The Reading Penguin

Written in September 2017. First published in News and Views newsletter.

Imagine sometime in the future where space travel is as regular as air travel is today. Because of the distances involve they are space ferries in operation between the planets. As everyone knows, it takes forever to travel to Mars, so these ferries have facilities to make them as self-sufficient as possible and the trip comfortable. Things like automated farms, restaurants, a school, theatres, a library, a hospital and … a vet.

Yes, some passengers have bought their pets with them. On one of these vessels at any given time they are probably a dozen animals at these vet/kennel at any given time. A dozen animals, of all walks of life, including fish.

Now imagine that something happened to one of these vessels. Space can be dangerous, after all. What if an asteroid hit one of those vessels and killed everyone on-board …. Except the animals? (One got smuggled on board and was under quarantine, leading to the place been sealed off, saving their lives.)

So, here’s the question. With an endless supply of food, water and air, and no humans to guide them, how would they cope?

In an environment originally-built for humans, would these animals continue been “animals?” Could curiosity eventually allow them to work out how their life support systems work, and allow them to fix them if a fault occurs? Could that later go further, maybe allowing them to read our books? And if so, would they understand what they read? Would they learn from them? Would they use the knowledge we had recorded to build a new civilization? A society with laws and a culture like ours or something completely different? Something unique. Maybe they’ll create their own stories and literature. Maybe in some distant future, a descendent of a bird might be reading Penguin Island with hands that were once wings. Just a thought. 

Acts of Cultural Vandalism - Pluto - 10 years of lower status?

On 24th August 2006 the International Astronomical Union (after deciding on a new definition on what can be considered a "planet") reclassified Pluto to a "minor planet". 

Why, you ask? 

It will take some time for me to explain why, so save time typing out a long explanation, here's a video from CGP Grey that helpfully explains everything you need to know.

Is Pluto a Planet? (2012)

Pluto is an odd-ball of a planet in our traditional model of our Solar System. While every planet beyond Mars is a giant ball of gas, Pluto is a small solid round rock, like a moon. Also, its orbit is at an extreme angle, compared to the other planets....

This scan from Ultimate Visual Dictionary 2001 (2000) 

clearly shows Pluto's extreme angle of orbit

And it doesn't help that Pluto is so far away from us. So far away that until last year the best pictures we had of Pluto were blurry blobs at best (as seen in the scan above). It's the celestial equivalent of a poor orphan child.

No wonder many got mad with the decision to reclassify it. Many saw the IAU as a bunch of privileged bullies. It was ugly. How could something so academical as a object reclassification cause so much outrage?

Maybe it is down to the fact that it was discovered in America by an American (a double-whammy for American patriots). Maybe because the idea of calling it after the Roman God of the underworld (because the other planets were named after the other Roman Gods) came from an 11-year-old girl from England (stirring much of the English-speaking world). But I think its mostly because when we were first taught about the Solar System as children some of us to attached to "Lonely Pluto." As recent history shows if you mess with something that is beloved by many people when they were kids you will hear about it.

One man learnt this the hard way. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, became the public face of the "controversy" when he removed Pluto from the Planetarium's model of the Solar System. And since then people still pester him about it. But he didn't take part in the IAU's decisions. 

But one guy who was responsible for the decision (and should have been the public face of the debate) is astronomer Michael E. Brown. Mike Brown isn't ashamed about his role. In 2010 he wrote a book called How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming. Even though it was him who did the deed, poor Tyson (thanks to his celebrity status since then) still gets the cultural stabs.

But most people who were vocal about the change were people who thought that everything has been turned upside down. You know, those people who thought too much has changed in the world for them to cope. People responsible for scenes like this...

Form episode "Raising Gazorpazorp" 

Rick and Morty (2014)

The reclassification of Pluto became a short-cut reference to mark how the "facts" in science can change faster than the average Joe can learn of the changes. I remember it been used in the movie Frankenweenie when the townspeople confront the science teacher Mr. Rzykruski after an incident in the school. 

Despite the high amount of protest the IAU's decision of calling Pluto a "minor planet" has stuck.

But last year something happened that could change Pluto's fortunes around.

In July 2015 the New Horizons probe became the first spacecraft from Earth to reach Pluto

and on 13th July it took this now iconic picture....

Pluto, taken by the New Horizons probe (13th July 2015)

This was the first close-up image ever taken of Pluto. It was no blurry blob anymore. And we discovered that it had an interesting feature - the Tombaugh Regio, better known as "The Heart."

Could this have been a ploy by native Plutoians to attract us to Pluto, like Mount Rushmore attracts people to visit South Dakota? Maybe. But what is true is that it didn't take long for the Internet to fall in love with Pluto's heart.

The reclassification issue became a hot topic again soon afterword. Not only did it trigger the debate again culturally, the new data the New Horizons probe sent to NASA has given scientists a lot to chew over .... including the idea that Pluto's reclassifcation may have been a mistake. A mistake bought on due to lack of accurate data at the time.

I don't think this debate will end anytime soon (in 2016). But the fact that this debate became so culturally interesting outside the field of astronomy can be seen as something more significant... Space has become a sexy topic. Not since the days of Carl Sagan we have seen this high interest in space. In the 2010s we are seeing space becoming more accessible to us mortals that ever before.Tech companies (like SpaceX) are developing new spacecraft designed to take fee-paying passengers. Individuals (with some assistance) are sending up balloons to take pictures of the Earth for fun. You can even build your own satellite! At the same time astronomers are discovering more and more exoplanets and (spurred on by this) some serious scientists are pondering the possibilities of life existing outside Earth. What a time to be an astronomer.

And as for Pluto. It'll still be there (unless something happens to it). Whether the debate will continue to the time humans walk on it, we don't know.....

But I can imagine one day sometime in the future,
when interplanetary space travel becomes affordable,
this will happen on Pluto.....

And your not the first person ever to have such an honour Neil.

David Bowie (1947-2016)

UPDATE - For those expecting a more wordful Cultural Vandalizing tribute to Bowie I'm afraid my Pokemon big act (due to be published in late-February) has taken a lot of time for me to make one. 

Also, uber Bowie fan Adam Buxton has already made a great one back in 2013 on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Adam Buxton on David Bowie
(BBC Radio 6 Music, 31st March 2013)

Also (for the same reasons) I apologise that there won;t be an Alan Rickman tribute too.

In fact, apologies for lack of tributes for all those who have (or about to) die since New Year. Lady cancer has been busy so far - that bitch.