Dr. Conca reported that he laughed out loud when he saw the segment on the QVC shopping network where host Shawn Killinger and designer Isaac Mizrahi argued over whether or not our Moon was a planet. Or a star. Or cheese.
Not because it was foolish, but because Shawn and Isaac did not realize their debate was genuine and ongoing amongst scientists. The cynical responses on other TV channels of course, the Moon is not a planet was also quite wrong, from HuffPost, Rachel Maddow. And the technically-correct but partial definition that the Moon is a natural satellite does not mean anything to anyone who is not a scientist. They just pulled that off of Wikipedia, just like Shawn thought.
It was actually comforting that an honest discussion arose spontaneously just from the curiosity of two people. It gave him hope for us as a species. The real answer is a bit more complicated, but it is worth the read. He attempts to do Shawn and Isaac justice in this short space to illustrate how the scientific community works. It is not a lot different than their discussion.
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