Sure enough, it has burst out into the scene and is becoming true.
Pluto vote 'hijacked' in revolt
A fierce backlash has begun against the decision by astronomers to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.
On Thursday, experts approved a definition of a planet that demoted Pluto to a lesser category of object.
But the lead scientist on Nasa's robotic mission
to Pluto has lambasted the ruling, calling it "embarrassing".
And the chair of the committee set up to oversee agreement on a definition implied that the vote had effectively been "hijacked".
The vote took place at the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) 10-day General Assembly in Prague. The IAU has been the official naming body for astronomy since 1919.
Only 424 astronomers who remained in Prague for the last day of the meeting took part.
An initial proposal by the IAU to add three new planets to the Solar System - the asteroid Ceres, Pluto's moon Charon and the distant world known as 2003 UB313 - met with considerable opposition at the meeting. Days of heated debate followed during which four separate proposals were tabled.
Eventually, the scientists adopted historic guidelines that see Pluto relegated to a secondary category of "dwarf planets".
NASA thinks it's dumb and the controversy now centers on if there was a quorum available to even do this. Are we going to have to in the future reinstate Pluto as a planet because there was no quorum? I don't know but tempers are hot out there.
Then there is the advice out there on how to deal with the emotional issues, yes emotional issues, involved with Pluto no longer being a planet.
What One Fewer Planet Means to Our Worldview
Is Pluto a planet?
The world's astronomers met in Prague last week to vote on this question, and in a sort of cosmic game of "Survivor," they voted Pluto off the solar system.
Many people were anguished. One colleague asked, "Don't you think it's at least possible that somewhere we're being voted off the solar system?"
........
"The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats. Not all things are black nor all things white. It is a fundamental of taxonomy that nature rarely deals with discrete categories. Only the human mind invents categories and tries to force facts into separated pigeon-holes. The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects."
I never would have imagined such a controversy. Who cares? Planet or not, it's still a part of the solar system and will be getting a visit from a NASA probe paid for by the taxpayers. Pluto still has some status obviously.
I don’t deal in controversy. I deal in fun. It’s separate from reality. Dean Young
