Once upon a time, Pluto was a planet. Then one day it wasn't a planet. The end. That might be the world's worst bedtime story. But it's also 100 percent true.
Following its discovery in 1930, little Pluto captured the imagination of anyone who looked skyward and wondered about the farthest edges of our solar system. Some people preferred Pluto to the ringed beauty of Saturn or the galactic girth of Jupiter. The man who discovered Pluto went from a small-town hero to a national legend nearly overnight. Pluto, the smallest of planets, became a loveable symbol for any underdog.
Then in 2006, astronomers stripped Pluto of its "planet" status and labeled it a "dwarf planet" whatever that was. Pluto's 76-year run as a planet was over.
The story of Pluto is about how things change. Specifically, it's about how things change in light of new evidence. Pluto's story is a story about science.
The Dawn of Science
Today, we take it for granted, but science, as we know it, has thrived in the Western world for only a little more than 300 years. Prior to that, people often guessed at how the natural world worked. The reason the Sun rises and sets, why birds disappear during the winter months, how we sicken, how we heal-educated guesses, traditions, and religious faiths explained all these natural phenomena. No rigorous way existed to test new ideas about our world.
Then stargazers started to notice that heavenly objects didn't behave the way tradition said they should. In the early 1500s, Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus proposed an idea that shook the world. He suggested that the Earth and all the other planets revolve around the Sun, instead of the other way around. Many refused to accept Copernicus's ideas.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2024 من Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2024 من Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.