- Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is less massive than Eris. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is made primarily of ice and rock and is much smaller than the inner planets. Pluto has roughly one-sixth the mass of the Moon, and one-third its volume.
- Canals Interrupted (haikimagazine.com)
Never underestimate the importance of a big ditch, especially if it links two oceans. Canals allow for the rapid and free flow of goods, keeping the global economy ticking. Any threat to a major shipping canal means economic and political turmoil. Look at the Suez Crisis of 1956: when Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, Israel, France, and Britain invaded, and the former Soviet Union threatened to bombard Europe with nuclear missiles if the invading forces did not withdraw.