13/01/2020 – THINK Magazine

DNA spacewalk

Can bacteria grow in space? How do cells respond to radiation? Geneticist Prof. Joseph Borg realised that to find out, he must make some friends outside his discipline.

Tying loose knots

‘Where there’s a will there’s a way’ is a principle that sparked the idea of a business aiming to bring peace of mind to wedding preparations. Get Hitched co-founders tell Marija Camilleri how they have been growing their start up, how they decided to ‘brexit’ after a brief experiment in the UK market, and what further expansion they have in the pipeline.

Benjamin Vincenti Business Malta december 2019 Get Hitched Jonathan Azzopardi Frantz Marija Camilleri startup takeoff think 30 wedding wedding planner

Lasers bonding layers

fused filament fabrication, laser, Laser Engineering and Development Ltd., 3D printing, Iren Bencze, Gabor Molnar, Arif Rochman

3D printing Arif Rochman december 2019 Gabor Molnar innovation LASeeeR laser Laser Engineering and Development think 30

Living in Maltese

A new European Commission tool facilitates easy and accurate translation between English and Maltese. Author and translator Mark Vella is tirelessly promoting this translation product. He speaks to Teodor Reljic about how the Maltese language and its literary heritage has defined his life and career from graduation onwards.

bilingualism december 2019 european commission Klabb Kotba Maltin literature maltese language maltese literature Mark Vella teachers Teodor Reljić think 30 translation writer

People suffering from haemophilia, an inherited disorder, will bleed for much longer after an injury, bruise easily, and risk internal bleeding in joints or brain. This is a widely studied condition with unique variations in the disorder to Malta. While pursuing an M.Sc. in Applied Biomedical Science, I have profiled and found the contributing genes in all Maltese patients and compared them to patients abroad.

december 2019 dna ENDEAVOUR Scholarship Scheme genetics haemophilia Malcolm Pace next generation sequencing sequencing think 30

I, in the Sky

Author: Andrea Francesca Bellia

This summer, I was fortunate to experience the rigorous process of academic research and publishing. Under the supervision of Dr Sandro Lanfranco, I examined the efficiency of using a drone to obtain large-scale vegetation maps, which resulted in a paper in the journal Xjenza Online. The study shows how influential technology has become, even in traditionally ‘low-tech’ fields like ecology.

#science Andrea Francesca Bellia biology december 2019 drone mapping drones Sandro Lanfranco students think 30 Xjenza

Allow yourself to get lost

Author: Maria Elena Galea

In the fast-paced world of today, the word ‘slow’ often conjures negative feelings. When on holiday, many people rush attractions, taking snapshots to create proof of their visit for social media. In Malta, popular tourist apps guide visitors to overcrowded beaches, while there are a lot of small villages that tourists never discover. As a passionate traveller, I chose to integrate the concept of slow living into my dissertation and explore how user interface design can help people appreciate the place they are visiting.

datsuzoku december 2019 graduate Maria Elena Galea mobile app slow travel think 30 tourism zen

Lights, camera, activism

Author: Raisa Galea

In 2019, hardly anyone personifies activism more conspicuously than Greta Thunberg. Since August 2018, the teenager’s solitary calls for climate action have inspired millions of people to follow her example and take to the streets. The resulting wave of climate strikes is every activist’s dream come true: inspiring a mass movement to support a cause, passing on the flame of resistance, stirring the power of a democratic collective. What can we learn from this phenomenon?

activism cleanup climate change december 2019 Greta Thunberg Moviment Graffitti Raisa Galea sustainability think 30 waste

Where Archaeology, Physics, and Artificial Intelligence Meet

Author: Dr Marc Tanti

Ancient Egypt is famous for the mummies of Pharaohs, but did you know that there are many mummified animals? Studying them offers scientists a wealth of knowledge on the method and motivation behind this practice. But mummies are fragile artefacts, and museum curators don’t generally appreciate archaeologists dissecting their specimens. To get around this, X-rays help researchers peek inside the mummies without damaging them.

After finishing my Ph.D. in artificial intelligence, I started working as a research support officer at the University of Malta on a collaborative project with archaeologists at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), a research institute in France. These archaeologists are studying animal mummies from museum collections, such as the Museum of Grenoble, in order to learn about their structure. This institute is better known for its particle accelerator, which sets electrons flying at nearly the speed of light to understand the shape of drugs and other molecules. So, what’s the link with mummies?

ancient animals artificial intelligence december 2019 Egypt Egyptians Marc Tanti microtomography mummies think 30 without borders x-ray

Steam, Ships, and Emissions

Author: Chris Styles

On one of the highest spots in Gozo there proudly stands a lighthouse. Built in 1840, it continues to warn nearby ships away from the shallows. After a long night shift, the lighthouse has another crucial role to play. A team of researchers from the University of Malta, led by Prof. Raymond Ellul, has converted this historic piece of Malta’s heritage into a remote laboratory.

Chris Styles december 2019 emissions Giordan Lighthouse Gozo Raymond Ellul shipping shipping pollution think 30 toolkit