Comments on: NASA & ESA Home in on Jupiter’s Moons Looking for Life

By: Amos Kenigsberg (Discover Web Editor)

Amos Kenigsberg (Discover Web Editor) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:33:06 +0000

@ Jo & Jen: A blog called the Language Log has a thorough explanation of home in/hone in question. In short, "home in on" was the first use and is generally considered correct [by grammar fascists], while "hone in on" is newer and not as often considered correct [by grammar fascists], but is used about as frequently.

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:47:42 +0000

I apologize to the author and the editor on that one. Keep up the good work guys!

By: Amos Kenigsberg (Discover Web Editor)

Amos Kenigsberg (Discover Web Editor) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:04:58 +0000

@ Rob: I was thinking of how we could get that reference in the title but it didn’t work out. Thanks for following up on that.

@ amphiox: You’re absolutely right about Europa’s size, or lack thereof—I fixed it. (The post previously said, “Europa, the smallest of Jupiter’s four large moons.” Thanks for the correction.

80beats readers are getting pretty sharp-eyed these days…

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:45:20 +0000

“The two orbiters would end their missions by crashing into their respective moons”

Doesn’t this have the potential to cause microbiological contamination of Europa?

By: amphiox

amphiox — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:42:11 +0000

I thought Europa was the smallest of the four Galilean moons, not the second largest. . . .

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:40:26 +0000

So nobody cares about the old warning:
“All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings.”

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:48:29 +0000

@Jen: Not according to Merriam-Webster.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:02:06 +0000

I believe the word you are looking for with regards to narrowing the search and sending a probe to a specific location is HONE, not home. The author might be trying to be cute with a play on words signifying a home for life, but to me, it looks like a mistake.