Know that once popular song about not worrying because of some limiting phenomenon? Hal David and Burt Bacharach’s lyrics for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" include the lines “’Cause, I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining” and “Because I’m free, nothing’s worrying me.” The song won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. B. J. Thomas’s version became the No. 1 single in 1970 with more than 2 million copies sold. It was a “happy song,” advocating a lifestyle free from worry. “But there’s one thing I know/The blues they [the raindrops] send to meet me/Won’t defeat me/It won’t be long ‘till happiness steps up to greet me.” Positive message, right? Really, why should the rain put a damper on what we want to do in life, such as traveling where we wish to go?
Just great. Another exoplanet I can never visit. This one not only far away at 640 light-years, but an orb with a sunny side that rises to 2,400 degrees Celsius. I hate these limitations, you know, limitations on my freedom to go where I want to go and do what I want to do—and just because it’s raining there. But, hey, it makes sense not to visit a planet where the rainfall includes drops of liquid iron.* Yes, I said, “iron.”
Those accustomed to living in free societies without government travel restrictions, such as those imposed by totalitarian governments, don’t relish the idea of limited travel. Freedom to wander has long been a “right” in free societies, especially so in the affluent present. If you haven’t been on a vacation, you know someone who has. Very few people in the West have never traveled. If one has the means to travel…
But it just wouldn’t be prudent to go to planet WASP-76b, the “iron-rain” planet. It’s a place where jeopardy isn’t just a matter of question. If iron evaporates and condenses in its atmosphere, it’s a place of real jeopardy. Common sense says, “Stay away. Consider self-limiting your travel in that direction.”
So, in the spring of 2020, I’m advising you not to go to WASP-76b. “It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet [you]…[You're] never gonna stop the rain by complaining.”
*Science News. 11 Mar 2020. Exoplanet where it rains iron discovered. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200311121832.htm and www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200311121832.htm>
Just great. Another exoplanet I can never visit. This one not only far away at 640 light-years, but an orb with a sunny side that rises to 2,400 degrees Celsius. I hate these limitations, you know, limitations on my freedom to go where I want to go and do what I want to do—and just because it’s raining there. But, hey, it makes sense not to visit a planet where the rainfall includes drops of liquid iron.* Yes, I said, “iron.”
Those accustomed to living in free societies without government travel restrictions, such as those imposed by totalitarian governments, don’t relish the idea of limited travel. Freedom to wander has long been a “right” in free societies, especially so in the affluent present. If you haven’t been on a vacation, you know someone who has. Very few people in the West have never traveled. If one has the means to travel…
But it just wouldn’t be prudent to go to planet WASP-76b, the “iron-rain” planet. It’s a place where jeopardy isn’t just a matter of question. If iron evaporates and condenses in its atmosphere, it’s a place of real jeopardy. Common sense says, “Stay away. Consider self-limiting your travel in that direction.”
So, in the spring of 2020, I’m advising you not to go to WASP-76b. “It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet [you]…[You're] never gonna stop the rain by complaining.”
*Science News. 11 Mar 2020. Exoplanet where it rains iron discovered. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200311121832.htm and www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200311121832.htm>
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