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Ug. Article is terrible. I quote: "Considering that Pluto has been around for more than four billion years, the odds are pretty friggin’ slim that humans would

Ug. Article is terrible. I quote: "Considering that Pluto has been around for more than four billion years, the odds are pretty friggin’ slim that humans would meet the dwarf planet during its brief phase of atmosphere-having. No, something is replenishing the supply. Scientists, you got some ‘splaining to do." What is this, third grade. Here's the actual science: http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/808/2/L50/pdf/2041-8205_808_2_L50.pdf http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/808/2/L50/pdf/2041-8205_...

gizmo686 11y ago
Not directly relevant, but we did come close to meeting Pluto after it lost its atmosphere, due to seasonal variation (which was one of the motivations for launching New Horizons when we did). Of course, in that context, we are not talking about atmospheric escape, but condensation, and the atmosphere will come back in a few hundred years when Pluto's orbit takes it close to the sun again.
jonursenbach 11y ago
It's Wired. Calm down.
sigmar 11y ago
The abstract of that states: >We conclude that either the escape of N2 from Pluto’s atmosphere was on average much lower than the predictions for the current epoch, or that internal activity could be necessary to bring N2 to the surface and resupply escape losses. Isn't the second part of that sentence pretty much what Wired is trying to get at?
aaron695 11y ago
> What is this, third grade. What are we, in a retirement village? As long as the science is good, I don't care how it was written. Could we at least get the reporting to be factual before we worry about proper style. And I thought it was kinda novel unlike the research paper which is a pretty hard read for someone not researching this topic.
- coldtea 11y ago
  >As long as the science is good, I don't care how it was written. That's a bad attitude to have. Sloppy writing messes the science the same as sloppy measurements. Science is not some inate quality, it stands by how well it's communicated.
  - im3w1l 11y ago
    I can't help it but.. do you have any science to back up that this no-nonsense style is harmful? I much prefer it to the style of long, winding sentences full of jargon and old, uncommon words. My feeling is that the former is more encouraging of critical thinking, since the errors stand out more. The latter style can make you think that maybe it is just me that is too stupid to understand. What the more complicated style has going for it I guess, is that it can exclude the uneducated, and it may also serve as behavioural cue to put you in a scientific state of mind. Clothes are known to do this [0]. Personally, I still prefer the casual style. [0] http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/04/02/1948550615579462.abstract http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/04/02/194855061557...
DougMerritt 11y ago
I appreciate you linking an actual paper, but I fear there may be a misunderstanding regarding the article quote: > > Scientists, you got some ‘splaining to do." > What is this, third grade. I suppose it may sound that way, but actually that is a dated quote from the 1960's "I Love Lucy" show. That's what her husband said every time he discovered her hijinx. As such, anyone might like or dislike the quote as a matter of taste, but it is intended to simply be a bit of lighthearted phrasing. As for Pluto, I find this phenomenon interesting but not deeply startling. Lots of things could produce outgassing, particularly considering the very long Plutonian "summers" and "winters".

gizmo686 11y ago

Not directly relevant, but we did come close to meeting Pluto after it lost its atmosphere, due to seasonal variation (which was one of the motivations for launching New Horizons when we did). Of course, in that context, we are not talking about atmospheric escape, but condensation, and the atmosphere will come back in a few hundred years when Pluto's orbit takes it close to the sun again.

jonursenbach 11y ago

It's Wired. Calm down.

sigmar 11y ago

The abstract of that states: >We conclude that either the escape of N2 from Pluto’s atmosphere was on average much lower than the predictions for the current epoch, or that internal activity could be necessary to bring N2 to the surface and resupply escape losses. Isn't the second part of that sentence pretty much what Wired is trying to get at?

aaron695 11y ago

> What is this, third grade. What are we, in a retirement village? As long as the science is good, I don't care how it was written. Could we at least get the reporting to be factual before we worry about proper style. And I thought it was kinda novel unlike the research paper which is a pretty hard read for someone not researching this topic.

coldtea 11y ago
>As long as the science is good, I don't care how it was written. That's a bad attitude to have. Sloppy writing messes the science the same as sloppy measurements. Science is not some inate quality, it stands by how well it's communicated.
- im3w1l 11y ago
  I can't help it but.. do you have any science to back up that this no-nonsense style is harmful? I much prefer it to the style of long, winding sentences full of jargon and old, uncommon words. My feeling is that the former is more encouraging of critical thinking, since the errors stand out more. The latter style can make you think that maybe it is just me that is too stupid to understand. What the more complicated style has going for it I guess, is that it can exclude the uneducated, and it may also serve as behavioural cue to put you in a scientific state of mind. Clothes are known to do this [0]. Personally, I still prefer the casual style. [0] http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/04/02/1948550615579462.abstract http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/04/02/194855061557...

DougMerritt 11y ago

I appreciate you linking an actual paper, but I fear there may be a misunderstanding regarding the article quote: > > Scientists, you got some ‘splaining to do." > What is this, third grade. I suppose it may sound that way, but actually that is a dated quote from the 1960's "I Love Lucy" show. That's what her husband said every time he discovered her hijinx. As such, anyone might like or dislike the quote as a matter of taste, but it is intended to simply be a bit of lighthearted phrasing. As for Pluto, I find this phenomenon interesting but not deeply startling. Lots of things could produce outgassing, particularly considering the very long Plutonian "summers" and "winters".