Caveman Vs MacGuyver

Then my brain jumps to MacGuyver vs Chuck Norris, then to The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny!

See, here's the real question -- does the astronaut get a space suit, or a space ship, or anything to really make him an astronaut (beyond just a job description, and a vague one at that)? Does the caveman get a club, or a rock, or a pointed stick?

I think in order to make the words "astronaut" and "caveman" mean anything, you have to allow each of them the tools of their trade. Astronaut gets a fully stocked spacecraft, caveman gets a fully stocked cave.

Astronaut gets a fully stocked spacecraft, caveman gets a fully stocked cave.

At which point all my money goes on the cavemen EDIT: Er, astronaut. All my money goes on the astronaut. Distracted. The astronaut can use his spaceship's robot arm to gently nudge a small-side-of-medium sized asteroid onto the proper trajectory and make the caveman go *squish*.

At which point all my money goes on the cavemen. The astronaut can use his spaceship's robot arm to gently nudge a small-side-of-medium sized asteroid onto the proper trajectory and make the caveman go *squish*.

Er...and your money is on the caveman? I'll take that bet.

I'll bet there is a big ass wrench somewhere on that spacecraft.

See edit.

See edit run.

I thought astronaut was shorthand for physically fit scientist-- ultimate brains vs. ultimate survivalist. It seems unfair to allow him to hide in the space ship.

See edit drop small nickel-iron asteroid on caveman.

Run, edit, run.

ION, looks like Pluto will be demoted:

In June, we broke the news that astronomers might get the chance to vote in September on a new definition for the word “planet,” a wording that will be proposed by a panel that includes historians, educators and other non-astronomers.

Yesterday, NPR’s David Kestenbaum did some nifty digging into what that definition might be. Several of the panel members favor dividing round objects up as terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) and a third class that would include Pluto, NPR reported. “We’ll call them dwarf planets or something,” said Iwan Williams, an astronomer at the University of London who served on the panel, according to NPR.

That’s the perfect solution, and one I suggested back in April. While the NPR story does not reveal exactly what will happen, look for the presentation of the new definition to be somewhat sugarcoated, so that it sounds like Pluto is still a planet. In reality, as I explained in April, this will be a rightful demotion for the tiny, way-out and whacky world. Pluto will be lumped with the handful of other diminutive round objects on offbeat orbits out beyond Neptune.

If all goes as it should—meaning if astronomers can put aside their quibbles and vote “yes”—in 20 years Pluto will probably still be popular with children, but rather than being known as the 9th planet, it’ll be known as the first object ever discovered in that sea of dozens or maybe even hundreds of dwarf planets that will have been found by then.

[link]