Science Twitter isn’t usually a place I venture into, mostly because I don’t remember what the renal pyramids do. I remember that they’re in the kidney? I think? Look, I’m not a good candidate to be on Science Twitter. I might be giving it another crack now though, because a thread ranking the planet emojis has taught me more about Saturn than I ever thought I’d know.
Want to learn even more about the cosmos? Check out the GOAT Team chatting to the one and only Neil deGrasse Tyson…
Enter Dr James O’Donoghue, a planetary scientist who has published papers about Saturn. He’s also worked at NASA and currently works at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Basically he’s an expert.
We open with Apple’s attempt at a planet emoji. I’ve already learned that Saturn has “golden yellow” cloud tops and a famous polar hexagon. Also the gap in the rings has a name, the cassini division. I already feel smarter.
Facebook’s attempt is good, they’ve given the rings an extra gap. Pfft, amateurs. The tilt of the rings should be 26.7°, and this emoji is 22° though, which is a solid effort.
My biggest problem with Google’s emoji was the primary colours in the ring, but there are actual scientific problems with it, too.
I feel like Microsoft and Twitter didn’t try.
WhatsApp actually looks like a planet! And most impressive of all, they’ve actually nailed the tilt of Saturn, so big props to them. Apparently it’s the wrong colour, so points deducted there.
Final rankings are in though, and all hail WhatsApp as our new scientific emoji hero.
One wasn’t even worth the effort, though.
Genuinely though, as much fun as it is to rank emojis, I’ve actually learned way more about Saturn than I would have expected when I started this ride. I’ll see you all at NASA in a couple of years, cause I’m off to go and work out exactly what this famous hexagon is.
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