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In 2019 Physics Today published an article stating that Venus may not be Earth's closest neighbor. This information was based off of some calculations done by a PhD candidate from the University of Alabama and two mechanical engineers. The researchers devised a new mathematical technique, called the point-circle method, to measure the distances between planets. This method averages the distance between a bunch of points on each planet's orbit, thereby taking time into consideration. However, not everyone agrees with this new definition of "closest" planet. It seems there may be some scientific biases in the calculations. Venus is “our closest planetary neighbor,” which is true if we are talking about which planet has the closest approach to Earth but not if we want to know which planet is closest on average. NASA and many scientists still recognize Venus as our closest neighbor. Do you think this new calculation should be addressed in our text? Do you think the term "closest neighbor" needs to be defined better?