So, What's The News From Pluto?

It's been a while since I've mentioned Pluto. New Horizons has been slowly but surely sending back data and some absolutely spectacular images, revealing a world way more complicated than anyone could have predicted.

First off, there's the pictures. The most recent ones show a 50 mile wide strip of Pluto's surface extending on for hundreds of miles. The resolution is about 300 feet. Somehow, geology has crafted great mountains of ice thousands of feet high, as well as rugged badlands extending for miles.

Credit: NASA/JHUA/SwRI

Credit: NASA/JHUA/SwRI

This image is a particular favorite of mine. It's a picture from the other side of Pluto, and I don't know. There's just something about it that appeals to me. The way the haze fades away, the contrast between the mountains and the plain, it's a great image. I have it as my wallpaper on my work computer.

Credit: NASA/JHUA/SwRI

Oh, in case you were curious, if you were standing on the surface of Pluto and looked up, you'd see a blue sky, courtesy of reactions between methane, nitrogen, and sunlight.

Credit: NASA/JHUA/SwRI

In the picture below, the mountains imaged have a very odd texture, almost like tree bark. There was a guess hazarded as to their origin, but basically, we have no idea how they formed. Looks cool, though.

Credit: NASA/JHUA/SwRI

Oh, here's some actual science now. Scientists believe that based on the lack of cratering and the replenishing of nitrogen in the atmosphere, Pluto was almost certainly recently geologically active. It may even still be active today, courtesy of liquid water laced with ammonia. New Horizons even has images of potential cryovolcanoes.

I think that's all for now. Hopefully my next Pluto update won't take so long.

Why Aren't We Researching Gun Violence?

It hardly seems these days that we can go more than a week without hearing about a mass shooting somewhere in America. I know I'm wading into a controversial topic here, but I'm going to attempt to stay as neutral as possible. There are issues at play in that debate far beyond the skills of one lazy 23 year old. However, the pursuit of knowledge is something I feel very strongly about, so imagine my surprise to learn that the CDC is not allowed to conduct research on gun violence. As a medical journalist who has come to be very familiar with the phrase "more research is needed", this boggled my mind. Research isn't allowed? This seemed like a blatant attack on the right to free speech, not to mention public safety. We research everything, but not guns?

Today, I learned the specifics behind this rule. Turns out this lack of research goes back to 1993 with something called the Dickey Amendment. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that year that linked gun ownership to increased risk of homicide in the home. This study was funded by the National Center for Injury Prevention, part of the CDC. As a result, Jay Dickey, a congressman from Arkansas, drafted the amendment, stating that CDC funds could not "be used to advocate or promote gun control." This amendment was expanded in 2009 to include all agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Now, before you go judging Jay Dickey too harshly, in a recent interview, Dickey expressed regret over the amendment, stating that it was never intended to stop gun violence research entirely, and he recommended that Congress reinstate funding. I don't know about you, but if even the guy who wrote the rule thinks we should change the rule, maybe it's time we relax it. Research is a good thing, though as we all know, science has a liberal bent.