25 August 2006

Pluto is a dog


Leading astronomers have declared Pluto is no longer a planet, downsizing the solar system from nine planets to eight. That's just goofy. And Micky and Donald are just comics, right? I know Pluto is a planet because I helped my son make his shadowbox for science class and distinctly remember tying the little planet to the top of the shoebox.

But seriously, Pluto has been downgraded. Now science books will have to be re-written. Although, Patricia Tombaugh, the 93-year-old widow of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh took the news in stride saying "It's disappointing in a way, and confusing." She feels her late husband would have understood the decision. But I still feel a bit sad for it. Dwarfs just don't get no respect.

And what about all the astrology books? My chart says that Pluto was aligned in the sign of Virgo. As Pluto's orbit is so very slow it takes fourteen years to move from one sign to another, therefore it can be representative of a whole generation.

"Pluto in Virgo lasted from 1956 to 1971. By contrast with the Pluto in Leo generation (1939 to 1956, and some in 1957 and 1958), which made riots on the campus, Pluto in Virgo people are more concerned with work and health, preferring to be active in the background rather than being in the spotlight." Am I to infer that this is no longer the case?

And, just watch, as soon as they print all those new textbooks, some great scientist will find the true link to proving Darwin was right all along. We really are stardust.

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