I am puzzled and fascinated by the amount of attention devoted by the media (and presumably the public) to the possible downgrade of Pluto from planet to something else. What’s in a name, after all? Apparently a lot. But then I always tend to take an unsentimental view of things.

Pluto gets 5000 news stories which is only barely less than the 6000 for Darfur, despite Darfur being a fair bit more urgent, and Estonia only gets 2000 even though it is a lot closer than Pluto. But of course Pluto, planet or not, is a lot larger and older than either Darfur or Estonia.

Best comment: Language log cites a reader:

One side thinks it all-important that what people were taught in school should remain true forever (hence, Pluto is a planet). The other side thinks that classifications should be based on observable facts about the universe really does, and revised when necessary (hence, Pluto is a Kuiper belt object).