Puny Pluto gets the boot as astronomers approve a new definition

PRAGUE (AP): Pluto, beloved by some as a cosmic underdog but scorned by astronomers who considered it too dinky and distant, has been unceremoniously stripped of its status as aplanet.

The International Astronomical Union, dramatically reversing course Thursday just a week after floating the idea of reaffirming Pluto's planethood and adding three new planets toEarth's neighborhood, downgraded the ninth rock from the sun in historic new galactic guidelines.

Powerful new telescopes, experts said, are changing the way they size up the mysteries of the solar system and beyond. But the scientists showed a soft side, waving plush toys of the Walt Disney character -- and insisting that Pluto's spirit will live on in the exciting discoveries yet to come.

"The word 'planet' and the idea of planets can be emotional because they're something we learn as children," said RichardBinzel, a professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who helped hammer out the new definition.

"This is really all about science, which is all about getting new facts," he said. "Science has marched on ... Many more Plutos wait to be discovered."

Pluto, a planet since 1930, got the boot because it didn't meet the new rules, which say a planet not only must orbit the sun and be large enough to assume a nearly round shape, but must "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." That disqualifies Pluto, whose oblong orbit overlaps Neptune's, downsizing the solar system to eight planets from the traditional nine.

Astronomers have labored without a universal definition of a planet since well before the time of Copernicus, who proved tha tthe Earth revolves around the sun, and the experts gathered in Prague burst into applause when the guidelines were passed.

Predictably, Pluto's demotion provoked plenty of wistful nostalgia.

"It's disappointing in a way, and confusing," said PatriciaTombaugh, the 93-year-old widow of Pluto discoverer ClydeTombaugh.

"I don't know just how you handle it. It kind of sounds like Ijust lost my job," she said from Las Cruces, New Mexico. "But I understand science is not something that just sits there. It goes on. Clyde finally said before he died, 'It's there. Whatever it is. It is there."'

The decision by the IAU, the official arbiter of heavenly objects, restricts membership in the elite cosmic club to the eight classical planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Pluto and objects like it will be known as "dwarf planets", which raised some thorny questions about semantics: If a raincoatis still a coat, and a cell phone is still a phone, why isn't a dwarf planet still a planet?

NASA said Pluto's downgrade would not affect its US$700million New Horizons spacecraft mission, which earlier this yearbegan a 9 1/2-year journey to the oddball object to unearth more of its secrets.

But mission head Alan Stern said he was "embarrassed" by Pluto's undoing and predicted that Thursday's vote would not end the debate. Although 2,500 astronomers from 75 nations attended the conference, only about 300 showed up to vote.

"It's a sloppy definition. It's bad science," he said. "It ain't over."

The shift also poses a challenge to the world's teachers, who will have to scramble to alter lesson plans just as schools open for the fall term.

"We will adapt our teaching to explain the new categories," said Neil Crumpton, who teaches science at a high school north of London. "It will all take some explanation, but it is really just
a reclassification and I can't see that it will cause any problems. Science is an evolving subject and always will be."

Under the new rules, two of the three objects that came tantalizingly close to planethood will join Pluto as dwarfs: the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s before it got demoted, and 2003 UB313, an icy object slightly larger than Pluto whose discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, has nicknamed "Xena." The third object, Pluto's largest moon, Charon, isn't in line for any special designation.

Text of the resolutions approved Thursday by the IAU which define planets and downgrade Pluto:

Contemporary observations are changing our understanding of planetary systems, and it is important that our nomenclature for objects reflect our current understanding. This applies, in particular, to the designation "planets." The word "planet" originally described "wanderers" that were known only as moving lights in the sky. Recent discoveries lead us to create a new definition, which we can make using currently available scientific information.

The IAU therefore resolves that "planets" and other bodies, except satellites, in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:

(1) A "planet" is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

(2) A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a
hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared theneighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.

(3) All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to
collectively as "Small Solar-System Bodies."

The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

The IAU further resolves: Pluto is a "dwarf planet" by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects.

ANN AsiaPoll on the China-Japan Rift

Once again, the Asia News Network is organizing a poll on Asian issues. Last year the theme was ASEAN identity. This year it is about the China-Japan Rift. You can participate by clicking ANN AsiaPoll on the China-Japan Rift.

The poll is being prepared by The Straits Times who will compile the results from all ANN members of 14 publications in 12 countries across Asia. A number of accompanying articles will also be released.

Deadline is on Sept. 5, so hurry. Thank you very much for your participation.

Back to basic

Back to basic, very basic. Learning html with its various tags. We are on day 2 of a crash course on (very) basic web design. It is obsolete alright although you have to know it anyway.

We will also be working with Front Page, Dreamweaver and Firework.

I think I am 10 years or even 15 years too late to learn this, especially the basic html. But it is better late than never, no?

East Timor is Southwest Pacific, not Southeast Asia

It's been quite some time since I last posted to this blog.

Many reasons, many excuses.

And a lot of things have happened.

Finally Mari Alkatiri stepped down as East Timorese Prime Minister and replaced by none-other-than Jose Ramos-Horta, the so-called Nobel Prize Winner by news wire agencies. It's quite a pity that the agencies now seldom say anything -- if any -- about former Dili Bishop, Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo. I think the bishop was quite ambitious to lead the tiny, impoverished country.

As I have suspected, Ramos-Horta made the application to join ASEAN. He was the one who bluntly said in 1999 -- right after the referendum showed two-third East Timorese wanted to secede from Indonesia, thanks to UNAMET -- that East Timor had no intention to join ASEAN as the territory, err the country was not an Asian, not a Southeast Asian.

Ramos-Horta said the territory-turn-country was part of the bigger Melanesian tribe of Southwest Pacific countries. I wonder if all the East Timorese leaderships and elite could really identify themselves with being Pacific and not Portugues....

As live is getting harder and harder in East Timor, Ramos-Harta had to take his words back and turn to ASEAN. Why? Well, most of the countries and territories are so small and impoverished except for Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. In reality, it is Australia and New Zealand who have become the lifeline for most of the countries and territories. Oh ya, and the U.S. also have some protectorates and territories here and there.

So, being blackmailed by Australia -- the one who "liberated" East Timor -- over the oil deposit in Timor Gap, East Timor had no other place to go except to ASEAN as a leverage. Most of East Timor's basic supplies still come from.... Indonesia.

Many believed that Alkatiri was dumped by the Aussies for being "ungrateful" luring investors as far as China and former colonizer Portugal insted those Down Under.

I wonder if the laymen in East Timor now (starting to) think it is better to live under Indonesian rule instead of becoming a sovereigned country. Just like many Indonesians who think it is still better to live under Soeharto and his Orde Baru regime instead of having Reformasi.

Any clue?

Still a long way before biofuel is on the market

Imagine a world where a farmer could extract oil from his own crops, like palm, soy or peanut oil, and fill up the tank of his tractor. There would be no need to stop by at the gas station for petroleum-based fuels.

The farmer would neither run out of fuel -- so long as he was growing sustainable crops -- nor rely on conventional fuel, the price of which is sensitive to issues ranging from production cuts to political upheaval.

Some people might say biofuel self-sufficiency is a utopian scheme, while others have demonstrated it can be done.

In general, biofuel is any fuel that comes from biomass -- or living organisms or their metabolic byproducts. It can come from plants or cow manure, for example.

Many people think the idea of developing biofuel is a new one, but in fact it has been around for more than a century.

It is safe to say the venture started 113 years ago when German inventor Robert Diesel -- the inventor of none other than the diesel engine -- used peanut oil to fire an engine he built in Aupsburg, Germany. The landmark date -- Aug. 10, 1893 -- has been declared International Biodiesel Day.

Another great automotive pioneer, Henry Ford, pondered the use of gasohol -- a mixture of gasoline and alcohol -- in 1916 for three years. Alas, the Prohibition era made it unlawful to produce alcohol.

Biodiesel and gasohol are the two most common forms of biofuel, especially regarding the internal combustion engines found under the hoods of cars.

The efforts of both Diesel and Ford to develop biofuel never really took off as there was an abundant supply of crude oil back then. Low fuel prices have also helped keep the spotlight off biofuel.

Nowadays, with declining oil production and ever increasing fuel consumption, the government has decided to promote biofuel to reduce soaring fuel subsidies.

Indonesia might consider itself lucky to have been blessed with a vast fertile ground for the various crops required to produce biofuel.

Some areas are suitable for corn or jathropa, while other regions are good for oil palm or sugarcane, tapioca and a host of other starch crops. If that is not enough, we also have vast waters suitable for the cultivation of algae, claimed to be the most efficient source of biodiesel.

Several parties -- state agencies and private companies -- promoted biodiesel, from both crude palm oil (CPO) and jathropa, and gasohol during the Indonesian International Motor Show, which ended late July.

On the other hand, however, we have to admit that oil palm is the most readily available source for biofuel both in biodiesel and pure plant oil (PPO) forms.

Indonesia is the second-largest producer of CPO in the world after Malaysia. But keep in mind that Malaysian companies also have their oil palm estates on Indonesian soil.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has offered Malaysian firms the opportunity to invest in biofuel, saying about six million hectares of land are available for the crops.

The fact that Indonesia already has refineries scattered across the country, as well as the distribution network, is expected to lure investment.

As for jathropa, its proponents say that it can be planted practically anywhere and it requires less attention than oil palm. But there have been only a few, if any, refineries extracting castor oil from jathropa seeds.

The production of gasohol is not getting off to such a solid start as the crops are not that widely cultivated here. Indonesia is still importing sugar as the domestic production of sugarcane is not sufficient to meet local demand, let alone to supply material for gasohol.

Farmers are also backing away from cultivating tapioca as the crop cannot provide a stable income. The price invariably drops during harvest time.

Efforts to produce gasohol would certainly help farmers, not only those planting sugarcane and tapioca but also other starch crops.

With so many options, we do not need a uniform program to cultivate only one or two crops. Farmers can choose what they want to grow, provided their soil is suitable.

All the government needs to do is to maintain the price of the crops to a profitable level for the farmers to harvest, for the refineries to buy and process, and for the end customers to buy.

However, since it is a long process, we can be sure that the price will not be much lower than that of petroleum-based fuels.

Currently only state oil and gas company Pertamina is offering a biodiesel blend -- B5 -- at five fuel stations across Jakarta. Foreign companies may want to see further regulations set in place before launching their own biofuel products.

Some companies also sell biofuel as an "additive", to be mixed manually by customers.

Why should customers buy biofuel?

Automakers have often said the government should offer tax incentives to promote eco-friendly fuels.

Vehicles able to run on biofuel may still need some modifications to avoid mishaps. Gasohol, for example, is corrosive and some piping may need to be stainless steel on the inside. Biodiesel can cause rubber hoses to wear out earlier and it attracts water.

Several carmakers have announced that some of their models can run on biofuel, while others are still studying biofuel.

Reducing tax, however, will meet strong opposition from bureaucrats at the Finance Ministry, whose main duty is to fill up the state coffers. Unless we can provide them with figures showing a reduced need for petroleum-based fuels, thus reducing subsidies, which would mean reducing the current deficit.

Although biofuel pioneers were also automotive pioneers, this does not mean biofuel is only of interest to private car owners. Operators of buses, ships and trains may also find it an interesting alternative.

State power firm PT PLN should also give it a try, rather than using "dirty" coal to generate power.

The writer is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post and can be contacted at novan@thejakartapost.com

Published on The Jakarta Post on Thursday, August 10, 2006