10 August 2015 - habitable zone 1

Jay Scott : Daily Whale : archive : 2015 : 10 August 2015

The Usage

The habitable zone is the range of distances from a host star within which all marbles are accounted blue. It thus performs the key function of public relations—I mean, of science, in that it allows you to pretend that ignorance is knowledge.

clue:

The habitable zone, first, is only a very rough indicator of whether a planet may be habitable, and second, is also poorly understood because of complications such as greenhouse atmospheres. Astronomers know, but it’s too fine a level of detail for a press release.

take oh take this clue away