http://bostonist.com/2009/04/02/thursday_happenings_38.php All comments for Thursday Happenings en-us 2009 rickbang Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:00:03 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss rick@bostonist.com rick@bostonist.com 60 http://bostonist.com/2009/04/02/thursday_happenings_38.php#comment-1631489 http://bostonist.com/2009/04/02/thursday_happenings_38.php#comment-1631489 Comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:39:32 -0500 <p>"They" did not have valid scientific reasons but political ones. Only four percent of the IAU voted to demote Pluto, and most are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately opposed by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. The IAU definition makes no sense in that it states that dwarf planets are not planets at all and in that it 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 considered a planet either. Please do not blindly accept and present the IAU interpretation as fact when it is just one side in an ongoing debate.</p>