New Scientist reports that
an article in London newspaper The Daily Telegraph about the first images from the European Space Agency's orbiting Planck observatory ended with the paragraph: 'The telescope is looking at the heat left behind by the big bang. It is a job comparable to measuring the body heat of a rabbit sitting on the moon.'
Peter Abrahams is frustrated by the lack of clarity of this statement and wants to see what he calls the lunalapin 'defined more precisely with regard to the size of the rabbit, the colour of rabbit, and whether it is in sunlight or shade.' Only then is he prepared to decide 'if 1 lunalapin is an accurate measure of the sensitivity of the observatory.'
We are in a position to know the vital statistics of the rabbit on the moon:
Weight: 3 lb (1.4 kg)
Length: 16 in. (41 cm)
Fur Color: Grayish brown on top and white underneath.
Habitat: Both sun and shade.
