and then there were eight

It is official; a group of scientists from all over the world gathered in Prague today and decided that Pluto would no longer be considered a planet. Despite that fact that the now “dwarf planet” is some three and a half million miles from Earth, this decision still rocked my world. Thinking back to elementary school, I remember making mobiles of the solar system, and singing the little catchy mnemonic song to remember all nine planets. Whose cars is Neptune going to be selling now? As I was listening to a story on NPR the other day about the astronomical debate, someone made the comment that with current scientific data, the idea of Pluto as a full-fledged planet is nothing more than a historical artifact. My question is why isn’t that enough? Who is it really hurting if we continue to think of Pluto as the ninth planet of our solar system? Instead we are now going to have to totally change a truth that we have held for over seventy-five years.

Now I understand that sometimes certain beliefs need to be changed. If we never accepted new scientific research, we would still think the universe revolves around our flat world. But I think this actually illuminates what I consider a huge problem with science in general and astronomy in particular. Before I could graduate from college, I had to take one more science class, so my last summer at A&M, I took an astronomy class. The whole time I was listening to the professor, whose brilliant Russian accent made everything sound unnervingly sinister, I couldn’t help but think that these scientists were just making it up as they go along. Consider this: one of the main units of measurement used to indicate distances within the solar system is the astronomical unit. Conveniently enough one astronomical unit just happens to be the exact distance between the Earth and the Sun. They sure made it easy for themselves with that one.

More often than not, it seems that what is touted as scientific progress is actually just correcting mistakes. Probably the icing on the cake to my summer fling with astronomy is that right around the same time I was receiving my degree, I found out that some of the information I had learned in my class was already obsolete. In August of 2004, Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists, announced that he had changed his mind about black holes. And just like that astronomy and quantum theory were changed.

I guess what gets me most is the amount of time, energy, and money that is spent on these kinds of endeavors. How much does the number of planets in our solar system really affect our daily lives? Is this decision going to stop hunger, help our environment, or end wars and genocide? If we really want to start changing historical artifacts, let’s begin with the ones that say people should be treated differently according to their gender or the color of their skin. We can spend all day with our eyes toward the sky, but our feet will always be planted on the ground; that is, until the laws of gravity go out of style.

update

And just like that we are nearing the end of August. As expected these past six weeks have kind of washed by in a haze of constant motion. When I look back at everything I have done, it is no wonder that I am so exhausted. It seems like forever ago since my family came out to Pasadena to visit, but since that is where I left off, I will pick up from there.

My parents and sister drove out to Southern California to spend a week with me and see what my life is like. Honestly, before they arrived, I was worried that they would not like it out here. I thought that they would take one look around at all of the concrete and smog and think I was making a huge mistake by living here. Fortunately they instead focused on all of the wonderful things that I often take for granted. My parents ooh and awed over my proximity to the mountains and the beach. I drove them over to Hollywood one afternoon, and we walked around, visiting Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and seeing the famous feet and hand prints out front. I took them out to Santa Monica, where we walked along the beach in the cool breeze of the Pacific Ocean. While they were out here, we also went to many nice restaurants around the area, most of which I had never gone to considering my grad school budget. The best part was just being able to spend time together as a family, something we would be doing a lot of shortly.

At the end of their visit, I hopped in the car with them and headed back to Texas. We did not drive straight back, but instead took several days to visit many sights along the way. Our first stop was the Grand Canyon, which is a place my dad had wanted to go since he was a kid. I really don’t think there is any way for me to properly describe the enormity and majesty of it in words. I am glad my parents did not take my sister and me there when we were little, because I really don’t think I would have been able to appreciate it then, not that I can even fully appreciate it now. We then continued our drive across Arizona toward New Mexico. Ginger and I discovered the reason Arizona is nicknamed “The Grand Canyon State” is because that is all it has going for it. It was while driving trough the state that we discovered the malady we dubbed “road delirium”. This is what happens when you have been stuck in the back seat of a car for far too many hours with absolutely no scenery to look at or any other distractions to speak of. One rather advantageous consequence of the many hours of utter boredom is that I relearned all of the state capitals, something that will be very beneficial if I ever decided to teach sixth grade social studies. There were other stops along the way, most of which felt like a big tease, because all I was really interested in was getting back to Texas. [Ginger chronicled the trip quite well, with pictures and all.]

After what was probably the most idealistic road trip my family has ever undertaken, I was finally back in familiar territory. Unfortunately my time at home felt all too brief. I was able to see just about everyone I wanted to see, but I was not able to spend a good amount of time with any of them. While I was in Texas, I realized that as much as I missed these very comfortable surroundings, I am exactly where I am supposed to be in California. It was very clear that the changes I have undergone and the ways I have grown in the past year are definitely for the better. That being said, I still wish I had had a few more days to spend in Texas.

Despite my desire otherwise, after only about a week at home, it was time to get on a plane and head back to Pasadena. Let me tell you, crossing Arizona is much more bearable when you are at 30,000 feet. Immediately I was back at work, and just a couple of days later I was in class yet again. Luckily the class was unendingly interesting, as it focused on films and their reflection of and influence on youth culture. When we were not watching movies, such as V for Vendetta and City of God, the class would discuss ideas of postmodernity and theology. The professor could go on for hours, but I never really minded because he really knew what he was talking about and was usually speaking from experience. The only downside of the class was its 8am start time, which meant two weeks of dreadfully early mornings. Don’t worry though, since the class has ended, I have happily returned to my 9:30 wake up call.

Really the only big news to come out of the last couple of weeks is that I moved into a new apartment. I am still living in the same complex, even on the same floor, only now I will be sharing a one bedroom apartment with a friend of mine. Even though this was the closest move I have ever made, a move is still a move. I was amazed at how much stuff I had acquired over the past year, which I now had to transport to my new place in many small trips. It was a little sad having to leave my old apartment behind. I had grown quite attached to “my tiny existence”, the nickname I gave my close quarters. Interestingly, not much has changed now that I am in a bigger place. Because I have yet to fully assemble my bed frame or purchase a mattress, I am still sleeping on my futon, although now it is in a bona fide living room. I am ridiculously excited about having a full size kitchen with full size appliances. I quickly stocked my refrigerator with orange juice, milk, and iced tea, with full sized ice trays chilling in the freezer, many of the luxuries my mini-fridge did not afford me.

All in all, life just keeps going on as usual. I have a couple of term papers that are coming due here in the next few weeks. Once those are tuned in, I will have a little bit of time to fully relax and take my mind off of school for a week or two. I am sure there will be a few more adventures (or misadventures) to share before it is all said and done.