In the crush of a hectic schedule last week, I missed the sad news of
Sally Ride's death, at 61, from pancreatic cancer. She wasn't the first woman in space. That honor belongs to
Valentina Tereshkova. Still, I admired Ride's easygoing charm, and commend her double major in English and physics, perhaps a personal attempt to transcend the divide described by C.P. Snow in
The Two Cultures. (Photo: NASA)
Happier news is the discovery of a
fifth moon of Pluto. Six years ago I
noted, a bit wistfully, Pluto's demotion from
tenth ninth (thanks paulo1 for catching my error) planet to "dwarf planet" status. While its having an additional satellite doesn't change that classification, it does show that the little devil still has a surprise or two in store.
Sorry, but wasn't pluto the ninth planet before it's demotion, or are you playing silly buggers with the readers?
ReplyDeleteA mix of beer, cabernet sauvignon, and Cognac was playing silly buggers with my head.
ReplyDelete