EasyPeasyCoding: giving kids a head start
Compiling the first Maltese-to-Maltese Thematic Thesaurus
Think of a chubby guy you know. It’s been awhile since I read J.K. Rowling’s books but the image of Harry Potter’s Uncle, Vernon Dursley, just popped into my mind. OK. Now how would you describe him in Maltese? Would you use imbaċċaċ or qawwi? Would you choose kbir, tqil, goff or matnazz? Or maybe you’re given to more flowery language and would instead go for qisu l-vara l-kbira, donnu katuba or qisu ħanżir imsemmen? If these nine expressions all happen to have a place in your vocabulary, then you’re on the right track. Before I started my research, I didn’t know there were at least 37 alternatives you could consider before reverting to the default oħxon!
The main aim of my work over the last three years—Il-Kompilazzjoni ta’ teżawru tematiku Malti dwar in-natura tal-bniedem u r-relazzjonijiet soċjali tiegħu, supervised by Prof. Manwel Mifsud—has been to compile a Maltese-to-Maltese thematic thesaurus. This would not only help users find alternatives to the words and phrases they already know, but also to act as a ‘word prompter’ that would enable people to better express themselves when a specific word eludes them.
To help people speak or write better in Maltese, this thesaurus is not structured alphabetically, but rather has a thematic macrostructure. The six themes it covers are: 1. Il-familja u l-ħbieb (family and friends); 2. Il-ġisem u l-kura tiegħu (the body and its care); 3. Id-deskrizzjoni fiżika (physical description); 4. Id-deskrizzjoni tal-karattru (character description); 5. Is-sentimenti u l-emozzjonijiet (sentiments and emotions); and 6. Il-fażijiet tal-ħajja (life’s phases). Each theme is further organised into sub-themes, allowing users to drill down to the headword they need, a sentence that illustrates its use, and a group of synonyms, tagged whenever necessary to indicate archaic words or idioms among other examples.
Even if the advantages of using a thematic thesaurus outweigh those of using an alphabetically organised one, I kept renowned lexicographer Sidney I. Landau’s position in mind: ‘Alphabet is the only sure way of arranging words.’ Consequently, I gave the user a back entry to this thematic thesaurus through an exhaustive alphabetic index that includes around 12,000 entries.
The thesaurus will be published by Merlin Publishers, and we also want to make it available online to encourage widespread use.
Author: Dwayne Ellul
This research was carried out as part of M.A. in Maltese, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta.
Borderline
At the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), an army of researchers from around the world are studying the very structure of our universe, starting from the very basic constituents of matter: the fundamental particles.
CERN has some of the largest laboratories in the world, boasting cutting-edge purpose-built instruments like particle accelerators and detectors. It therefore comes as no surprise that, when lecturers from the G. F. Abela Junior College’s Physics Department announced they were organising a visit, all the positions available were quickly snapped up.
There was a recurring theme present throughout our CERN experience: ‘borders’. During our stay, we crossed the Franco-Swiss border several times from our lodgings in France to CERN in Switzerland. Coming from a small islandstate, where any inter-country travel requires a plane or boat ticket, it was a little surreal being able to put our passports away and walk to Switzerland.
The visit helped us reflect on the boundaries we create when trying to study how nature works. We compartmentalise topics into physics, chemistry, or biology, when really these topics are all one large subject seen from different viewpoints. This was most evident in the permanent exhibitions at CERN that touched on topics including atomic structure, PET scans, and the development of computer technology at CERN. There were no borders between the different subjects we studied in different departments back at Junior College.
During this amazing week, we experienced tours of the facility using CERN’s own transport. Many of the researchers use bicycles, taking advantage of all the green areas. We saw dedicated individuals working together for the good of the world, no matter their colour or creed. They overcame yet another border: a cultural one. Their mission is simply to produce outstanding work that will help us understand the universe around us.
The trip opened our eyes in many ways. As a group, we learnt together and supported one another when needed. We shared ideas. Discussed. We were our own mini-unit. With an understanding of this dynamic and all the fields involved, some of us have even been inspired to add a new goal to our list: join the team at CERN.
Authors: Maria Victoria Vella, Josephine Vella and Karen Muscat
This visit was made possible thanks to our sponsors: Liquigas Malta Ltd, Mizzi Motors, and Buzzer Stationers & Publishers. We wish to thank our lecturers for organising the experience, namely Ms. M. Soler, Ms. A. Vella, Mr. C. Busuttil, Ms. L. Bonello, and Ms. E. Bugeja.
Playing with Fire
Climate change is a real threat. The scientific evidence is irrefutable. The problem is that countless talks and rallies calling for action have only pushed things forward at a snail’s pace. Prof. Simone Borg explains why.
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The circular economy and Malta
Our globalised economy has generated wealth and prosperity for millions of people around the world. Living standards have been raised to unprecedented levels. But this comes at a cost. The environment has suffered greatly, not only in terms of constant extraction of natural resources, but also at the hands of polluting processes and end-of-pipe waste.
Recognising that economies, and indeed our planet, have finite resources, the circular economy has become a popular concept among policymakers and stakeholders in recent years. The current linear ‘take, make, use, and throw away’ model of production entails substantial value losses and negative effects along the material chain. Because of this, we should ideally be designing and manufacturing products for continuous reuse and recycling, maximising resource efficiency, and minimising leakages and waste.
The appeal of the circular economy lies in its various environmental and economic benefits. Using secondhand materials and waste within business could cut costs, while their sale adds a potential revenue stream. The circular economy also offers new and vast business opportunities in areas such as product eco-design and product/material regeneration, all of which help create high-skilled jobs and investment in new technology.
The idea of the circular economy is particularly relevant to Malta, given its geographical circumstances, high import dependency, and lack of natural resources. Embracing the principles embodied within the circular economy concept would have an immediate positive impact on the environment while benefitting Malta’s long-term economic prospects.
However, we are still at the doorstep of circularity. Malta’s natural resource productivity fell by 7.6% between 2000 and 2015, with increased domestic material consumption outpacing economic growth. Waste management in key sectors like construction remains a major issue.
To encourage the shift from concept to the creation of circular economy business models, the University of Malta is part of the R2Pi Horizon 2020 project. Among other goals, it hopes to identify both market and policy failures that hinder the uptake of such models by business entities across Europe.
Author: Dr Jonathan Spiteri
R2Pi Horizon 2020: www.r2piproject.eu
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 730378.
In search of perfect silicon
Silicon is the go-to material for solar devices like photovoltaic panels despite its relatively low energy conversion rate of 15-22%. Researchers all over the world are analysing materials and creating new ones to find a better solution. A lucky handful are armed with a laser scattering tomograph (LST), the best instrument for the task.
An LST illuminates the sample material with an infrared laser beam, which scatters wherever it finds a defect. If there is a defect in a material’s structure, even one just a few nanometers wide, the very sensitive CCD camera at the other end of the machine will pick it up, allowing researchers to learn and adapt. It also boasts a robotic system that allows it to automatically load multiple samples at once.
The LST is very rare, but fortunately, one has found a home at the University of Malta’s (UM) Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE), a brand new, state-of-the-art facility aimed towards finding efficient solutions for harnessing solar power to its fullest extent. ‘There are probably 10 to 12 of these worldwide,’ confirms Prof. Luciano Mule’ Stagno, Director of the Lab at the ISE. ‘Ours is one of the few in the world to be found in a university, almost certainly the only one in a university in Europe. Most of these machines are in industry settings,’ he says.
This enables the UM to conduct cutting-edge research in a field that is practically nascent, putting it at the forefront. With the LST, material engineers could unlock the secrets behind the perfect variation of defect-reduced silicon. This rise in efficiency could have a substantial impact on the worldwide sustainable energy market.
Author: Prof. Luciano Mule’ Stagno
Igniting a sun on Earth
The Sun is the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Powerful as it is, what would happen if humankind could create a miniature sun in a lab and harness its energy? This is the mission of Dr Ing. Nicholas Sammut, Dr Ing. Andrew Sammut, and Karl Buhagiar.
Extreme heat for gears
Cars, motorcycles, machinery—gears are at the heart of them all. Dr Ing. Ann Zammit writes about challenges in producing and improving gears to make everything safer.
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Think Critically, Think Malta
Let us strengthen Malta’s democratic system by thinking critically. We need to learn how to avoid blindly accepting or rejecting ideas and opinion based on our political affiliations or unquestioned, long-held beliefs. Let us actively go against the dualistic thinking that dominates local public debate. Let us, for example, phase out media outlets financed by political parties; amend the constitution to facilitate the entry of a third political party to parliament; and put critical thinking at the centre of our educational system by strengthening subjects that enhance it (literary and rhetorical analysis, logic, philosophy and the scientific method).
Creative playground
The Diploma in Design Foundations Exhibition highlights the yearlong visual and creative process of 80 students. It is a study in representation, composition, and perception of space. Pencil drawings, typographic prints, cast sculpture houses, and panoramic landscape photography fill the studio space.Continue reading