planet, because it shows that science is always developing and constantly moving forward. I don't think that Pluto should be demoted to Dwarf planet though. I feel that it's kinda like Ex Post Facto laws. You can't be punished by law for doing something, if at the time there was no law against it. The way I see it we shouldn't punish Pluto just because our definition of a planet was vague at the time. Just apply the new rules to newly discovered bodies like Ceres and Eris.
It's funny that such an intense debate has been struck over something that really doesn't matter at all. Seriously it's just a name! "A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet." I'm not saying it's pointless to have an opinion on the subject, because I obviously have one. Just don't take it so seriously! For example the state of Illinois has passed legislation making Pluto a planet when it is referred to within the state. This is because it was the home state to Clyde Tombaugh (the discoverer of Pluto). New Mexico has also passed legislation on the subject. They made it so that Pluto was a planet when referred to in their state, and also that March 13 2007 was "Pluto planet day" just because it was a long time home to Clyde Tombaugh.
I do wish that Pluto was still a planet, but maybe it's time to move on and focus on the imminent discoveries out there in space.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Tale of Deffaldiliapontmechsaliskotspontsal
There once was a person with a problem. The problem was so terrible that she needed serious help. This problem was her name, it was a terrible name, and needed to be changed!
It all started years ago, in a hospital much like any other. A child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Klopskist. They were so happy when they first spotted their daughter, and knew at once that they were going to name her Deffaldiliapontmechsaliskotspontsal.
Apparently her parents didn’t know that this name would give her such torment as she grew up. All the kids just loved to tease her about it. Like whenever she made a Facebook status message everybody would comment. The problem with that is that they would never comment on what she was doing. All they did was mock the absurdity of her name.
One day she just couldn’t take it anymore, so she went searching for a solution. She heard rumors about a fairy, who had the power to go back in time. The fairy would then use this power to get parents to pick different names for their children. This seemed so perfect to Deffaldiliapontmechsaliskotspontsal. It was a chance she had been waiting for all her life, so she did research on the fairy. After hours of being on the internet and looking from book to book, she finally found what she was looking for. The fairy lived out in the mountains on the outskirts of the town.
That weekend she got up really early and packed a sack full of food and other supplies. Then she told her parents that she was going on a day hike, and she left out the door. At the bus stop she waited in excitement. This would be a day that would change her life! No longer would she be Deffaldiliapontmechsaliskotspontsal Klopskist. When the bus finally came, she got on and rode it for 42 and a half minutes before finally arriving on the outskirts of town.
She climbed the mountain for two and a half hours before reaching the peak. When she got there she found a house, and she knew it was the one that she had been looking for. She knocked on the door, and out came an elderly hermit. The sight of an old man instead of a flying pixie like creature startled her, but she had come this far and wasn’t ready to give up yet. She asked him where the magical name changing fairy was, and he just looked at her and screamed “Not This Again! There is no such thing as a name changing fairy! All you kids keep coming up here for me to fix your problems, so I’ll tell you what I tell the rest of them! Just get a nickname!” He then slammed the door in her face. She felt really stupid for not thinking of that on her own. She soon decided on the nickname Deffa, and that is what she went by from then on.
The End!!
It all started years ago, in a hospital much like any other. A child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Klopskist. They were so happy when they first spotted their daughter, and knew at once that they were going to name her Deffaldiliapontmechsaliskotspontsal.
Apparently her parents didn’t know that this name would give her such torment as she grew up. All the kids just loved to tease her about it. Like whenever she made a Facebook status message everybody would comment. The problem with that is that they would never comment on what she was doing. All they did was mock the absurdity of her name.
One day she just couldn’t take it anymore, so she went searching for a solution. She heard rumors about a fairy, who had the power to go back in time. The fairy would then use this power to get parents to pick different names for their children. This seemed so perfect to Deffaldiliapontmechsaliskotspontsal. It was a chance she had been waiting for all her life, so she did research on the fairy. After hours of being on the internet and looking from book to book, she finally found what she was looking for. The fairy lived out in the mountains on the outskirts of the town.
That weekend she got up really early and packed a sack full of food and other supplies. Then she told her parents that she was going on a day hike, and she left out the door. At the bus stop she waited in excitement. This would be a day that would change her life! No longer would she be Deffaldiliapontmechsaliskotspontsal Klopskist. When the bus finally came, she got on and rode it for 42 and a half minutes before finally arriving on the outskirts of town.
She climbed the mountain for two and a half hours before reaching the peak. When she got there she found a house, and she knew it was the one that she had been looking for. She knocked on the door, and out came an elderly hermit. The sight of an old man instead of a flying pixie like creature startled her, but she had come this far and wasn’t ready to give up yet. She asked him where the magical name changing fairy was, and he just looked at her and screamed “Not This Again! There is no such thing as a name changing fairy! All you kids keep coming up here for me to fix your problems, so I’ll tell you what I tell the rest of them! Just get a nickname!” He then slammed the door in her face. She felt really stupid for not thinking of that on her own. She soon decided on the nickname Deffa, and that is what she went by from then on.
The End!!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Bloggers Block!
I had no idea what to write about.
I have bad luck with cats. Over half my lifetime we have had a total of five cats. The first one was technically my sisters cat so I really didn't care about it that much. Her name was Tiffany, and she was big and fluffy, but one day she ran away. Then after that we got Tyler and he was a pretty cool cat, but he wasn't exactly the brightest one. Like one morning he decided to play with one of the fishing poles in the garage, he ate the hook and got it stuck in his cheek. He had to go to the vet and get it taken out and he was fine. Until one day when he was walking outside and got smooshed by the garage door when it was closing. I was pretty sad about that one.
Then came cat number three, my favorite! His name was Psycho because he really was quite a crazy cat. Like whenever I would run down the hall if he was under the table he would pounce at my feet. He was an adventurous little cat, and he liked to bring things back with him. Like one day he brought back a baby rabbit. We built a cage for it, but two days later it died. Then two days later after that Psycho brought home another one, which again died. (I guess we don't have very good luck with rabbits either.) One morning Psycho brought home cat number four with him. She was extremely timid though and never let us get near her. All she did was eat the food we put out for her, sleep in our garage, and run away whenever we tried to get near her. Then not all that long after she showed up she stopped coming around our house, and I really don't know what happened to her, maybe she found her old home!
Then around that time we moved from Delaware to Virginia, and we knew that Psycho would run away and try to find his way home. This would be quite impossible seeing as how we were going states away, so we left him with people we knew in Delaware. I guess it was a good idea because when we visited them three months later Psycho seemed to be happily rummaging in the woods. This leads to cat number five. Her name was Spaz, I don't really remember why, but when we started calling her that it just kind of stuck. She was a nice cat, a good balance of indoor and outdoor cat. She would go outside and play in the woods killing moles and mice, but other times she would just curl up with you on the couch. My mom and I went on a trip for a few days one time, so we got the kids from up the street to put food out for her. A few days after we got back we realized that we hadn't seen her in a while, and a few days after that we noticed a terrible smell coming from the deck. When we investigated we found her dead under the deck. We don't really know what happened because the kids did come and feed her, so we don't really have any idea.
So over the span of nine years we went through five cats, so I'm going to guess we don't have very much luck with them. I guess it's a good thing I'm more of a dog person then.
I have bad luck with cats. Over half my lifetime we have had a total of five cats. The first one was technically my sisters cat so I really didn't care about it that much. Her name was Tiffany, and she was big and fluffy, but one day she ran away. Then after that we got Tyler and he was a pretty cool cat, but he wasn't exactly the brightest one. Like one morning he decided to play with one of the fishing poles in the garage, he ate the hook and got it stuck in his cheek. He had to go to the vet and get it taken out and he was fine. Until one day when he was walking outside and got smooshed by the garage door when it was closing. I was pretty sad about that one.
Then came cat number three, my favorite! His name was Psycho because he really was quite a crazy cat. Like whenever I would run down the hall if he was under the table he would pounce at my feet. He was an adventurous little cat, and he liked to bring things back with him. Like one day he brought back a baby rabbit. We built a cage for it, but two days later it died. Then two days later after that Psycho brought home another one, which again died. (I guess we don't have very good luck with rabbits either.) One morning Psycho brought home cat number four with him. She was extremely timid though and never let us get near her. All she did was eat the food we put out for her, sleep in our garage, and run away whenever we tried to get near her. Then not all that long after she showed up she stopped coming around our house, and I really don't know what happened to her, maybe she found her old home!
Then around that time we moved from Delaware to Virginia, and we knew that Psycho would run away and try to find his way home. This would be quite impossible seeing as how we were going states away, so we left him with people we knew in Delaware. I guess it was a good idea because when we visited them three months later Psycho seemed to be happily rummaging in the woods. This leads to cat number five. Her name was Spaz, I don't really remember why, but when we started calling her that it just kind of stuck. She was a nice cat, a good balance of indoor and outdoor cat. She would go outside and play in the woods killing moles and mice, but other times she would just curl up with you on the couch. My mom and I went on a trip for a few days one time, so we got the kids from up the street to put food out for her. A few days after we got back we realized that we hadn't seen her in a while, and a few days after that we noticed a terrible smell coming from the deck. When we investigated we found her dead under the deck. We don't really know what happened because the kids did come and feed her, so we don't really have any idea.
So over the span of nine years we went through five cats, so I'm going to guess we don't have very much luck with them. I guess it's a good thing I'm more of a dog person then.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Computer Problems!!
Before we left for Winter Break my computer decided that it's wireless was just going to stop working, by not picking up any internet signals at all. At first this could be easily fixed by restarting, then problem solved! The case soon changed when nothing I could do would make the wireless connect. Then we went home and it wasn't really a problem, so I never really did anything with it. Then we came back to school and I realized that it would be needed, so I played with it a bit and all of a sudden it worked good as new, and there was much rejoycing!! Two weeks later though it decided that it wanted to cut out again, and nothing I tried could fix it. This led me to go to the very capable hands of the people at SWAT.
The first day I went there we tried scanning for and deleting the viruses on my computer, then we tried reinstalling the driver for the wireless itself. Neither of these worked, so they decided to reinstall all the drivers on my computer. I couldn't stay the whole time for the last try because I had to go to Vector, so I left it with them. One hour and fifteen minutes later I showed up back at their door expecting my computer to be in perfect working condition. This was not the case, and they sent me and my computer away for the day telling me that tomorrow we could try to reinstall the operating system, and maybe that would fix it.
The second day I got a hard drive to back up everything on my computer, and I went back to SWAT. They asked me if I would like to update to Windows 7, and I was like sure why not. So they installed it as I went off to Physics. When I came back they told me that it was installed, and that my wireless was working properly!!! I took my computer to load back on all my files and to play around with it until Vector recitation. I was overjoyed with it for about twenty minutes as I played with it, and then I learned that things were quite worse then they started out! Sure I could go on the internet wirelessly, but I could no longer write on my tablet (which is quite an essential part).
After Vector recitation, I went back to SWAT to try to fix things for good this time. They said that recently someone else had the same problem, and told me that maybe I should try some updates to fix it. We went on the Toshiba website and downloaded something that installs all sorts of updates for the computer when it has been updated to Windows 7. The whole searching, downloading and installing process took around an hour, so I just kinda hung around SWAT as we talked about the upcoming snow. When everything was finished my computer could again be written on. I took it back to the dorm, and so far we have all lived happily ever after. Key words so far!!
The first day I went there we tried scanning for and deleting the viruses on my computer, then we tried reinstalling the driver for the wireless itself. Neither of these worked, so they decided to reinstall all the drivers on my computer. I couldn't stay the whole time for the last try because I had to go to Vector, so I left it with them. One hour and fifteen minutes later I showed up back at their door expecting my computer to be in perfect working condition. This was not the case, and they sent me and my computer away for the day telling me that tomorrow we could try to reinstall the operating system, and maybe that would fix it.
The second day I got a hard drive to back up everything on my computer, and I went back to SWAT. They asked me if I would like to update to Windows 7, and I was like sure why not. So they installed it as I went off to Physics. When I came back they told me that it was installed, and that my wireless was working properly!!! I took my computer to load back on all my files and to play around with it until Vector recitation. I was overjoyed with it for about twenty minutes as I played with it, and then I learned that things were quite worse then they started out! Sure I could go on the internet wirelessly, but I could no longer write on my tablet (which is quite an essential part).
After Vector recitation, I went back to SWAT to try to fix things for good this time. They said that recently someone else had the same problem, and told me that maybe I should try some updates to fix it. We went on the Toshiba website and downloaded something that installs all sorts of updates for the computer when it has been updated to Windows 7. The whole searching, downloading and installing process took around an hour, so I just kinda hung around SWAT as we talked about the upcoming snow. When everything was finished my computer could again be written on. I took it back to the dorm, and so far we have all lived happily ever after. Key words so far!!
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