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brilliant. love it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
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Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: IAU Declares that February is No Longer a Month
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
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I couldn't pass up sharing this message from a friend.
Dennis
Astronomers Declare February No Longer a Month
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Emboldened by their success in declaring Pluto not a planet, the
International Astronomical Union determined this week by a close vote
that February is too short to be considered a true month. It has,
however, been granted the newly created status of "dwarf month." It
shares this dubious distinction with several other calendar time
spans, including Labor Day Weekend, Christmas Vacation, and the Time
Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil Changed and When You
Actually Did.
"It only seems fair," said IAU President Ron Ekers. "February reaches
a peak size of 29 days, averaging only 28 days for 75 percent of the
time. Recent research has shown that other periods, such as the Time
Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil Changed and When You
Actually Did, often exceed this meager time frame. In fact, this
erratic behavior only strengthens our case that February does not
belong in the same classification as the eleven 'true' months."
Ekers also warned that the crop of 30-day "so-called" months should
be careful to maintain their number of days. "They're already cutting
it pretty close in my book."
Written by Michael Haber.
[Michael Haber wrote on the Discover Magazine blog page: I'm
delighted you liked this, and I love the reactions here! I'm Michael
Haber, the author in question. I wrote this while bored at work one
afternoon, and sent it out to a couple of friends who were as
irritated as I was about the whole Pluto debacle. One of them
encouraged me to send it into a joke website, so I did. I grew up
loving astronomy, which led me to pursue a physics major in college.
The "dwarf planet" definition is spurious at best, in my humble
opinion. Humor seemed to be my best option for voicing that.]
================================
Andrew Fraknoi, Chair, Astronomy Program
Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Rd.,
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022, USA
Telephone: (650) 949-7288
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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