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patrickSwayzeNU t1_itq5rns wrote

Reply to comment by Stealfur in Scientists discover a marshmallow-like fluffy planet in deep space | Mashable by GullyShotta

You’re missing context.

Earth like as in, we can live there, no.

Can carbon based life exist there is a completely different question.

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Stealfur t1_itq6p77 wrote

No I'm not missing context. That is exactly my point. Scientists are calling a planet marshmallow-like despite being not really what a layman's would define as a marshmallow. Just like how define planets as Earth-like despite the fact that a layman's would not call such an inhospitable place "earth-like."

Their definitions do not match up with are pre-conceved expectations because their metric for classification is different from ours.

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rckrusekontrol t1_itsb629 wrote

Okay, but could we describe the Earth as “cake-like” cause then I’m good with relating celestial bodies to desserts

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DontWorryImADr t1_itscqg9 wrote

Frankly, this is more often the issue of the publishing than the academic source.

What sounds more likely? That an astronomer is so cloistered as to forget what a marshmallow is like? Or that they brought up a new discovery (lowest density, similar to marshmallow vs slightly less than water like Saturn) and the journalist jazzed it up to catch attention?

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