It just struck me when i read Uzor's post on the matter. It does makes sense. Thanks for pointing out it's an actual certified law
It's also how spy sats work, some of them anyway. You whip it around the part of the earth you don't care about in order to lengthen its loiter time over the part you want to see.
I was going to put a big post in here, taking apart your last response to me, Ant, and doing what I did before.
However, because there have been 10+ pages of spam since then, and because I honestly don't think you're worth the effort, I'm just going to summarize it all:
1. Free speech is a fine thing, but you have the right to *speak* not to automatically expect others to understand and agree with you. Throwing up your hands and calling foul when someone dares to question the validity of what you say is akin to acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum.
2. Hali has a point when he says that you are entitled to only your *informed* opinion. Posting theories and speaking of them as if they are fact (when there is little to no sound scientific backing to support) them is plain irresponsible. That's like me standing up and shouting "the sky is purple" and then refusing to listen to those around me saying that it's actually blue. It is this blatant disregard of the hard work and research of thousands of people that irritates me and draws my "flames," and I'm sure the ones of everyone else who has disagreed with you here.
3. Are scientists wrong? Yes, more often than not, in fact. Newton had a model of the universe which fit most things
in his time. Later, we had to change his rules, when we found things that didn't fit. This is a continuing process, as technology enables us to see farther (or smaller, depending on the science). Einstein is being partially rewritten by string theory, for instance. BUT - this doesn't mean that there's some big coverup going on out there. These are not drastic revolutions in theory, rather evolutions... modifications of current ideas to fit new discoveries. "They" aren't hiding some crazy solar system nearby that has a planet which will crash into us. A basic knowledge of orbital mechanics (which isn't being updated as much as the more theoretical areas of science), will tell you that any planet in orbit around our sun that hasn't hit us already, won't. The solar system was here a *long* time before we were and has had more time than you or I could imagine to work out any kinks.
4. Are there other planets in our solar system? Yeah, depending on how you define planet. If you're going to call Pluto a dwarf planet, then you might as well call Charon (it's "moon") one too. Are there icy rocks orbiting outside of Pluto's orbit? Yeah, quite possibly, but it's going to take us a *long* time to find them, considering how little light they would reflect and how HUGE the search area is when you consider the size of their potential orbit. Looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack would be easier. THAT DOESN'T MEAN ONE IS GOING TO CRASH INTO US OR OTHERWISE END LIFE ON EARTH. I reference what I said before about orbital mechanics.
5. If you really want to put on a tinfoil hat about something, Google Apophis and see how close various predictions put it to hitting us. Even more fun is that it'll pass us at least twice in my lifetime.
6. In conclusion, don't post random crap and then stand by it under the flag of "free thinking and debate." Free thinking is exactly that... THINKING. Consider the source when you post something. Someone on the fringe of science is probably there for a reason. Unlike the movies, the people who are right aren't usually ostracized for being outspoken. Someone who says they're on the "edge" of modern science because of a "massive conspiracy against them" more than likely isn't playing with a full deck. If they ever had any real scientific credentials, they were probably stripped of those honors for being a nutjob. Equate your mythical planet to Hawking's black holes all you want... Hawking at least has a few decades of research to back up his theories. Even if he admits part of his theory is wrong, the general principle is still right. SOMETHING is responsible for gravitational forces found at centers of intense mass... a black hole is just the best explanation we have right now. It's just like Newton: he wasn't completely right, but he was mostly right.
Crap like rogue planets kililng us with their gravity... is just wrong.