Mar 11 2010Kids Complain About Pluto's Declassification

Pluto...forever a planet....just sayin

This kids got the right attitude. Plus all the other sailor scouts have been laughing at pluto behind her back... its sad really.

My wife teaches kids in high school who can't read/write cursive either... its becoming a lost form of writing..... just sayin

Dear Neil deGrasse Tyson

Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please fuck off .

Wait a minute! We're committing murder by declassifying Pluto?!?! WTF SCIENTISTS! R.I.P. Plutonians!

In the words of Mr. Rodny McKay on Stargate Atlantis,
"Way to make all the little kids cry, Neil."

If Pluto isn't a planet because it's too small then does that mean midgets aren't humans?

next earth will be known as a "debris collecting captured asteroid"

First of all Neil Tyson is awesome... Second, Science is not dictated by what we think it should be, Rather By what we can observe and prove. Besides Jupiter can kick Pluto’s ass anyway…. Hell, any one of Jupiter’s moons are a thousand times more interesting then Pluto is. Get over it. Pluto is just a space rock.

Neil deGrasse Tyson ran a special on Nova called the Pluto Files. Basically, it explains the decision to not to add Pluto as a planet in his exhibit. It also shows the ramification of demoting Pluto as a planet.

Worth a Watch

But it was OUR space rock, you son of a bitch! He had no right to take it! *sob*

When Pluto was downgraded from planet status I felt like I was raped. Raped my an astronaut. It was horrible.

@Closet Nerd
Big fuckin deal. It's still english.

One thing is for sure, these kids are smarter than the posters here. Fss, Hss, Fauhh! The jokes on me because I'm one of the posters!

See what I did there?

@ AaronZZZ,

You watch your mouth when you're talking about my moons buddy boy.

Pluto, Charon and I go back a long time and I've always considered them a double planet, and I think we can all agree that I know a planet when I see one.

Furthermore, that "space rock" you've described is the kindest, most selfless double planet I know, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

I hope you get mugged by a vagrant.

Best regards,

Planet Jupiter

These are the cutest letters EVER. I shared them on FB, too cute.

@12 Actually it is a big fucking deal if people can't read/write in cursive

@12 I saw this excerpt from an article about cursive writing.....

"Not writing script means some kids have a hard time reading it. Los Altos freshman Yuridia Ramirez said that her parents, who usually write in cursive, have to print notes to her — because she can't read their writing."

So,how is not being able to read something written in your OWN LANGUAGE "not a big fucking deal"? I think it is a big deal.

Pluto never was a planet.

Deal with it.

Those are so damn cute! It's incredible that these kids actually care about this! Maybe there is hope for the future of kids can get so into a debate like this.

I also agree that it's sad that cursive is going out of style. I really love using it and it makes writing much faster since it flows so well. But then again, that's just me.

It's not a planet. If we kept it classified as one we'd have dozens of other objects that we've found that we'd also have to call planets. "My Very Eager Mother" would become a novel to remember.

I'm not very good at cursive, but I'm trying at least.
Make your brain bigger and make you not look like an idiot

cursive is dead... i can read it, can't be bothered writing in cursive...

pluto is a dog, not a planet, nor a space rock ... http://hemmingforddogblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/pluto_dog_01.jpg

just sayin...

@20, Blow it out your ass Steve.

@14, Daps bro, it means a lot to Charon and I.

Don't you just love kids? It surprises me just how much they know sometimes. Some other times, what they don't know too.

@21 Good... it takes a lot of practice to make it look good, but it nice to be able to write in cursive.... its faster, and can make it easier to get your thoughts down on paper when you can write them faster.... just sayin

@ closetnerd - how is it a BFD? I learned how to write it and (obviously) read it and I haven't used it and hardly seen it since they stopped making me use it in 7th grade. It's dead and a waste of time to even teach it anymore.

@ Pluto

Dude, you dropped your title for these jaggoffs? You are *Planet* Pluto, say it loud.

Anywho, no problem man, just stating the facts.

ps, I would oust that gaywad Mercury from the solar system in a second for you if I could. I hate that guy, the sun's clingy little brown noser.

It's always a little sad when teachers put kids up to crap like this. Not only does it encourage kids to think wrongly about science, but it's not exactly teaching them anything.

Pluto is one of hundreds if not thousands of Kupier objects. if Pluto is a planet, then our solar system has thousands of planets. Dr Tyson isn't the one who decides that fact, that's just nature. Someone saw him on the Colbert Report and thought he was "The Scientist" I guess.

These seem kind of fake to me... Like it's something I might have done.

@26 It like having to know your 'times tables' in math class.... yeah sure, you can use a calculator, but its best if you understand it for what it is, and know how to calculate it on your own.
What about old documents (our constituion for example) which were written in cursive..... if no one can read them, who knows what they say.

Clyde Tombaugh just rolled over in his grave...

@Everyone stop picking on Closet Nerd, because he is right. It's a form of writing that is elegant and everyone should know. I had a teacher in high school that would give out extra-credit if you wrote in cursive. Which just shows that it's important and becoming rare.

@30 - yeah... except math is still relevant.

nobody can read latin and we seem to get by fine. pretty sure the constitution was translated to print already and the original document isn't used for study.

BTW - my 4th grade teacher sent a letter home to my parents that said my cursive writing was "atrocious." It was seriously bad enough that it required a letter home?!? Well guess what that teacher is dead now and cursive writing died along with her.

"I had a teacher in high school that would give out extra-credit if you wrote in cursive. Which just shows that it's important and becoming rare."

is that a joke? the only thing that shows is that your teacher is archaic and has lost touch with reality.

if you want pluto to be a planet, then you need to reclassify eris, makemake and haumea as well. hell, even ceres is considered a dwarf planet, so you would need to reclassify that too. one of the kids letter says that he thinks pluto is a double planet. in that case, charon would qualify as a planet as well. i don't hear anyone complaining about these objects not be reclassified though. can you imagine the uproar it would create if we suddenly had upwards of 13 planets?

this is the point of science, we make our best hypothesis and then revise it as our knowledge becomes more accurate. that is why everything is known as "theories", cell theory, theory of evolution, etc. in the future, we may disprove or heavily modify these theories because of emerging discoveries. just like the flat earth hypothesis or geocentric cosmology. just because the overwhelming majority believe something, doesn't make it so. it just goes to show the power of something once it gains cultural currency. people cling to their beliefs in the face of change and want to get all up in arms because something they were sure of turns out to be wrong.

it would help if astronomers could actually agree on the definition of a planet, though.

@33 I work as a surveyor. Part of my job is researching old legal descriptions.... some of which are over 100 years old and written in cursive. They are pretty hard to read, and I know how to read/write in cursive.
Like it or not, cursive is part of our history, language, and culture. And to let it become forgotten because people only print and type would be a shame..... "those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it"

If you don't want learn cursive, thats fine. Its not my job to make you learn how to read/write it. I will be sure to teach my kids how to read/write in cursive, even if it isn't taught in school. Knowledge is power, and the more knowledge you have the more powerfull you are.
I'm just not going to argue about it any more. "If you waste time arguing with an idiot, people won't know who the idiot is." I'm not sayin you're an idiot per se, but if you believe that losing the knowledge of how to read/write in cursive will have no ill effects on our society, than i just suggest you not tell people you believe that, because its better for people to "think" you are stupid, rather than "know" you are stupid...... just sayin

When I was going to school essays, exams and all that goodness had to be written in cursive so it was a big deal to learn and understand proper penmanship (and i'm only 20). Plus it just makes you look more intelligent (ooooooooo... i just burned half you guys lol)

Also, cursive writing is more elegant (real fuckin classy) and looks better than print when writing a love letter, a thank you note, or a personal message in a card.... just sayin

CN - I work as a molecular biologist and it requires me to analyze DNA sequence for mutations. It's a handy skill for my work, but 99.99% of people don't need to know how to do it and they don't teach it in school to everyone for that reason. They also don't teach blacksmithing or leather tanning to everyone either.

Half the kids in HS can't even point out their home state on a map and you are worried about losing our fancy writing heritage?

Closet Nerd is only just sayin...

But honestly, I'm appalled that a teacher would do this to kids. Who is he/she to say that Pluto is not a planet and influence young kids into thinking that it should be. Science can't simply be reversed and to teach children that it can be is something of child abuse in my book. If they really felt that Pluto should be a planet, the kids that thought along those lines could have written a letter, but I guarantee that the letter was a teacher's attempt at progressing a personal agenda. Heinous! This teacher should be fired.

@closet nerd, in the UK cursive writing isnt taught untill junior school (ages 8-12), its done to ease kids learning to write a more natural way. thought that might clear up any misunderstanding

@39 and when your DNA sequencing brings zombies to life, and the world starts to become over run with zombies....you're gonna wish we had more blacksmiths and leather tanners around to help make armor and weapons.... just sayin

At least make Eris a planet too, maybe. It's 27% more massive than Pluto. That's alot.
But Pluto still does have it's own satellite, and I think is relatively far away from other bodies, so yeah, maybe still a planet. Whatever, as long as it's still there.

I wonder how much valuable teaching time was lost by having kids write nonsensical letters about a subject they don't really understand. Get over Pluto, it's a ball of rock and ice. It's not like we destroyed it or anything... although that would be awesome Pluto is no longer a planet, in fact it is nothing MUAHAHAHAHAHA Boom!

WTF, PLUTO IS A DOG!!

These bodies are what they are regardless of anything said by arrogant scientists or disappointed school children. Consider Pluto a planet? Fine. Don't? So what?
I don't give a shit what Tyson thinks about Pluto, and I'm sure he's equally unconcerned with my opinion.

@Closet Nerd: I agree with you that losing cursive writing would be a shame, but I'm more concerned about the serious lack of, and disregard for, proper grammar in the English language these days. For example, in your quote, "those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it", the word "that" is completely incorrect, and should be "who".

@35 Not saying I want to reclassify anything but I absolutely can't fathom the uproar at having 13 planets! OH THE INSANITY!!! I doubt there would be something in my life I could care less about. (Who the hell would get upset for there being too many things called planets?)

Oh and as for cursive, I love it, I (sorta) use it. See, I mix print and cursive when I'm writing, mainly all the forward strokes of cursive letters, nothing that slows the writing down. I agree that it is dying, I hate it though, unlike our brilliant Dick McBarf.

My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine.......

@47 oh yeah! Don't even get me started on that. Its from all the texting, and writing in codes to avoid detection from parents, but the sad thing is when it starts to makes its way into their formal work.

You're right about the quote. I try to be correct in my grammar, but i'm not always a grammar nazi.

I'm with you Closet Nerd! If everyone had the idiotic mindset of Richard McDouchebag, then we would have nothing of value in this world. "Those pyramids in Egypt are old and serve no purpose. Let's bulldoze them and make a shopping mall," is probably what he will say in his next comment. Just because you don't use it in your line of work (molecular biologist, yeah we're believing that one) doesn't mean it should be phased out of the learning process.

@7:
That has to be among the dumbest analogies ever.

@51 My wife's great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather helped build the pyramids (my wife is 100% Egyptian, well technically, her parents are 100% Egyptian, and she is 100% American, because she was born here).... just sayin

Why stop at "forgetting how to write cursive".......
http://www.obviouswinner.com/obvwin/2010/2/9/fuck-this-ill-be-a-stripper.html

@52

At least it was funny

In Spain cursive writting per se doesn't even exist xD. You write how you like and/or can.
Apart from that, can you get me some image of a cursive writing so I can see if it's difficult or not¿ what I found in google images didn't seem so.

@CN: Please explain the "ill effects" that will ensue because cursive is no longer used/taught. Be as specific as you can. I would like to know how people's handwriting style changes the content of what they are writing.

@51 - I am 100% against teaching all school children how to build gigantic pyramids using simple tools as I do not believe ancient pyramid building is still an important skill for everyone to learn. GFY.

Boy, you assholes in here sure cherish your cursive writing. You should write your comments in your fancy writing and mail it to the GW who can type it up and post here for us to read.

@58 We don't "teach" the kids how to make pyramids.... we make them into slave and "force" them to build them.... face it, slavery gets shit done
www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/slavery-gets-shit-done/

@57 I would consider any loss of skill that was once common an "ill effect".
If no one can preform a basic/common skill such as writing in cursive, that is a step backwards in society..... while were at it, lets stop teaching math becaus we all have calculators now

Man. I speed read all of this and as far as I care they should reclassify cursive as a planet and make Pluto a dog again.

That doesn't actually indicate any "ill effects". "Ill effects" would negatively impact SOMETHING. It's not bad just because you say it is. Will war break out? Famine? Pestilence? Is the end of cursive THE END OF DAYS?

And comparing handwriting to math is hardly analogous. Language, writing, all of that changes and evolves. Math does not. Math can only build on what it already there.

There's a reason that Sailor Pluto was never a hit

Not my chair? Not my problem.

Cursive looks atrocious and cramps your hand up worse. Writing in cursive a 53-page essay on taking a shit does not improve the quality of the essay. Are you looking at the content or are you admiring typography?

The problem with your argument is that you still have to understand something about math to use a calculator. You've basically said, "Shit! We've got power tools now! No need to teach someone how to build a house!" How the fuck does that even work?

You're putting the medium ahead of the message and all that does is belittle the writer. And commonality does not indicate relevance or rightness. It was common to own black people. Does that mean it's an ill effect that we have lost our cheap farm labor? Have we stepped backward in society?

LOL! I almost forgot this post was about Pluto!

@58,
I'd rather just write you a letter in cursive and laugh knowing when you get it you will have to go and ask a smarter person, "Gee I don't know what this here fancy language is. Can you help me read it mister?"

I'm done. If you think cursive isn't important... fine. Don't learn it. Nothing I say will help you see why it is important from a cultural aspect. If you can't understand why it would not be good for it to become a forgotten art, then you probably part of the reason that people in today's society have also become so rude and ignorant. Don't get me wrong, i can be a dick too, but there is just a general decline in the quality of manners and intelligence that most people poses now a days.... stupidy and ignorant people just breed more ignorant and stupd people..... just sayin

These kids are going to inherit the earth after us?

It's sad to be losing cursive. It looks nice. It's like losing a musical or artistic style. Sure, it can be said that music and art aren't important. Classical music has fallen out of fashion, and no wars have been started over that, right? But it WOULD be sad if people weren't able to recognize it anymore, understand how it was made... didn't have a basic understanding of it. That's a cultural loss. Some (think:most) people find culture very relevant.

Kids should know how to read cursive, write cursive. We're not spending years teaching them different scripts, and making them practice calligraphy. We're just teaching them very basic cursive, in the same fashion that your elementary school music teachers tried to show you what orchestras are made of, and to recognize the sort of music they make.

@67 - I am pretty sure that the increase in rudeness and ignorance is at least partially due to people who make over-reaching generalizations that people that see cursive as being dead and not caring are stupid and ignorant.

Although I am sure you aren't one of those people as you likely write in cursive and calligraphy and speak in old english and ojibwe.

just sayin

@70 I wasn't saying that ALL people who think cursive is a waste, are stupid and ignorant..... just most of em are stupid and ignorant... but not ALL of them

But seriously, haven't you noticed that people just seem to have worse manners now than before. People don't hold doors open for others, kids are often disrespectul to elders, i make it a point to say "Thank you" and "Have a good one" as often as possible, but it actually rare to hear it from another person now a days..... just sayin

@70 I wasn't saying that ALL people who think cursive is a waste, are stupid and ignorant..... just most of em are stupid and ignorant... but not ALL of them

But seriously, haven't you noticed that people just seem to have worse manners now than before. People don't hold doors open for others, kids are often disrespectul to elders, i make it a point to say "Thank you" and "Have a good one" as often as possible, but it actually rare to hear it from another person now a days..... just sayin

sorry for the double post
sorry for the double post

After all that's been said, here are my two conclusions:

1: We should bring Pluto back into planethood for the kids (is it that hard to make exceptions?).

2: Cursive writing will soon be an encryption method.

I was wondering how we got on the topic of cursive.... i guess that was because of me in comment #3.....

Your grandparents said the same thing about your parent's generation and your parent's say the same thing about your generation, now you are saying it about today's youngsters. You know what I am saying? Fuck it. That's what I am saying. Just saying.

Closet Nerd, I totally feel you on the shitty people vibe. People are inconsiderate, and rude. Parents don't teach their kids manners anymore, they don't even pretend to.

I could give hundreds of specifics examples. Smokers are a fairly good general one. Complete disregard for those around them, can't be bothered to throw their cig. butts anywhere but the gutter or a planter box, giving people cancer and making everyone around them smell like ass, and then they complain because they can't smoke in restaurants anymore. Just one of so many examples.

We're surrounded by the entitled and the pseudo-enlightened. It's disgusting and disheartening. I wish there was anywhere I could escape to, because my soul dies a little every day being stuck in the middle of it all.

Soviet Union isn't a country anymore and brontosaurus isn't a dinosaur anymore either!!! Crazy!

@Marshall: You are definitely on the right site.

Don't kids first learn how to write cursive in third grade? Maybe they hadn't gotten around to learning it yet.

the letters are really cute, but you know it was a project assigned by the teacher to write to the museum.

Really I am surprised by how little some of these kids know "Are there people on Pluto?" ..I mean wow...

I am only 22 and when I was in elementary school everything had to be written in cursive or it wouldn't be excepted by the teacher...freaking catholic schools!

Looks like that first letter's from the future.
November 6106.

After reading this discussion, did anyone else write some random sheit down to 'check themselves'? I did, my cursive is horrible X )

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im gonna agree with closet nerd on the cursive thing. its not the BIGGEST deal in my opnion exactly. but little things like that being forgotten over time ADD UP and eventualy the world will end up like it did in " Idiocracy " ..ya

Idiocracy was a stupid movie.

I think the letters are cute, and regardless of content it was probably a good writing exercise for the kids.
Cursive is a way to write. It's good to know how, but not tragic if you don't use it.
Pluto was a nice planet, Clyde was a nice man. It doesn't matter what we call it.
And @87? Lindsay? Yes, yes it was. Too many people, mostly of the Closet Nerd type, watched it and chuckled heartily within themselves for how SMART and SOPHISTICATED they are and how STUPID and UNCULTURED the rest of the world is.
To everyone that wishes we used 19th-s century manners? Let's just say I'm fucking grateful for flush toilets, the internet, modern medicine, and the ability to wear pants and go without a hat in public with being ridiculed and ostracized.

one wonders if Pedobear would back the little kids or if he would back Tyson?

I'm more pissed about Ceres COME ON PEOPLE IT'S A PLANET. Minor planet my ass

what the fuck we went from 7 yearolds writing about pluto to cursive being a dead artform then to the egyptians then back to god damn cursive GOD GIVE ME CANCER NOW!!!

With depravity I break laws of gravity
Blast past the atmosphere to the last frontier
I go boldly through space and time
The sky's the limit but they're limiting the sky
I break orbit by habit
I ignite satellites and leave rings round the planets
A flying ace like that beagle
Nevertheless this alien remains illegal
'Cause their discovery don�t cover me
The immigrant's been left in the cold to grow old and disintegrate
Discriminate against the distant and disclaim this
'Cause their small minds can't see past Uranus
But I shun their rays
'Cause stun's just a phase
And my odyssey runs in two-thousand and one ways
And I can see clearly now like Hubble
Shoved off the shuttle here's my rebuttal

It's a planet.

Who do you represent?
I represent the smallest planet
Attorney in this tourney versus those who tried to ban it
If you don't agree go see interplanet Janet
Cause sun is star like Pluto is planet
So lend me all ears and let me state my case
about all the types of satellites we must embrace
Cause like my parents' great grandparents - this planet is an immigrant,
to deport it�s an offense
It's an upstanding member of the solar system
Apply the laws of Earth and make it a victim
Of Proposition 187
If Pluto spawns a moon, it will apply to the heavens.
I'll damn you like Judas of Iscariot
If you demote this mote remote to affiliate
It's like taking ET's custody from Elliot
Support your Lilliput, 'cause simply put

Pluto is a planet

Do it for the children
(If not for yourselves)
Pluto is a planet

well the cancer didnt work..........*click*.......*PEW*.....*ambulance siren*

What is wrong with our solar system having hundreds or thousands of planets? If that is what it has, then that is what it has. No one should "get over" the horrible, political decision to demote Pluto, which was not done by Tyson, but by four percent of the IAU. Even Tyson has distanced himself from their decision, which he accurately describes as flawed. The IAU decision was immediately opposed in a formal petition by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Stern and like-minded scientists favor a broader planet definition that includes any non-self-luminous spheroidal body in orbit around a star. The spherical part is important because objects become spherical when they attain a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning they are large enough for their own gravity to pull them into a round shape. This is a characteristic of planets and not of shapeless asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects. Pluto meets this criterion and is therefore both a planet and a Kuiper Belt Object. Using this broader definition gives our solar system 13 planets and counting: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

I laugh at this because they already re-classified Pluto as a planet again.
Well a Dwarf planet, they now have their own little group from the 'norm' planets.

Firstly Pluto is not a planet, it never was. If upon reading that sentence you feel sad or unhappy, that’s ok. We have been taught incorrectly for years due to bad maths and bad science in the past. Pluto was only considered a planet due to gravitational forces though to be exerting themselves on Neptune’s orbit. But we have the Math they used that led them to believe there was a planted there and it’s incorrect.

If, however you feel anger upon reading my first sentence then you are a closed minded individual destined to contribute to the future downfall of this already rotten civilisation. As an experiment you could always try educating yourself instead. For example, the only reason Pluto, along with Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake and not planets is due to our own definition of the word.

The International Astronomical Union decided on this definition of a “planet”: A celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

The International Astronomical Union decided on this definition of a “dwarf planet”: A celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.

Anyone disagree?

Is it my imagination or are people that are too stupid to read or write in anything but print style arguing to get rid of cursive?

These are the same people that have no grammatical sense. They write in inch tall text and invariably dot their I's with happy faces or hearts.

I am not as self deprecating as my moniker would attest.

Can't read cursive? Man the american education system sucks. Can't write cursive in high school? Is that a joke?

In Canada in the crapiest of schools (Quebec especially) if you can't write cursive by the end of grade three your labelled an complete idiot.

By High School we all spoke two languages. They don't bother talking about grammar and spelling and cursive after grade 11. By then, your expected to be able to write flawlessly. It's what you write that's critiqued.

The american public education system is an epic fail. Everywhere else in the western world we know how to write in cursive in one two or three languages.. It's not a dying art.

I disagree. I mean, I don't disagree that that's the definition established by the IAU, but it's a silly definition. I think the "cleared its orbit" language was included for the sole and express purpose of "demoting" Pluto. See, if Pluto's to be considered a planet, then yes, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, etc. must also be. That would make what, 13 or 14 planets? Which means the eggheads would have been wronger all along than they'd have been if the 'actual' count turned out to have been off only by one, eight rather than nine.

What happens when we discover an object orbiting a star that is enormously massive but hasn't cleared its orbit? Change the definition? Does that mean Pluto is a planet again? Does it mean it always was? Do you change the definition to include this new, strange body, but find another way to exclude Pluto apart from the "cleared its orbit" criterion? If so, what does that say about the previous definition? This is why it's ridiculous to impose such a technical definition on the word, "planet," even as it's used in casual conversation. We'll never be able to neatly apply such a definition to all of the large, orbiting objects we'll discover - it would require constant revision. That is pure egotism. Modern science has, or perhaps, to be more to the point, modern scientists have, this need to continually reassure themselves that they know more than they don't. Because, if we, humanity, the most advanced and ascendant intelligence known, can't even tell which rocks are planets and which aren't, then, *gasp* maybe we're not the pinnacle of biological endeavour after all. *quail* *fear* *confusion* *despair*

@72, I open doors for ladies, elders and just any body that i think deserves it. i skateboard and smoke pot, (i also suck at writing cursive). im a steriotypical asshole that occording to somone that doesn't know any thing about would say that im just gonna graffiti bridges and yell profanity at old people. if anything, i think the world is getting more polite...or maybe more people just need to take a toke and chill. what im saying is that cursive should have nothing to do with being polite. have you ever seen pirates, they smell bad, their dirty as hell, and the drink bourbon and rum 24/7. every pirate(that could write) wrote in cursive. if anything i think that printing is a nice form of hand writing,

besides, cursive will not go extinct as long as we are all still using signatures.

@99 Definitions, Definitions, Definitions.

I think the main issue here is the definition itself and peoples misunderstanding of it, personally I agree that the definition is silly, as you say, and in fact I'd go so far as to say it's unnecessary. But for arguments sake lets say this definition, agreed upon in 2006, is accepted as correct.

To clear, or not to clear the neighbourhood around its orbit, that is the only difference between regular and dwarf planets. Yet this definitive point seems to have been lost amidst emotional debate. Put simply if a Planet is the dominant mass in it's vicinity it has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. As Neptune dominates Pluto, Pluto by definition is not a Normal Planet, but a Dwarf Planet.

Turning to your question “What happens when we discover an object orbiting a star that is enormously massive but hasn't cleared its orbit?” well in this instance, size doesn't matter, only mass. If two interstellar bodies of huge mass are still interacting with each others orbit in the same vicinity then the one with the largest mass would be a planet the one with the smallest a Dwarf planet, at least until enough orbital cycles have been completed and they clear each others neighborhood as would always, hypothetically, happen eventually. You see the definition was designed to not need to be changed, based on our current level of understanding, of interstellar bodies. (admittedly this is likely to be considered laughable in the future)

No one is saying Pluto it isn't important, I don't understand the use of the word 'demoted' for a reclassification, or a sub classification as it actually is. Perhaps if it weren't known as a 'Dwarf' Planet but something with stronger and cooler connotations people wouldn't be so bothered.

But that is all based on accepting the definition as correct, or necessary. It would seem to me that if something of a sufficient size (shall we say large enough to create a nearly spherical shape) orbits around the sun, and not around another planet, it seems logical to consider this a planet. Irrespective of gravitational interactions with other such bodies, or it being 30 times smaller then Mercury (the smallest officially recognised Planet)

Science is phenomenal, I mean to be utterly fascinated by everything, by the not knowing and the attempts to understand, explain, hypothesise about and categorise our universe, how lucky we are. It's this endeavor that allows me at least some hope, for an inherently flawed species as we are. I don't think ego plays as large a part in the scientific world as you do, but it is a part of human nature. Hence this debate :)

@98 well, well. it seems that you think the american education system fails, eh? by grade 11 you're supposed to know two languages and write in cursive?! oh yeah, and you are supposed to know your grammar flawlessly. congrats, because you've made a couple of grammatical errors in your writing!

and to everyone else who claims they are awesome at grammar and writing: in each and every one of your posts you had errors, both spelling and grammatical errors. so, fail to all of you too.

it doesn't matter if cursive is taught in schools or not. it's a style of penmanship and not competence. in fact... all penmanship is all style. if someone has bad penmanship it doesn't mean that they are incompetent. what about most penmanship of doctors? it never is that good. and lawyers. and professors. did they never get taught penmanship when they were in school? are they incompetent just because their penmanship is horrible? no, i didn't think so.

so fuck it, like that one guy said.

who the hell cares except for you arrogant jerks.

i don't know what the fuss is about......it's not a planet...whatever.
can you still pay yer bills?
can you still buy a hot dog from a cart?
will the sun still rise each day?
cool....then it really doesn't mean anything's changed.
also,
i write in half cursive for some reason and only i can read it....but i have no problem reading "normal cursive."
if kids can't read cursive, either their school sux or they're lazy.....
though, i tend to go with both.
it's not effin rocket science!

@103 While poor penmanship might not make doctors less COMPETENT, it doesn't really help their patients. You'd be surprised at the number of deaths attributed to poor handwriting on things like prescriptions.

One such article:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1676338/

Did these letters come from 4chan?

Aidan, I disagree, and my disagreement is not based on emotion but on science. Something does not become "truth" just because four percent of the IAU decreed it so. Here are the reasons why the IAU definition, which by the way was adopted in violation of the IAU's own bylaws by being put to a floor vote at the General Assembly without being first vetted by the appropriate committee as required:

Unlike most objects in the Kuiper Belt, Pluto has attained hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning it has enough self-gravity to have pulled itself into a round shape. This is a hallmark of planets and not characteristic of asteroids and comets. Like the larger planets and unlike asteroids, Pluto has geology and weather.

The IAU definition makes no sense because it states that a dwarf planet is not a planet at all. That's like saying a grizzly bear is not a bear--and it is inconsistent with the use of the term "dwarf" in astronomy, where dwarf stars are still stars, and dwarf galaxies are still galaxies. Also, the IAU definition classifies objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. If Earth were in Pluto's orbit, according to the IAU definition, it would not be a planet either.

Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet! Pluto 4 planet!
...15 minutes later
"PLEASEEEEEEE?!?"

.... its amazing how long this comment section got after commenting about the importance of cursive.

can't wait to see "idiocracy"... heard about it before, and just added it to my netflix

and the American education system is FUCKED thanks to Bush's "No Child Left Behind" which is sooooo retarded. I'm ready to move to Canada, eh...... just sayin

Pluto is the red headed stepchild of our solar system and needs to be beatin accordingly.

Tennis Racquet

@Cursive ... GFYS. Nobody uses you anymore unless they are trying to look smarter than other people. Most people don't even know how to write most of your form of the alphabet. I'm perfectly fine with my "Z" looking like: "Z" instead of an ampersand (&) on cocaine. -fin-

Harhar! I really had to laugh sooo hard. Thx for cheering me up. (That doesn't mean those letters aren't of somewhat relevance...) ;)
Greetings from Germany
Martin

I recall my physics teacher talking about the nomenclature of solar bodies and he mentioned that many scientists refered to pluto as a planet simply because of dogma. In their mind and work it had already been relegated as a planetoid. The redefinition of it as such was merely dotting the i's and crossing the T's as far as most were concerned. Then of course there's the Sedna question...

fyi, the reason cursive is not taught in schools today is because teachers (and I am one) do not have the time to do so, are not encouraged to do so (the opposite in fact), and most importantly, are not motivated to do so due in large part to the apathay of the general student population who largely have a "good enough" attitude no doubt encouraged by a general conception that reading and writing well is uncool. If a student happens to be reading this be aware that your teachers hold you in the deepest contempt, generally regarding you as a bunch of illiterate neer-do-wells who would be better off put against a wall and shot. If a teacher ever tells you he/she loves his/her job it's probably because of the perv opportunities. God, i love to rant, feel so much better now... feel free to delete this post mods.

I feel sorry for the kids parents when it comes to dinner.

"TOMATOS ARE NOT A FRUIT ITS
A VEGETABLE CUZ IT DOESN'T
TASTE GOOD!!!
I miss my tomato friends.
Here's a picture. O
Please turn page"

@1 - Absolutely! Pluto will always be a planet to me and pretty much all of my generation (80's babies) and every generation before us. Hopefully Pluto will get her groove back.

Bragh...fudge cursive; if we spent that time teaching these little guys math maybe they would be able to figure out why Pluto is not a planet.

P.S. Tyrannosaurs were not dinosaurs. They were GODS.

i'm wondering if I use it and how looks is it ??

I'm going to go to a broader future here:
IF the said 2012 apocalypse doesn't happen, then our civilization will someday find a way to live in space without our muscles weakening and our immune systems going on the fritz. We will soon be able to travel to other planets, dominate them, and live on them in crappy colonization bubbles filled with horribly expensive condos. And if it's just a rock, and not a planet, then hey, blast it to bits for "mining purposes."
And if Pluto is not a planet, then she can be slated all that easily to be blasted to bits for ore and other mining goodies. Just saying. (And I say easier because some planets could possibly be lived on, yet might still get blasted anyway.)
And I can write cursive, but I ARE LAZY. I just use it for my signature, which is barely legible.
Cheers.

the constitution was written by a caligrapher. yes its cursive, but he studied it and perfected it to an art form

Please tell me these kids were asked to write these letters by their idiotic parents.

I don't understand why it's so hard to comprehend why science changes and adapts - definitions do not remain constant simply because out knowledge is not static. As we learn more about the universe, our understanding changes, and thus, we make changes as necessary. The fact is, Pluto is only one of quite a large number of Kuiper Belt objects, and is smaller than say, Eris.

I suspect a lot of this is from Americans feeling some sort of unwarranted patriotism because an American discovered Pluto. Who cares if it's considered a dwarf planet now? It's still an important part of our Solar System!

People make me want to weep.