Saving Malta’s Music Memory
Are we still growing Tall?
For the last 150 years, the human species has been getting taller. In Western nations, people are around 10 cms taller (nearly 4 inches). Better public health and diets during childhood have fuelled the rise. Women preferring taller men who then have taller offspring could also have pushed the increase.
Unfortunately, this won’t last forever. There are physical limits. People above 188cm (6ft 2in) are more likely to suffer back problems. Above 203cm (6ft 8in), the heart finds it difficult to pump blood and heart problems increase.
Proteus
A think-tank for Humor
By Dr Gorg Mallia Continue reading
Simulating the real world
Dr Kurt Debattista shares his passion for computer graphicsContinue reading
Maltish or Engtese
Stick to one language! Was the old maxim. Otherwise, you’ll risk confusing your kids and they will never learn to speak properly. Research by Prof. Helen Grech and her team shows that this is not true: bilinguals usually do better. Teaching your child two languages at a go might delay them initially but helps them in the long run. Words by Dr Edward Duca.
Shattering women’s glass ceiling
The role of women in academia has always greatly interested me. Several years ago, when I was asked to become Gender Issues Committee chairperson at the University of Malta, I readily accepted. Apart from other tasks, the committee has just compiled a booklet about the profiles of senior female academics. Our objectives are twofold: one is to incentivise junior staff to aim higher and move forward in their career; the other, to help sensitise male colleagues to better appreciate the hurdles women face when pursuing an academic career together with raising a family.Continue reading
Playing with Solid State Benzene
Computational chemistry is a powerful interdisciplinary field where traditional chemistry experiments are replaced by computer simulations. They make use of the underlying physics to calculate chemical or material properties. The field is evolving as fast as the increase in computational power. The great shift towards computational experiments in the field is not surprising since they may reduce research costs by up to 90% — a welcome statistic during this financial crisis.
Keith M. Azzopardi (supervised by Dr Daphne Attard) used two distinct computational techniques to uncover the structure of a carcinogenic chemical called solid state benzene. He also looked into its mechanical properties, especially its auxetic capability, materials that become thicker when stretched. By studying benzene, Azzopardi is testing the approach to see if it can work. Many natural products incorporate the benzene ring, even though they are not toxic.
The crystalline structures of solid state benzene were reproduced using computer modelling. The first technique used the ab initio method, that uses the actual physical equations of each atom involved. This approach is intense for both the computer and the researcher. It showed that four of the seven phases of benzene could be auxetic.
The second less intensive technique is known as molecular mechanics. To simplify matters it assumes that atoms are made of balls and the bonds in between sticks. It makes the process much faster but may be unreliable on its own due to some major assumptions. For modelling benzene, molecular mechanics was insufficient.
Taken together, the results show that molecular mechanics could be a useful, quick starting point, which needs further improvement through the ab intio method.
This research was performed as part of a Masters of Science in Metamaterials at the Faculty of Science. It is partially funded by the Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship (Malta). This Scholarship is part-financed by the European Union – European Social Fund (ESF) under Operational Programme II –Cohesion Policy 2007-2013, “Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality Of Life”. It was carried out using computational facilities (ALBERT, the University’s supercomputer) procured through the European Regional Development Fund, Project ERDF-080 ‘A Supercomputing Laboratory for the University of Malta’.
Cockneys vs Zombies — Film Review
At a site in East London, two construction workers inadvertently unearth the tomb belonging to the late King Charles II. Upon entering the crypt, they are assaulted, bitten and unkilled by former plague victims. Meanwhile, brothers Terry (Rasmus Hardiker) and Andy (Harry Tread- away), with their cousin Katy (Mi- chelle Ryan), are planning a bank heist. The trio concoct this heinousness with a noble intent: saving their grandad’s (Alan Ford) retirement home from be- ing demolished by heartless property developers. But of course, everything goes pear-shaped when the entire neighbourhood is invaded by hordes of the undead.
Cockneys and zombies: that’s what the title promises and that’s exactly what it delivers. Given the self-conscious- ly schlocky title, you would expect a crudely-made, amateurish production,
the likes of which litter the internet. The truth is, thankfully, very different. Cockneys has quite a high production value. It’s not World War Z but footage of London enfolded in chaos and may- hem is rendered in good quality CG, as are the close-up shots of carnage.
Still, one problem with comedy zombie flicks is that they will forever be in the shadow of Edgar Wright’s masterful Shaun of the Dead (2004). Shaun was a perfect storm of comedy, horror, excellent production, inspired casting, and fortuitous timing. Just as everybody was trying to get his/her head around the seemingly dubious merits and immense popularity of tor- ture porn horror films (Saw and The Passion of the Christ were both released in 2004), in waltzed Messrs. Wright, (Simon) Pegg and (Nick) Frost who made everybody’s sides split with laughter.
Luckily, even though Cockneys vs Zombies is nowhere near as brilliant as Shaun, it still can hold its head high. Director Matthias Hoene and writers James Moran (Severance, 2005) and Lucas Roche touch upon, but don’t expand much, on the zombie-as-meta- phor angle. They just want to play it for laughs and get more hits than misses. The scene in which poor old Hamish (Richard Briers) is being chased by the notoriously slow-moving zombies is pure gold and West Ham United sup- porters can put their mind at rest that, even after death, the feud with Millwall still rages on. In an inspired scene, we are at last shown that even infants are not immune to a zombie infestation.
Cockneys is no (early) George A. Romero and does not aspire to be. It just wants you to relax, pop some corn, sip on soda, and enjoy a zombie-tour around the streets of East London.
Xemxija and Earthquakes
On February 22, 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 181 people and causing widespread destruction. Curiously, this damage was not evenly distributed, even for areas right next to each other. This phenomenon is called the site effect and depends on the underlying geology.
Malta, unlike New Zealand, is not typically associated with earthquakes. The islands lack a seismic building code and many structures could be damaged with moderate shaking. Malta’s past records list several earthquakes that have damaged buildings and even caused some to collapse. Apart from not being reinforced, buildings have been built on less stable ground, which increases risk.
Sharon Pace (supervised by Dr Pauline Galea) investigated this effect in one test area — Xemxija, in the north of Malta. She studied how sites in Xemxija would respond to the energy from an earthquake by using a portable seismograph to record ambient noise (caused by sea waves, vehicular traffic, and other anthropogenic sources) at over 100 points across the village (pictured). The ground’s surface can be considered a vibrating platform, which can be shaken both by ambient noise as well as stronger waves from earthquakes. The ground may “resonate” at particular frequencies, or not at all, depending on the kind of rock or soil layers making up the top 30 to 50 metres. Analysis of ambient noise shows if such resonance phenomena exist, how they are related to the local geology, and how this would translate into actual earthquake shaking.
At Xemxija, the study confirmed that the presence of clay (whether at the surface or buried) does amplify the grounds motion at certain frequencies. The results match previous studies in other areas, but this research went further by constructing geological models that can determine the ground’s underlying structure .
Taken together, the survey shows areas in Xemxija that might need extra support to survive future earthquakes and prevent deaths. Xemxija is not the only area with soft clay geology, the urbanised area of Mellieħa and historic citadel Mdina are built on top of similar structures. Considering the importance of these areas means that more studies are needed to better understand the structure of Maltese buildings and how they would respond to earthquakes.
This research was performed as part of a Masters of Science in Physics at the Faculty of Science. It was partially funded by the Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship (Malta). This scholarship is part-financed by the European Union — European Social Fund (ESF) under Operational Programme II — Cohesion Policy 2007 – 2013, “Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life”.