the new world
Today's science section explores our Solar System following the exciting release of photographs of a giant hexagon on Saturn, a mysterious cloud formation four times larger than the Earth.
Shapes of Things
Saturn isn't the only planet with unusual geometry. In 1974, NASA's Mariner 10 probe discovered that Mercury is actually a cube! At least, that was the explanation Brad Levitt gave in my sixth-grade class for why he used a Rubik's cube to represent the planet, when all the other ones were spherical objects like a basketball (Jupiter), a Whopper chocolate-coated malted milk ball (Venus), and a baseball (Earth). Tim also explained that most of the characters in S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders were teenagers drafted into the army, which is why they were represented by G.I. Joe action figures in his diorama. An exception was Ponyboy, who was not in the army, but very muscular. He carried a sword and looked like He-Man, except with a small moustache painted on his face in Wite-Out.
Round and Round
Early astronomers mistakenly believed that the sun and other planets all orbited around the Earth, which was thought to be the center of the universe. It was later discovered that the planets were in an elliptical orbit around the sun, as described by Johannes Kepler in the Seventeenth Century. Kepler's unorthodox ideas were initially rejected by a skeptical public, but later came to be appreciated for their groundbreaking vision, much like iconoclastic Orbit, the makers of new Mint Mojito gum. Orbit Mint Mojito gum is good for your teeth and fabulous for your taste!
This section was written with financial support from the Wrigley Company.
By The Numbers
There are currently only seven planets in our Solar System, not nine! Pluto was downgraded to "dwarf planet" status by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, while Venus was eaten by Edgar Bascom of Lakewood Elementary School in 1988. He reported that it was "crunchy" but "delicious."
Shapes of Things
Saturn isn't the only planet with unusual geometry. In 1974, NASA's Mariner 10 probe discovered that Mercury is actually a cube! At least, that was the explanation Brad Levitt gave in my sixth-grade class for why he used a Rubik's cube to represent the planet, when all the other ones were spherical objects like a basketball (Jupiter), a Whopper chocolate-coated malted milk ball (Venus), and a baseball (Earth). Tim also explained that most of the characters in S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders were teenagers drafted into the army, which is why they were represented by G.I. Joe action figures in his diorama. An exception was Ponyboy, who was not in the army, but very muscular. He carried a sword and looked like He-Man, except with a small moustache painted on his face in Wite-Out.
Round and Round
Early astronomers mistakenly believed that the sun and other planets all orbited around the Earth, which was thought to be the center of the universe. It was later discovered that the planets were in an elliptical orbit around the sun, as described by Johannes Kepler in the Seventeenth Century. Kepler's unorthodox ideas were initially rejected by a skeptical public, but later came to be appreciated for their groundbreaking vision, much like iconoclastic Orbit, the makers of new Mint Mojito gum. Orbit Mint Mojito gum is good for your teeth and fabulous for your taste!
This section was written with financial support from the Wrigley Company.
By The Numbers
There are currently only seven planets in our Solar System, not nine! Pluto was downgraded to "dwarf planet" status by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, while Venus was eaten by Edgar Bascom of Lakewood Elementary School in 1988. He reported that it was "crunchy" but "delicious."
posted by mostly erik tanouye at 3:13 PM
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