Think — Issue 11 by Think

DECEMBER 2014 • ISSUE 11

ISSN 2306-0735

I D E A S

•

M A LTA

•

R E S E A RC H

•

P E O P L E

•

U N I V E R S I TY

DIGITAL EDITION

PLAS Units commencing in February 2015 LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS LAS

1015 A Taste of Spain and Latin America 1017 Physical Geography of the Maltese Islands 1018 Reaching for the Stars: Astronomy and the Universe 1019 Plants: Their Role in Life on Earth 1020 Gardens at Risk: Fighting Plant Pests and Diseases 1021 Understanding Economics 1022 Il-Malti tul iż-Żmien 1023 Marketing: The Art and Science of Customer Retention 1024 Adventures in Philosophy 1025 Mediterranean Food Culture 1026 Couple Relationships in Contemporary Society 2007 Sanskrit Culture: The Roots of Indo-European Civilizations 2008 Crime Narratives in English Literature and Culture 2009 Gods, Heroes and Monsters: Classical Myths 2011 Psychology of Adjustment: Negotiating the Challenges of Life 2012 Mapping the Crime Scene: Issues in Criminal Justice 2013 The Constitution of Malta 2020 Ideas and Business Venturing 2024 The Decorative Arts in Malta 2025 Medicine, Society and the Arts

How to apply Online applications for PLAS Units commencing in February 2015 are now being received through the Centre’s website. The application deadline is Friday 16 January. A late application fee applies. For further information and Unit descriptions visit our website.

What PLAS offers • A cross-disciplinary programme that enables students to study at their own pace by applying for any and as many Units as they wish. • An excellent opportunity for personal growth and professional development. • The opportunity to accumulate ECTS credits from PLAS Units or previously uncompleted courses to achieve a Certificate, a Diploma, a Higher Diploma and a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies, without any limits of time. • Units consist of weekly evening lectures, normally spread over 14 weeks.

CONTENTS

ISSUE 11 2 0 1 4

DECEMBER

Identity: Malta

alta has named villages, rocks, and streets after St Paul. The story goes that St Paul was shipwrecked on the north of Malta on his way towards execution in Rome. Recent research is shedding light on the truth behind the mythology that could change the nation’s perspective on one of its most beloved heroes. Elaine Gerada Gatt examines (pg. 28). Apart from saints, Malta also holds wine close to heart. With evidence that Malta exported wine back in the Phoenician and Punic times, the Islands have a long love affair with the beverage. Apart from culture, wine is also a research topic bringing in engineers, oenologists, doctors, chemists, and others together to study, test, and innovate. They are burning wine waste to make electricity, using carbon dioxide from fermentation to grow algae for food, and bringing ancient wines back to life (pg. 20). Shaking up the islands some more are earthquakes. Malta lies close to active fault lines, exhibit A: Etna, exhibit B: Hellenic Arc (some 500 km away). Local seismologists tell THINK about the threats to local buildings and what should be done (pg. 33). Another danger to buildings is erosion. Research in stone restoration and conservation is trying to come up with better ways to keep buildings together (pg. 40). On gender, Liża Mallia is talking about how society culturally divides men and women; Another opinion piece (pg. 5) discussing the need for policies to re-energise our depleted, contaminated oceans, and a student article mapping the marine pollution around Malta (pg. 8). On a more light-hearted note, we at THINK finally found an excuse to express some geek genes and found some great research on Star Trek by cardiac paediatrician Prof. Victor Grech (pg. 15). A Staff Contribution Scheme is being launched at the University of Malta. This is an opportunity for staff to donate part of their monthly salary towards research and show just how important research is to Malta.

OPINION

Haven’t We Had Enough of Gender Stereotypes? Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus...

FEATURE

Science for Maltese Wine History, fuel, war, culture, green energy: wine has it all

COVER STORY

The mystery of St Paul’s shipwreck Surely on St Paul's Island. Or not?

FEATURE

Rocking the Islands Malta: earthquake zone?

Edward Duca

EDITOR

edward.duca@um.edu.mt @DwardD

CONTENTS

ISSUE 11 2 0 1 4

CONTRIBUTORS

DECEMBER

STUDENT ARTICLES

ALUMNI ARTICLES

Sabrina Bilocca Josianne Cassar Nicolette Formosa Jana Galea

Ariana Gatt Luana Micallef

OPINION ARTICLES Angie Bartolo Liża Mallia FEATURE ARTICLES Dr Matthew Agius Dr Roger Aquilina Prof. Everaldo Attard Ing. Redeemer Axisa Ing. Vincenzo D'Alberti Dr Sebastiano D'Amico Jessica Edwards Daniela Farrugia Anna Fava Dr Pauline Galea Dr Timmy Gambin Mark Gatt Elaine Gerada Gatt Prof. Robert Ghirlando Prof. Victor Grech Dr Jean-Pierre Magro Marija Grech Muscat Ing. Davide Pieroban Inol. Mario Ragusa Mr Kevin Schembri Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra Dr Daniel Vella

OPINION

Oceans Re-energised

Angie Bartolo talks about reinjecting life into the Mediterranean

FUN ARTICLES Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone Matthew Cesareo David Chircop Dr Jean-Paul De Lucca Dr Edward Duca Alexander Hili Costantino Oliva Noel Tanti COMIC STRIP Dr Ġorġ Mallia

PHOTOGRAPHY Dr Edward Duca Jean Claude Vancell

FEATURE

Science Fiction: Mythology of the Future Star Trek researched!

ILLUSTRATIONS Marisabelle Grech Sonya Hallett Jean Claude Vancell WEBSITE Dr Edward Duca Jean Claude Vancell

THINK is a quarterly research magazine published by the Communications & Alumni Relations Office at the University of Malta

ALUMNI

Alumni talk

Fruit fly research, understanding Alzheimer's and learning to succeed by failing

FUN

Horns

Horror film review starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame

To subscribe to our blog log into www.um.edu.mt/think/subscribe and fill in your details. For advertising opportunities, please call +2340 3475 or get in touch by email on think@um.edu.mt

Are you a student, staff, or researcher at the University of Malta? Would you like to contribute to THINK magazine? If interested, please get in touch to discuss your article on think@um.edu.mt or call +356 2340 3451 56

CULTURE GENES

Meme

CONTENTS

COVER

STUDENTS

Students' thinking

The cover of this issue is inspired by Shepard Fairey's work on the Barack Obama 'Hope' poster used in the American presidential electoral campaign. The cover illustration depicts Melchiorre Cafà's wooden statue of St Paul (found at the Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck carved in 1657) and is the work of in-house designer Jean Claude Vancell.

About education, marine pollution, gesture control, and hip implants

FEATURE

Storytelling 2.0 Narratives in a connected world

THINK I D E A S

•

M A LTA

•

R E S E A RC H

•

P E O P L E

•

U N I V E R S I TY

DECEMBER 2014 - ISSUE 11

EDITORIAL

Edward Duca EDITOR DESIGN

Jean Claude Vancell

FEATURE

COPY-EDITING 40

Immortalising Heritage

Keeping it together using chemicals

Patricia Camilleri, Daphne Pia Deguara PRINTING

Print It Printing Services, Malta ISSN 2306-0735 Copyright © University of Malta, 2014 The right of the University of Malta to be identified as Publisher of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright Act, 2001.

CULTURE

A Relationship of Cultures Let's get talking at the 'Dialogue in the Med' conference

University of Malta, Msida, Malta Tel: (356) 2340 2340 Fax: (356) 2340 2342 www.um.edu.mt All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of research and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this magazine are correct and active at the time of going to press. However the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

FUN

The Must-have 2014 Tech Christmas List

FIND US ONLINE

Open your stockings and your wallet

RESEARCH

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent issues.

Let us set a precedent

The Staff Contribution Scheme that the Rector, Editor, and plenty more have pledged to support

www.um.edu.mt/think www.facebook.com/ThinkUoM www.twitter.com/thinkuom www.youtube.com/user/ThinkUni www.issuu.com/thinkuni 3

Student

students’ THINKing Translating Education LANGUAGE, translation, and education: three hot topics on the Maltese Islands. Malta invests heavily in education with a big chunk of its budget, strength, and efforts invested to elevate standards. Malta is also largely bilingual. This is even reflected in Malta’s constitution which places both Maltese and English as official languages. Yet, deciding on which language to use to teach children is a thorn in the side of Maltese educational institutions. A viable bilingual policy is still needed. The European Union places great importance on national languages. This policy elevates the importance of all EU languages no matter the country’s size. The EU releases its documents in each language—a boon for Maltese translation studies. However, there is a clear lacuna in terminology and glossaries for education documents.

Jana Galea (supervised by Prof. Anthony Aquilina) translated an international publication on education into Maltese and compiled an accompanying glossary of educational terms. Translators have to adopt the role of terminologists (professionals who research and locate information or past publications to ensure accuracy and consistency in the usage of terms) when working with specialised terminology, a time consuming activity due to the lack of standardised terms. A glossary of educational terms facilitates translation by providing an easy-to-access reference tool that ensures consistent terminology in translations. The research tries to show that Maltese and English should not be seen as rivals constantly trying to outdo each other. The Maltese language is part of the country’s unique identity, its most democratic tool, and an official EU language. It is strong and continuous-

Jana Galea ly growing, as Prof. Manwel Mifsud stated ‘Ilsien żgħir imma sħiħ, ilsien Semitiku imma Ewropew, ħaj u dinamiku’ (A small but complete language, a Semitic language but European, alive and dynamic). Then there is the English language which is Malta’s main linguistic link to the rest of the world and the carrier of scientific, technological, and informational developments—both languages enrich the Maltese Islands.

•

This research was performed as part of a Master of Arts in Translation at the Faculty of Arts, University of Malta. It is partially funded by STEPS (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’.

THINK Student

Pollution around Malta's Sea MARINE LITTERING is a global concern and every single year tons of litter end up in the ocean all around the globe. It has become such a problem that the waste has amalgamated into huge ‘islands’ floating in the world’s oceans. These islands have numerous repercussions, from damaging the environment and biodiversity, to the harming the economy and health. To be able to reduce this damage its extent needs to be known. In an attempt to understand the degree of marine pollution around Malta, Nicolette Formosa (supervised by Dr Kenneth Scerri) modelled oxygen levels in the nearby seas. The data set was gathered by an autonomous underwater robot funded by NORUS (a North American and Norwegian educational program). The data includes the position of the glider and the oxygen concentration at a specific time. Low oxygen concentrations are usually due to high amounts of algae and bacteria in the seas—important indicators of poor water quality and marine pollution. Scientists usually need a complete picture of the environment to understand and predict the spread of pollutants. This data is usually tagged to

Nicolette Formosa

An autonomous underwater vehicle capturing pollution data values

location but not to time, which is problematic. Take an oil spill. A modeller would need to know the currents, location of the oil spill, extent, rate of expansion, and when this happened (temporal information) to obtain a better forecast. The inclusion of such temporal information when modelling how pollutants disperse in water gives a better prediction and a deeper understanding. Formosa’s research could predict the concentration of oxygen at a specific location and time, giving a far better prediction, 27% more than any competing standard method. This model can help identify which areas of the seas around Malta are under most environmental pressures allowing the authorities to target their pollution mitigation strategies.

Formosa’s method is not limited to marine pollution. Her techniques could be used to predict the growth of cancerous cells to envision more accurate outcomes for patients, or the spread of a virus, or even how house prices will change.

•

This research was carried out by Nicolette Formosa a Master student in the Faculty of Engineering. It was partially funded by STEPS (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’.

5 Photo by John Vonderlin on Flickr

Student

Controlling television with a gesture ADVANCEMENTS in IT have made it possible to integrate computer systems into everyday life. However, cumbersome traditional devices like keyboards, mice, or the TV remote control, are inconvenient and unnatural to use. Hand gestures are a natural means of communication amongst humans. They are used to show feelings, emphasise points, and express thoughts and emotions. The use of hand gestures for humans to interact with computers should come as second nature to us. Using this approach, Sabrina Bilocca (supervised by Prof. Adrian Muscat) developed a computer vision system which automatically recognises simple human hand gestures to control a TV. Bilocca’s research involved the recognition of isolated gestures as well as multiple gestures in continuous sequences. The greatest challenge was to recognise gestures in a series, since another procedure was needed to spot the key hand gestures while

discarding unrelated movements between the key gestures. The system was developed on a real-life dataset of isolated and a chain of hand gestures. The video samples were pre-processed using two algorithms (computer programmes that do a specific task, like separate the hand from the background) called ‘hand segmentation’ and ‘feature extraction’. The resulting images were input into a machine learning technique for training and testing that allows the computer to learn how to identify the hand gestures in a better way. Bilocca used the Hidden Markov Model as a machine learning. To efficiently spot and recognise key gestures in continuous sequences, Bilocca proposed and implemented an orientation backtracking technique. Using these techniques she achieved a 100% recognition rate for isolated gestures and an 87.8% recognition rate for gestures in a sequence. This compares with existing state-of-the-

Sabrina Bilocca art techniques. The project could be further developed as a real-time application to recognise hand gestures as they happen, which would help assist people with disability and the elderly. The skills Bilocca learnt in this project help her in her current position as a network engineer.

•

This research was performed as part of a Master of Science in Information and Communication Technology (Telecommunications) at the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, University of Malta. . It was partially funded by STEPS (the Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship—Malta). This scholarship was 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’.

THINK Student

Read my hips, for longer BY 2050 in Malta, the female 85+ age group will be the largest proportion of the population. The population is ageing because of increasing longevity. As the body ages, joints and bones become weaker, therefore they need more surgical procedures to replace worn out joints. The problem is that hip replacements themselves also wear out. Metal-on-metal hip replacements suffer from wear and corrosion. This leads to high failure rates and rejection of the implant. These failures cause undue suffering to the patient and a bigger strain on the national budget because of lost workdays and greater surgery costs. Josianne Cassar (supervised by Dr Joseph Buhagiar and Dr Bertram Mallia) modified current hip replacement joints to make them more durable to wear and tear. Her work revolved around the alloy cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (CoCr-Mo), which is the material of choice for metal-on-metal hip replacements. Cassar modified and hardened the joint’s surface by using a proprietary low temperature carburising treatment owned by Bodycote called Kolsterising®. This treatment is used to make high-end watch-cases more scratch and corrosion resistant. By increasing the hardness of medical grade Co-Cr-Mo alloy their hardness started to compare to ceramic joint replacements. The aim is to make a joint surface that is cheap and resistant to mechanical damage (wear) in a hostile environment: the human body. The human body sees replacement joints as foreign and attacks them on all fronts. These joints need to be protected. The first line of defence is a passive

Josianne Cassar

film on the Co-Cr-Mo alloy. The film is made up of a nanolayer of an oxide that protects the alloy against corrosion. Corrosion usually happens because the implant is in a saline bodily fluid. In order to study the metal/solution interface and changes in this passive film, a technique called Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was used. The technique showed that the films protect both the untreated as well as the Kolsterised® alloy treated joints from corrosion and wear. The Kolsterised® metal’s passive film was superior and enhanced corrosion resistance after surface treatment of the joint. The new, hardened case provided improved mechanical support and stability to the passive film. As a result the Kolsterised® material may last longer than the untreated metal and is an improvement on the untreated alloy currently used in surgeries.

•

This research was performed as part of a Master of Science by Research at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta. It was funded by Bodycote Hardiff GmbH, Think10K, and partially funded by STEPS (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’. The testing equipment was financed by ERDF (Malta), ‘Developing an Interdisciplinary Material Testing and Rapid Prototyping R&D Facility (Ref. no. 012)’.

Hip Resurfacing. Source: www.orthonewengland.com Above: Metal-on-Metal hip replacement and Resurfacing. Source: www.caperay.com

Opinion

Oceans Re-energised

Angie Bartolo

he world’s oceans support the lives, economies, and health of societies. When the ocean is in decline, a society will also be in decline. Take the Aral Sea Crisis—destroyed by Soviet-era irrigation projects—where a prosperous society used the sea in an unsustainable manner, degrading this resource and their livelihoods. This cycle of decline needs to be turned into a cycle of recovery. The Global Ocean Commission Report is trying to restore the ocean’s health and ensure sustainable productivity for years to come. The then Maritime Affairs and Fisheries commissioner Damanaki together with the Global Ocean Commission launched it at a conference in Brussels on 30 June 2014. The Mediterranean is a large sea with over 200 million people living on its shores. This sea shares many problems that afflict oceans and affect the good quality of life of its inhabitants. The Global Ocean Commission outlined five drivers of ocean decline. These are the rising demand for resources, technological advances, decline of fish stocks, climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, and weak governance of the high seas (international waters—over 200 nautical miles from the coast). In order to combat the drivers to decline, the report presented eight points that were recommended by the

Commission (Global Ocean Commission, 2014). Firstly, to make the oceans sustainable through the United Nations; secondly, to govern the high seas by promoting its care and recovery; thirdly, to end overfishing by removing subsidies on fishing fleets; fourthly, to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by establishing uniform enforcement and legislation; fifth, to keep plastics our of the ocean; sixth, to establish binding international safety standards and liability for offshore oil and gas; seventh, to setup a global ocean accountability board to move towards a

Damage in a faraway place will adversely affect the damage of one’s own waters— especially true for the Mediterranean Sea

healthy society; eight, to create a high seas zone that allows the regeneration of fishing stocks. If even some of these ambitious points are achieved they would help stop the ocean’s decline. The ‘Not in My Backyard’ concept does not work with oceans. Everyone needs to see them as a common good, a shared resource. Damage in a faraway place will adversely affect the damage of one’s own waters—especially true for the Mediterranean Sea. What gives Malta optimism is that there are very adequate resources to implement the necessary innovations. The Irish EU Presidency in 2013 chaired the negotiations which secured €1.28 billion of EU Funds for Malta under the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) from 2014–2020. In addition, University of Malta researchers can now apply for an additional €80 billion of Horizon 2020 funding. This gives us great confidence that the errors of the past can be corrected and a prosperous future ensured for all Mediterranean citizens.

•

For more about the report see: Global Ocean Commission, 2014: http://bit.ly/GlobalOceanMT Jim Hennessy (Irish Ambassador to Malta from September 2010 to September 2014) encouraged this article. The current ambassador is Padraig MacCoscair http://www.ireland.com

THINK Opinion

Haven’t We Had Enough of Gender Stereotypes? Liża Mallia

n essay by linguist Deborah Cameron about gender misconceptions really hit home hard. It made me ask, why do we let gender role restrictions influence our identity. The thing about these restrictions is that they are often subtle beliefs and mentalities that have been hardwired into us. They easily go unnoticed and manifest themselves in most of what we do and say. As Judith Butler pointed out in most of her gender studies; a person’s sex is biological, but gender is formulated, learned, and performed. Certain standards seem to need to be met in order for someone to be considered manly or feminine. There’s an unjust mentality that excuses someone who ridicules a man wanting to become a professional dancer. This is the same mentality that demands that young girls aspire to a stereotyped physical beauty. What is this mentality teaching us? Where is the respected individual? How can we ridicule people for not accepting who they are and then falsely advertise self-acceptance? If one looks at any commercial blockbuster movie, one is likely to find the same formulas: mindlessly, men objectify women and women romanticise men. People mimic this behaviour, setting themselves up for disappointment, only for reality to hit home.

Sexuality plays a huge role in gender stereotyping. Media portrays women as an object to earn Cameron’s essay outlined one study she performed with her student. The student studied the speech patterns and habits from a recording of five male friends having a conversation. They repeatedly gossiped about other men they knew, saying that these men were immensely unmanly. Cameron points out their paradoxical behaviour. By gossiping, they were violating their own perceived standards of masculinity—a contradiction. People seem to be oblivious to such inconsistent actions. Men and women seem to expect behaviour from each other that not only eradicates individuality and genuine interaction, but is even downright illogical— especially when it comes to sex. Sexuality plays a huge role in gender stereotyping. Media portrays women

as an object to earn. This completely destroys the idea of individual identity and the ability of having confidence in one’s body as it really is. It also shames women who feel happy in their own skin and are sexually active. The chances are they will be labelled sluts. Most men have become afraid of accidentally conveying an unmanly persona: they are constantly trying to prove themselves to other men, and this leads them to objectify a lot of what is in their lives. This leaves no room for selfexpression and, for example, the ability to love whoever one chooses. Janet Hyde’s Gender Similarities Hypothesis holds that men and women are, for the most part, psychologically interchangeable, meaning that men and woman are more alike than they are different. Through meta-analysis, Hyde concluded that the ‘overinflated claims’ around gender differences were causing harm to individuals ranging from successful career pursuits for women to teenage self esteem issues. We are being falsely educated about who we are supposed to be by outdated stereotypes, simply because there is a need to differentiate between the sexes. There are biological differences, but there cannot possibly be an absolute differentiation between a man and a woman. An individual has his or her own characteristics and personality that has nothing to do with gender. We are living in the 21st Century. Isn’t it time to wake up?

•

Storytelling 2.0

The art of telling stories in a connected world

The rapid advancement of technology has transformed us into The Jetsons. But the use of these tools to enhance our storytelling makes us seem more like The Flintstones. Writers, creators, producers and academics are still busy developing ways to create richer, more engaging and more profitable transmedia experiences. Dr Jean Pierre Magro speaks to THINK on the fascinating and lucrative world of transmedia narratives. Illustrations by Sonya Hallett

THINK Feature

Dr Jean Pierre Magro

torytelling is in an exciting period of change. New narrative forms are being created daily. Producers, due to a range of different platforms, are able to expand their canvas and share more of their vision with the most dedicated fans. They can achieve this by creating and designing multimedia narratives from the ground up in which movies, video games, websites, smart phone applications, comic books, and other media are equal chapters of a complete story. This is transmedia storytelling. My transmedia story began in 2009 while working as Head of Development in Los Angeles with US/Spanish outfit FishCorb Films. This emerging ecosystem of texts and para-texts, and their organisation, became a personal obsession. But while I consumed the literature available, attended seminars, and formulated a slew of ideas to apply this new concept to existing projects, I hit a snag. While I was ready to experiment and see the effect of transmedia on our audiences, my bosses, and financiers held me back, unwilling to invest against the high risk of the unknown. It was then that I decided to shelve my career in Hollywood and return to

Europe to test and play with the form. Media studies become essential during periods of disruption and transition, offering a sober analysis of the situation, while continuously suggesting various alternative paths. Therefore, the next logical step for me was to enrol for a Ph.D. With backing from STEPS, I started a three-year journey focused on unravelling transmedia and its functions. Transmedia is no longer a mere buzzword or some millennial sideshow distraction, but an important reality of the global entertainment industry. Audiences and their behaviours have changed drastically over the last five years. The ‘lean back’ approach is being replaced by the ‘lean in’ approach. People want to be in control of their media, deciding when to watch what and on which device. Experts believe that the companies which will survive in this landscape are those with the ability to understand and speak to the needs of their audiences. Producers today need to know how to keep audiences satiated and engaged. These particular skills will become essential to their success. Whether producers like it or not, they are

increasingly dependent on networked communities to circulate, curate, and appraise the final product. In reality, they no longer have any control over their content from the moment it leaves their hands. The basic premise of transmedia storytelling is that instead of using different media channels to simply retell the same story, each channel is utilised to communicate different elements of the story. Each segment should stand on its own, while also contributing to the narrative as a whole. Each segment should add new pieces of information which forces the audience to revise their understanding of the overall narrative. Transmedia storytelling offers a real feast for postmodernist writers who, like James Joyce before them, love to challenge an audience by inviting them to construct their own text from the fragments provided. For me, transmedia is an art form that invites the audience to become an active participant of a 'world'. While each different segment needs to be unique in its own right, these extensions must also uphold the canon, style, and tonality of the primary text. Each extension needs to play a vital part in the telling »

Feature

of the entire narrative, creating a richer experience. However, this can only be achieved if properly planned, with each component acting very much like a sequence in a screenplay, each one building on the other in a coherent structure, enhancing the consumer’s experience. The real issue with transmedia is that it lacks its own proper grammar. Even the term transmedia is still open to misinterpretation and hegemonic discourse. There is no set of ‘standard best practices’ yet. This became very

Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story – Henry Jenkins 12

clear during various conference and seminars, including Power to the Pixel in Potsdam and London, Storyworld in San Francisco, and the Torino Film Lab. Professionals are experimenting with the form, attempting to find a method which works, that can then be replicated and sold to investors. All of these reasons pushed me to focus my Ph.D. on attempting to create principles which could contribute to the establishment of a set of standard best practices. From my interviews with other professionals, it became clear that storytellers have been unable to fully exploit the possibilities at their disposal. Many lack the necessary knowledge and skills to maximise the potential of their stories across various platforms. It is not easy to understand how the combination and coordination of so many different disciplines can offer an exciting experience. In many cases, transmedia has been reduced to a mere business plan. Marketing teams seeking to expand their text as far as possible, encourage audiences to consume the same IP (Intellectual Property) from different outlets, wrongly calling it transmedia. A prime example is The Hunger Games, one of the most successful film franchises of 2012. After the release of the first film, a series of poor tie-ins were

THINK Feature

released, none of which did anything to enhance the story, the characters or the world. Instead, the would-be transmedia components morphed into silly puzzles, games, blog competitions, toys, nail polish, and other merchandise. Such thoughtless entertainment can easily be equated with fast food. Transmedia is being ‘McDonaldised’. The transmedia label is often applied indiscriminately to anything that is even remotely interactive, participatory, pervasive, or multi-platform. Confusion arises, in part, because the field is so young. The term transmedia is very often used to make a product sound more innovative than it actually is. This is expected, especially when considering the

enormous capital investment at stake. The media industry is big business. As an international producer, I always felt the need to analyse and make sense of this particular moment in time. Transmedia storytelling remains a murky term, with new vocabulary sprouting on a regular basis. This again shows just how sparse ‘industry standards’ are within transmedia. The difficulty in finding the appropriate terms to use is an immense problem because it makes it extremely hard for creators to explain what they are selling. Consequently, attracting investment becomes practically impossible. I always like to compare transmedia’s present with the early days of TV. Not

knowing what to do with cameras, producers solved their quagmire by filming radio shows. Soon after, industrious people realised the tools’ potential. As time went by, a new language was created, more eloquent and sophisticated. At the moment, many transmedia practitioners are still applying a single medium mindset to the form. Transmedia storytelling needs to become a recognisable and repeatable product. My contribution to this argument was to apply a known concept—the eight sequence structure of a screenplay first introduced by Frank Daniels—to the structure of the roll out. The sequential release of various extensions which make up the project »

Feature

The Narratives of the world are numberless[…] Able to be carried by articulated language, spoken or written, fixed or moving images, gestures, and the ordered mixture of all these substances; narrative is present in myth, legend, fable, tale, novella, epic, history, tragedy, drama comedy, mime, painting [...], stained glass windows, cinema, comics, news item, conversation – Roland Barthes must create a clear and identifiable journey with each part of the story, regardless of the platform, feeding into the next in the same way the sequences of a film script build on each other to create rising tension. The idea has been well received among industry circles and I have already applied the concept to the projects I am producing. The volatile state of storytelling provides a unique opportunity. Unfortunately, I feel that the University of Malta has been largely absent from this debate. While MIT and University of Southern California, to name just two, have recognised the importance of transmedia and its study, Malta is dragging its feet. This is not something new. Film has also suffered similarly, and has had to deal with the consequences of being sidelined for many years. Malta can never become Hollywood and should never aspire to be

such. However, as technology becomes cheaper, possibilities for creatives are on the rise. Digital creative work and critical media literacy play a defining role in our information society. Studies show that all aspects of contemporary life are being affected, including the way many professional visual artists ranging from multimedia performers to film-makers and publishers pursue their practice. Educational institutions need to start preparing students to face the realities of today’s landscapes. MCAST and the University of Malta urgently need to create and develop programs that explain the new economies emerging from these technological shifts. At the moment this is not being done. Without a shadow of a doubt, I am certain that it will come back to haunt us.

•

FURTHER READING • Dowd, T., Niederman, M., Fry, M. and Steiff, J. (2013). Transmedia. Burnington, MA: Focal Press. • Hutcheon, L. (2006). A theory of adaptation. New York: Routledge. • Jenkins, H. (2008). Convergence culture. New York: New York University Press. • Rose, F. (2011). The art of immersion. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. • Scolari, C. (2014). Transmedia archaeology. [Place of publication not identified]: Palgrave Pivot. • Wolf, M. (2012). Building Imaginary Worlds. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

THINK Feature

Science fiction

mythology of the future

Science fiction reimagines our future. Sometimes it is inspired by science; sometimes it inspires current scientists. Anna Fava visited Prof. Victor Grech at his home to talk about the mythology of science fiction and his love for Star Trek

A Anna Fava

ll children mythologise their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born. What you get will not be the truth: it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; [The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield]

Science fiction is a genre of scientific chronicles, which often occur in diverse time frames other than that contemporary. It is the blending of scientific principles and fantasy, exploring potential outcomes of technological innovations. In archaic cultures, mysterious phenomena are often attributed to the supernatural and spiritual. Through magical tales and sacred rituals, Âť

Feature

primitive communities explore the relation between experiences and dreams, an archetype of human visions and aspirations. One Aztec legend speaks of the deity Quetzalcoatl, whose human figure traversing on barren land would have starved to death if not for a passing rabbit. The rabbit offered its life to save him and Quetzalcoatl was so moved that he imprinted the rabbit’s image in the moon’s light—the rabbit moon folk-tale was born. Other mythologies simply invented creatures like the unicorn as a creative product of the human imagination. In a similar vein, primeval cultures invented myths to explain phenomena they had no hope of understanding. The Chinese thought that the goddess Xi He carried one of her ten sons across the sky. Each of them was a sun. Science fiction, which uses the human imagination to explore our future, also tries to understand its uncertainty by creating stories. Doubt about future events led to an instinctive need to try and control this unexplainable world. Take the traditional rain dance of the Aborigines. Such superstitions have no origin whatsoever in experimental data. On the contrary, science fiction tends to stem from established scientific fact. To better understand science fiction, I met Prof. Victor Grech a cardiac paediatrician with a Ph.D. in science fiction, who also co-organised a local Star Trek symposium. Prof. Grech explained how science fiction gave a paradigm shift to the world of ancient mythology. In the modern world humans have expanded their knowledge of how the world works through scientific and logical inquiry. Science fiction evolved as a plausible science chronicle.

In the modern world humans have expanded their knowledge of how the world works through scientific and logical inquiry. Science fiction evolved as a plausible science chronicle

Darko Suvin, a science fiction critic, defines the science fiction genre as ‘the literature of cognitive estrangement’ since it attempts to obtain certain legitimacy by appearing scientific. Science fiction posits the introduction of a novum (new idea) of a scientific nature, mostly through technological innovations like teleportation (instantaneous matter transport). This is because science fiction tends to be futuristic. Authors design innovative machinery and pioneering theoretical concepts, sometimes before scientists confirm them. This spawns a generation of new terminology to express innovation, such as playwright Karel Čapek coining the term robot in his play R.U.R. in 1920. Science fiction writers attempt to envisage the future. They reflect upon patterns of love and death, aspiration, and reconciliation in a totally fresh context, by encouraging a sense of wonder and willing suspension of disbelief in the reader. In AD 190, Lucian of Samosata wrote the first science fiction story where the protagonists take a trip

THINK Feature

to the moon, encountering alien creatures and getting embroiled in celestial warfare. Subsequently, there have been several texts and poems which incorporate this kind of technology and themes like flying machines, the quest for immortality, an alternate history of our planet, fantastic voyages in outer space, and time travel. These reflect the culture and scientific progress of the time. Victorian era writers, Wells and Verne, reflected the innovative machinery of the industrial revolution, while Abbott, in roughly the same period, reflected in Flatland on the latest ideas exploring extra dimensions in space.

Star Trek fiction: myth and ethical principles ‘Science fiction is metaphor. What sets it apart from older forms of fiction seems to be its use of new metaphors, drawn from certain great dominants of our contemporary life—science, all the sciences, and technology, and the relativistic and the historical outlook, among them.’ [Introduction to the Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin] American screenwriter and producer Gene Roddenberry created the Star Trek series using ‘[his] social philosophy, racial philosophy, overview of life, and the human condition’, said Grech. Roddenberry thought that he would reach more people through media than any other conventional philosopher. By alluding to myth, enchantment, and logic, his philosophy of moral virtue is conveyed in over ten films and hundreds of TV series. The storyline reminds us of Aesop’s parables due to the inherent moral implications. These mostly »

A short Star Trek history In 1964, Gene Roddenberry already had plans for ‘a Western in outer space’ even though the first episode was not aired before 1966. Curiously, it was not well received when initially viewed but gained popularity through reruns. After three years of The Original Series, the Motion Picture production in 1979 helped the whole franchise bloom in popularity, gathering extensive fandom who were called 'Trekkers'. The Next Generation episodes broadcast in the late 1980s, embraced more socially liberal morals than its progenitor, spawning two sequels (Deep Space 9 and Voyager) and four films. More recently, the series Enterprise and the two latest films continue to reach fans worldwide. In July 2014, Malta hosted the first academic Star Trek symposium. For two days, academics and fans discussed the philosophy, ethics, and scientific principles behind Star Trek. It intended to explore the boundaries of interdisciplinary research between the humanities, medicine, and the sciences in Star Trek.

Feature

emphasise dignity and respect for all sentient life, personal loyalty, tolerance of multicultural diversity (infinite diversity in infinite combinations), opting for peaceful resolutions rather than violent conflicts, and the exercising of our rational faculties and scientific knowledge to pursue truths, all the while advocating the importance of education and free thought. Star Trek encapsulates a Utopian future, one where the characters’ altruistic temperament matches Roddenberry’s belief in humanity’s potential for self-transcendence. Grech explained how progressive these values were for their time. The series was launched on Thursday, September 8, 1966 with the Cold War, apartheid in the United States, and the influences of hippie culture in full swing. The spacecraft’s crew took in humans from all over the world (including a Russian, Japanese, and African-American woman), and science officer Spock, an alien from the planet Vulcan. These humanoid creatures are disciplined and logical. This is especially so for Spock, a member of this alien species who learned to master their emotions by following the teachings of Vulcan philosopher Surak, after their planet was almost destroyed by war. Star Trek exemplified diversity. The Star Trek franchise incorporates several philosophical topics. The under-

The Star Trek franchise incorporates several philosophical topics. The underlying ideology is humanistic: a secular approach that discards supernatural and religious dogma, replacing this with rationalism lying ideology is humanistic: a secular approach that discards supernatural and religious dogma, replacing this with rationalism (where reason is the chief source of knowledge). Any deity or divine spirit is described as the myth of the past, discouraging any theistic worship. Grech went on to describe how myth is explored in Star Trek. For example, in the curious episode Elaan of Troyius, Captain Kirk encounters a mysterious

yet conceited young princess whom he falls in love with because he has been affected by the biochemistry of her tears. In conventional alchemy these tears are a love potion, but modern science might slap on the chemical oxytocin, the so-called ‘cuddle hormone’ that seems to be linked to a person falling in love. ‘Add some technobabble, give it a chemical name’, Grech remarked jokingly about the validity of such aphrodisiacs. Reality is a lot more complicated. Another episode Who mourns for Adonais? delves into ancient Greek beliefs, where Apollo has captured the Enterprise and demands worship from the trapped crew. As always, the Star Trek crew would contemplate the best logical solution to an otherwise labyrinthine problem, in this case by finding the source of Apollo’s power and rendering him vulnerable. As he fades with the wind to join his fellow brother and sister gods, he laments, ‘the time has passed. There is no room for gods.’ One can appreciate why postmodern civilisation in general dismisses these gods as mythology, and thus why myth is as evolving as language. Speaking of language and communication, in The Next Generation, the episode Darmok portrays the difficulty of Captain Picard (of the Star Trek ship) to understand the Tamarian leader since his language cited metaphors derived from mythology and folklore. At the end of the episode, Picard remarks that ‘more familiarity with our own mythology might help us relate to theirs’ meaning that understanding our own stories more helps us communicate better with other societies. Indeed, science fiction is certainly more conscious and literary than primeval myth. Yet it is not designed to be the myth of society, but rather it is the mythology concocted for the delight of the technological human. Fellow readers and fans, live long and prosper.

•

THINK Feature

FURTHER READING

Victor’s research into science fiction Prof. Victor Grech has been a science fiction fan from a young age. Although he studied medicine and became a paediatrician, he remains a physicist at heart, with an enduring interest in astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. The allure of science fiction eventually led to his reading for a Ph.D. called Infertility in Science Fiction at the Department of English, University of Malta. The thesis classified infertility in science fiction according to themes like after warfare, terrorism, state inflicted, alien inflicted, affecting aliens and animals. In over 300 texts one commonality ensued: optimism. Science Fiction is the modern replacement of the fairy tale and therefore almost always has a happy ending. Instead of monsters, we have aliens. Instead of magic, we find advanced technologies. The end result is the same, the willing suspension of disbelief and an abiding sense of wonder. The thesis spawned several scholarly (and otherwise) publications, with Star Trek offering the potential for lots more. Grech continues to read science fiction in his spare time and greatly enjoys watching science fiction films and series (such as Star Trek) with his two children who have also become fans.

• Grech, V. (2013). Philosophical Concepts in Star Trek: Using Star Trek as a curriculum guide introducing fans to the subject of Philosophy [online] James Gunn's Ad Astra. Available at: http://adastra.ku.edu/philosophical-concepts-in-star-trek/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2014]. • Grech, V. (2013). The Pygmalion-Galatea myth in relation to simulation scenarios in Star Trek. Xjenza Online, [online] 1(2), pp.23-28. Available at: http://www.mcs.org.mt/index.php/ xjenza/2013-vol-1-iss-2/114xjenza-2013-2-03. • Star Trek: The Original Series, Elaan of Troyius [television series 3 episode 13]. (1968). [film] Hollywood: John Meredyth Lucas, Paramount. • Star Trek: The Original Series, Who Mourns for Adonais? [television series 2 episode 2]. (1967). [film] Hollywood: Gilbert Ralston, Gene L. Coon & Marc Daniels, Paramount. • Star Trek: The Next Generation, Darmok [television series 5 episode 2]. (1991). [DVD] Hollywood: Joe Menolsky, Phillip LaZebnik & Winrich Kolbe, Paramount.

Feature

Science for Maltese Wine Wine borders on obsession for some, while others call it research. Some drink it, while others burn it. Creative solutions are turning wine and its waste into algae, pharmaceutical products, and electricity. Words by The Editor

THINK Feature

e drink it, we use it in rituals and celebrations, we went to war with it: wine is life. Wine is also the subject of scientific research. When sitting back after a long day’s work, sipping a pleasant wine, you probably do not think about how the wine was made, what acidity was modified to make it taste fresher, what processes softened the tannins; but oenologists, wine scientists, do. They have manipulated that relaxing glass of crisp white or full-bodied red that you have just drunk into an art form and science. Wine connects everything. The beauty of wine production is that it is much more than just the wine itself. Wine is linked to archaeology, making algae, food, biomass for energy production, heating or cooling, making ethanol for biodiesel, and lots of other possibilities dependent on people’s creativity. Wine also needs to be researched, but before that let us start from the beginning. Wine was first made in Georgia around 6000–8000 BC. The Phoenicians introduced the Mediterranean (and Maltese Islands) to the culture of wine starting a long love affair. As traders they used to barter wine from their place of origin, the Levant, and exchange it with the Egyptians for wheat, with the English for tin, and also with other societies. Wine provided commerce even for Malta. Archaeologists from the University of Malta found that Malta was probably making commercial quantities of wine long ago. It was also

important for public health; wine was deemed "safer" to water as a beverage’, said oenologist Dr Roger Aquilina— oenology is the science of wine. After the Phoenicians, the Romans developed and spread wine-making. The Romans knew that wine could replace and preserve water. ‘Wine had a military purpose.’ And the Romans were a serious military machine. So serious that taste was not an issue. ‘They used to place wine in an amphora, seal it with clay, then leave it in the summer sun’, explained Aquilina, which destroyed the delicate flavour of wine but let them have safe drinking water on their long marches. Why bother with a too-brief history of wine in the region? The links with this illustrious past are important today. Agritourism and wine routes attract millions worldwide. ‘In Italy or Spain agritourism is something fundamental for tourism. […] We could have the

For Aquilina and Schembri, these problems are surmountable: ‘Malta has everything’

same thing in Malta, as long as we are prudent to create a structure around wineries’, aspires Aquilina. We can make history pay and create a better wine product in Malta.

Malta: land of vine and wine? Malta is almost ideal to wine-making, Aquilina thinks . ‘A good wine depends on these main factors: sun, temperature, environment, water, and soil’, he explains. ‘The most important is sun. Locally, we’re good with sun, it comes at the right season.’ Cardiac surgeon and wine-lover Kevin Schembri continues ‘the ideal position is 35 degrees. We are at 33 degrees—not far. The vines should be facing South [and West]. Other [directions] will give you a nice wine as well, but that’s the maximum exposure you can get to the sun. […] The vine is essentially an energy capture source.’ So the more exposure the vines receive, the better the wine, as long as the temperature does not go too high. ‘We are in a good situation with temperature, contrary to others’ belief ’, stated Aquilina. ‘The critical temperature is 35˚C. Higher temperatures for a long period of time really stress the grapevine, especially red wine. It destroys the balance between these components. […] Cold winters are also important to help the grapevine to sleep,’ and Malta 's winters offer sufficient guarantees. The environment the grapevine grows in bestows a certain character and flavour to the wine. For example, ‘if you have »

Feature

Ing. Louis Borg, Prof. Robert Ghirlando, Dr Roger Aquilina, Ing. Redeemer Axisa and Guido Baldacchino. Photo by Edward Duca.

the grapevine close to the shore you will have the influence of salt spray,’ which could impart a unique taste. Water and soil is where Malta starts to lose its ideal status. Malta suffers from chronic water shortage with no solution in sight. The flip-side is that too much water is also a problem. Aquilina likened the grapevine to a child that should not be spoilt and needs discipline. ‘Many think that the grapevine needs a lot of water when we feel a lot of thirst and heat. The grapevine needs water during "bud break" in late winter to early spring, when it wakes up after hibernation.' Later on, when the fruit is growing, you need to control water amounts because if it is too comfortable it will make weak fruit.’ This makes sense against the backdrop of evolution and survival. Many animals invest more in the next generation when they are stressed but not too pressured—grapes seem no different. Vines watered correctly can make a very good wine. Soil is a bit trickier to get around. ‘Our soils are shallow, but we have so much sun that the importance of soil is diminished.’ That is what we are gunning for in Malta. The shallow soils mean that a viticulturist needs to pay extra special care for the first few years of a vine’s life. For Aquilina and Schembri, these problems are surmountable: ‘Malta has everything’. But what about taste? Drinking wine tends to be the most important part and research is critical here. ‘Taste is complex, […] taste is dynamic, […] a

fashion,’ explained Schembri. ‘There can be mistakes [in wine production] leading to bad wine, but the variability in good wine can be enormous. So the ingredients always need to be good, then we need a cook who mixes them to make a better final product.’ You need research to train good cooks. Wine research, or oenology, started in Malta in 1947. Aquilina explained how Malta’s desire to make good local wine increased with greater self-governance. ‘They reasoned that since we have this ideal climate to produce wine, why are we sending our money abroad when we can grow our own wine here?’ A programme in Buskett was launched in a building of the Knight’s of St. John. ‘This building still has a lot of old wine-making machinery and in the future, with funding, we hope to restore it and turn it into a small wine museum and enoteca.’ ‘The next step happened in the 60s as independence was approaching. […] Another idea started coming to Malta: the concept of quality’, said Aquilina. Using FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) funds they started another research station after bringing a professor from Davis, California, and sending a Maltese student over to study oenology and viticulture. Unfortunately, ‘we didn’t plan a successor’. When the Maltese oenologist retired in the 1980s the place fell into ruin. By attracting EU funds, Aquilina has finished the restoration of the research station. The first harvest has been pro-

cessed with a larger one planned for next year. However, for this station to flourish it needs a postgraduate research programme through a collaboration that involves government, industry, MCAST (Malta Council for Arts Science and Technology), and the University of Malta. But what could all of these researchers do? Aquilina would like to rediscover lost grape varieties described by Professor Borg relating to the beginning of the 20th century. Recent DNA studies from the Centro di Ricerca per la Viticolture in Italy (in collaboration with the Directorate of Agriculture and University of Malta) have already identified Girgentina and Ġellewża as two local grape varieties unique to Malta. ‘There is nothing exactly like them in the world. Like these grapes, other [unique varieties] might exist. They [Girgentina and Ġellewża] could have remained popular because they have a dual purpose, they could be eaten or used to make wine’. Aquilina thinks

The vine is essentially an energy capture source

THINK Feature

How do you make wine? First harvest the grapes when they have the right sugar level, amount of acids, and pH. Do not harvest mouldy or bad grapes, if more then 2% of the harvested grapes have gone mouldy the quality of your wine will suffer.

that this could have been critical during the Arab rule of the islands. New wines can only be created through research. Malta cannot ‘compete on price or we will lose the war’, stated Aquilina. ‘Our pitch is that we have a product with its own identity and a certain ‘drinkability’ and aroma.’ We have to capitalise on our uniqueness. Research into wine can help Malta do so much more.

Wine: the local research manifesto Some research has already started in Malta as part of an EU-funded sustainable energy research project called ViEnergy (Italia-Malta ERDF Programme [2007–2013]). Prof. Everaldo Attard and his team (Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta) studied Maltese wine, its waste from wine »

To make a white wine use white grapes or peel some black varieties. Crush the grapes to make a juice and discard any skins. Use the juice for the primary fermentation. To kick off fermentation add some yeast, which converts the sugar to alcohol. To make a red wine use red or black grapes and crush them to make a pulp or must. The must has the grape juice, skin, seeds, and stems of the fruit. Red wine can be naturally fermented because of yeast in the skin. However, yeast can also be added. The juice has now been turned into the first free run wine, which can be separated from the solids. The rest of the must is sometimes pressed to make a different tasting wine that is mixed with the free run wine for the oenologist to achieve a particular taste. Grappa can only be made from the must solids only. Red wine can have a harsh flavour due to high levels of malic acid. This is converted to the softer tasting lactic acid by a secondary bacterial fermentation. The oenologist decides how the grapes should be grown, when to harvest the grapes, when to ferment them, for how long. Yet, there is still has a lot of work to do and tricks to extract the best wine they can from the grapes. Fining agents can be added to the wine to remove tannins (that give a dry taste to tea), and remove microscopic particles to make a clearer wine (although wine can also be filtered before bottling). Winemakers can use gelatine, milk protein, egg albumin, isinglass, milk powder, and even bull’s blood. Non-animal-based fining agents exist and are more commonly used. The wine also needs to be preserved. Despite the alcohol content wine would need to be kept cold if a preservative is not added. Commonly it is sulfur dioxide. The level of sulfur dioxide varies and maximum levels are legally regulated. Throughout the process a winemaker would be testing the wine for levels of sugar, volatile acidity (that gives an idea on the level of ethanoic acid), pH, total sulfur, percentage of alcohol, amount of potassium hydrogen tartrate, levels of proteins and a few others. This information is important for the oenologist to change the properties of the wine to make it softer, preserve properties, and bring out the wine’s desired flavour to make a great glass of wine.

Feature

Photos by Edward Duca

production and pruning waste. They chose ten different fields and a range of grape varieties. Then they analysed the chemical profile of the grapes from local and international varieties. Using a variety of high-end technology they identified that local varieties have a higher pH and low acidity. They have a comparable amount of polyphenols, these being responsible for the taste, colour, and mouth-feel of wine. Polyphenols are also under the lens for reputed health benefits. Aquilina stated how ‘the tendency is that in warm countries wine have a lot of polyphenols. In the 1970s, these were often removed because they were problematic. This is because when they oxidise, white wine goes darker while red wine becomes more sour’. Wines are now prized for these compounds, which is good for Malta. Attard’s study found that a large amount of the polyphenols was ending up in any waste associated with wine production and harvesting. He sees

an opportunity here. Pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic companies could collaborate with wine makers, process their waste, and extract high-value polyphenols to be sold as phytomedicines, food supplements, and cosmetics. The relationship between wine and health captivates heart surgeon and wine-lover Mr Kevin Schembri (Mater Dei Hospital and University of Malta). ‘Part of my [Ph.D.] research is analysing the entire profile for cellular gene expression. These RNAs [RNAs are the go-betweens reading DNA and making proteins] are being expressed when there isn’t enough oxygen. In the future, I’d like to see what the effect of wine is on this process. Is wine making cells more resistant to a lack of oxygen?’ Such findings would be remarkable for the wine industry and society. ‘But these are still early days. There is still much work to be done’. The health benefits of wine have taken the world by storm. But let us not

get carried away. While wine has been linked to good health Schembri emphasised, ‘as doctors, we have to admit that right now there is no evidence for us to state that if you drink wine it will be beneficial for people in general. As a doctor, you cannot recommend wine because of the problem of alcohol addiction. Some patients might misinterpret that and instead of drinking a glass, drink a whole bottle, thus doing more harm then good.’ ‘Perhaps the best rule is little and often’, said Aquilina with a boyish smile.

Eating and Burning Wine Wine for a healthy heart and long life is not the only health fad. There is much more to it. Ing. Davide Pierobon (Microlife, Italy) is combining wine making with algae farms. Wine produces food grade CO2 that is perfect to capture carbon dioxide made during wine-making (each bottle drunk releases 1.45 kg

THINK Feature

Consume a bottle of wine and contribute to save the planet

CO2: most is from yeast fermenting alcohol). The algae flourish on this carbon dioxide. Pierobon has grown several different algal types. One of the most profitable is spirulina, a cyanobacterium (blue-green algae that converts CO2 and water into carbohydrates with a bit of sun) that fetches a high price worldwide. Pierobon studied different systems to grow these cyanobacteria, and found that closed systems are better for the wine industry. Production still needs to be cheaper, faster, and easier, but by combining carbon sequestration with wine-making costs can be reduced for the winemaker by diversifying their products. Wine production can produce a much loved beverage and health supplement while protecting the environment. Such ingenuity is driving other ideas to make the wine sector greener and more economically viable. Sustainable energy expert Ing. Vincenzo D’Alberti is driving the idea of using biomass from wine production to make electricity, and heat and cold. The solid waste from wine fermentation and vineyard pruning can be collected as biomass to be used for several processes. D’Alberti was studying its conversion into a highly combustible syngas. The waste can be fed into a gasifier with the waste dried at 100˚C. After drying, the temperature is increased ten-fold and causes all the volatile substances to turn into a gas. It can run a normal engine that drives energy production or heat/cold generation. A winery could either sell the energy, operate its own systems, or heat/cool the winery and nearby community—again, this is more economic diversity for wine makers. D’Alberti thinks that the idea can work in Malta. ‘Dr Alex Rizzo from MCAST [Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology] is studying a gasifier of 20 kW’, explained D’Alberti, ‘so each winery could have one’. For it to be viable you would need a feed-in

tariff for biomass electricity generation. Locally it is set at 16c for solar energy. It is higher in Italy, so a feasibility study is needed to see what government support would be needed. ‘To have biomass energy production in Malta you need governmental action.’ An idea that would require even more government coordination is oenologist Mario Ragusa’s plan of making ethanol from grape must and waste then mixing that ethanol with diesel to make biodiesel to fuel public transport. According to a European study around 68% of petroleum products are used to drive trucks, cars, and buses. Just having 5–10% of ethanol in diesel reduced emissions of carbon monoxide by 17%, carbon dioxide by 17%, and small particulate matter by 21%. This is an easy, cheap way to have cleaner air. Ethanol can be made from the solid remains of wine fermentation by breaking down the grape skin’s cellulose into sugar using a variety of enzymes. The sugar is then used by yeast to make ethanol, as normally happens in wine. ‘The industrial cost is about 30c for 1 litre of ethanol’, said Ragusa passionately. ‘Because it [wine waste and harvest biomass] is a waste, you don’t need to produce any of the fuel, because it’s free, you can find it in your winery, you only have industrial costs.’ Once the technology is in place, it seems like a no-brainer. ‘Consume a bottle of wine and contribute to save the planet.’ Unfortunately, the wine sector in Malta is not big enough to supply enough biomass for ethanol production, but with the right political willpower we could still add that touch of ethanol to our diesel.

Sustainable Wine Maltese researchers are also finding inspiration in the wine sector. Prof. Robert Ghirlando and Ing. Redeemer Axisa explained how they are installing two technologies at the research station in »

Feature

THINK Feature

Buskett. ‘One uses PV [photovoltaic] panels and a conventional chiller, and the other uses a vapour absorption system run by solar heated water’, said Axisa. Vapour absorption refrigeration was invented in the nineteenth century and uses heat to drive the cooling process. ‘When I was younger, we had no electricity in our Għadira summer house but we had a refrigerator that worked by means of a small kerosene flame that provided enough heat to drive the system’, reminisced Ghirlando. The project is trying to establish which system is the most cost-effective for the local scenario. The PV system is pretty standard, but the solar-driven vapour absorption system is innovative in

its simplicity. It doesn’t reach the same cold temperatures of systems in Tunisia and Sicily, but it works with fewer moving parts and a dry cooling tower to reduce the need for water and maintenance. The PV system is up and running, but the absorption system is still being installed. In a few years we should know which the best is. This research is trying to make wine production more sustainable. In Malta, during wine fermentation heat is released which must be removed from the fermentation vessel. If the energy used is being generated by the sun it lessens fossil fuel use. Couple that to the technology the Italians are researching, let us say the algae farms and biomass ener-

gy generation, and wine making quickly becomes a zero carbon green industry. Considering the worldwide wine market will be worth over $300 billion by 2016 means a huge step for greening up our economy without damaging it. Wine is the great networker. In moderation it loosens people up and can aid creativity. But apart from socialising, the study of wine can build a research network and economy. To understand wine and make full use of it, needs archaeologists, sociologists, chemists, oenologists, viticulturists, engineers, politicians, farmers, ecologists, and agricultural scientists. Wine is stunning; ‘wine is the glue’, said Schembri, to life.

•

Wine Facts Keep your wine at a constant temperature. Temperature fluctuations can turn your Super Tuscan into salad dressing. Oxygen enters your wine bottle oxidising the alcohol, or ethanol, into ethanoic acid, or vinegar.

Wines taste differently because of the environment the grapevine lives in, the variety of grape, and manipulations by the oenologist when producing the wine.

Cooling wine brings out acidic flavours like grapefruit and lemon, but also tannins. That’s why it is a good idea to chill a white wine but not a red. Red wines have much more tannin from the grape’s skin and seeds.

A corked wine is tainted by the contact of fungi in the cork with chlorides in the cleaning solutions wineries use. This creates the compound 2,4,6-trichloranisole that means the wine is corked. The only way to detect a corked wine is to taste it.

Wine from warmer climates produces a wine with higher alcohol and less acidity. Higher temperatures make a riper fruit with a higher sugar content that gives the yeast more source material to convert to alcohol and a host of other wonderful substances.

Screw tops, natural cork, and synthetic corks all have their benefits and weaknesses. Screw tops do not allow enough oxygen and neither do synthetic corks—though this is changing—while natural corks can lead to corked wines. No perfect cork exists.

Feature

The mystery of St Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shipwreck Maltaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s identity is deeply intertwined with St Paul. The Islanders have even named a whole bay after him. However there is no hard evidence that St Paul was actually shipwrecked in this area. Elaine Gerada Gatt investigates. Illustrations by Marisabelle Grech

THINK Feature

Elaine Gerada Gatt

or years the Christian religion on the Maltese Islands has had strong foundations. Popular belief holds that St Paul brought Christianity to Malta after being shipwrecked on the Islands. Some academics are sceptical. Although documentation from the Middle Ages is scanty, when the Order of St John arrived in Malta, it was already very clear to them that the faith revolving around St Paul was very strong. Malta seems the most likely place where St Paul’s ship was grounded. The other contender was Mljet (Mileda) which is close to Dubrovnik in the Adriatic Sea. Based on the wind direction prevalent during St Paul's voyage from the Levant to his execution in Rome for his Christian belief, Malta is the most possible location. The new question being debated is whether St Paul’s vessel was actually wrecked towards the north of the Island at St Paul’s Bay, or nearby at the salt pans of Salini, or on the Island’s southern beach called St Thomas Bay in Marsascala.

tected over the winter period. St Paul is thought to have reached our shores in that season. Current harbours have a very different coastline today than nearly two thousand years ago. Coastal erosion, land subsidence, plate tectonics, and siltation are constantly altering coastlines over many years. Siltation is a major coast-modifying factor. The process involves soil being washed down by heavy rains or landslides, with the silt or clay building up in flatter areas like the bottoms of valleys and coastline. ‘The city of Pisa in Italy is a clear example of a well known harbour in the Middle ages but which became inaccessible after the fifteenth century because of the amount of silt that accumulated in its bed’, said Gambin. With reference to Malta, Gambin

found out that the area of Burmarrad and the nearby floodplain was probably a harbour in St Paul’s time, since it was covered in sea water. Supporting this claim is Prof. Godfrey Wettinger’s research on place names, which indicates that the same area in the Middle Ages was well known for its stagnant water pools and had different names suggestive of a port. Back then Burmarrad was known as Bir l-Imriekeb (lit.trans. ‘Well of Vessels’) or Ħirbit l-Imriekeb (lit. trans. ‘Destroyer of Vessels’). Does the word ‘Bir’ (well) refer to a metaphoric well which engulfed vessels, or in the case of ‘Ħirbit’ (destruction) was the area well known for wreckage? The base root of the word ‘Ħirbit’, ‘ħ-r-b-t’, denotes the term ‘ħarbat’, meaning ‘to destroy’. »

Archaeology to the rescue Dr Timmy Gambin, a marine archaeologist, notes that current Maltese harbours mostly face the North East making them susceptible to the strong North Easterly (Gregale) winds. The reconstruction of Malta’s ancient coastline will help define whether vessels in Malta’s harbours would have been pro-

Diver Mark Gatt. Photo by Dr Antonio Ghio

Feature

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Emeritus speaks to the diver who found the ISIS and SARAPIS anchor on 17 April 2010

Acts 28:1–2 After our escape we discovered that the island was called Melita. The natives treated us with uncommon kindness. Because of the driving rain and cold they lit a fire and made us all welcome.

Scanning Malta To gain valuable archaeological information about where St. Paul was shipwrecked many studies have been carried out. In 1999, Gambin, the United States Institute of Nautical Archaeology, and the Museums Department scanned the Valletta harbours using sophisticated technological equipment, such as a sidescan sonar, together with diver surveys. Salina Bay (Salini), Qawra point, and St Paul’s Bay were also scanned. These surveys help map the physical features of the bays and harbours, while providing clues to locate or study archaeological artefacts that might give an idea to the ship’s location. The earlier Malta Archaeological Survey (1988), proved that St Paul’s Bay and the Salini area were used as harbours in the past,

however it did not discover any hard evidence directly associated with St Paul. Meanwhile, new technological equipment is allowing more accurate underwater surveys to take place. Remote sensing technology is making amazing discoveries for marine archaeology without damaging the site. This technique mostly uses airplanes or satellites to map large areas of coastline accurately enabling the study of archaeological sites—like locating St Paul’s wreck. Objects under the seabed can be detected by means of a sub-bottom profiler which maps the sediments underneath the seabed using sonar. Underwater robots or remote operated vehicles (ROVs) allow archaeologists to explore deep-water sites. This equipment is usually operated from on-board the vessel while the ROV ex-

A comparison

St Paul's Bay/Salini

St Thomas Bay

§ Area was a port so the skilful sailors at the time would have recognised it. The Catholic Bible says that the area was unrecognisable § It has no sandy beach § Salini has a sand bank in the middle of the bay § Remains of amphorae date back to Roman times found in the area-indicating it was a port § Siltation research indicates harbour evidence

§ Area was not recognised by sailors § It has a sandy beach § Existence of a reef — Munxar Reef § Divers claimed to have found parts of anchors which, however, were never taken for appropriate testing § Siltation research indicates harbour evidence

THINK Feature

Current harbours have a very different coastline today than nearly two thousand years ago

plores the archaeological site. ROVs usually have cameras to take both still and moving images, as well as lights and arms which can be used to lift up objects. ‘Technology is great and it does guide you but it does not provide you with answers. The continuous changing nature of coasts does not make seabed surveying easier,’ explains Gambin. This technology is helping narrow down the search for St Paul’s shipwreck. Gambin has developed a new model based on the technology available and coupled with literary sources like the Bible. This model sets criteria to help find the harbour close to which St Paul’s ship sank. It will be explained in more detail in an upcoming publication. He points out that despite the model helping to narrow down the ship’s possible location, this research does raise new dilemmas. For instance, ‘if one questions whether the actual author [St Luke] of the Acts of the Apostles in the

Bible, was actually on board the ill-fated vessel, the whole perspective from which we have been looking changes drastically’. This is because if St Luke was not on board, then the written account would not be an eyewitness account, but it would be based more on hearsay. Other theories exist. Bob Cornuke, an American amateur Biblical archaeologist, who is conducting research which can shed further light on passages from the Bible, claims that St Thomas Bay is the most likely location of the shipwreck. His theory is based on four small anchors that were found in the area. The Bible refers to the wrecking being in a place where two seas meet. So according to Cornuke, the anchors and physical geography of St Thomas Bay make it a likely place for the shipwreck. For now, this hypothesis fails due to lack of evidence. Whilst diving a few metres off the Għallis Tower in Salina in 2005, rescue diver Mark Gatt came across a one ton lead anchor. The sheer size and weight suggested that this must have »

Feature

FURTHER READING

belonged to a large vessel—fit for a galleon. Yet the most interesting part of the anchor still had to be revealed. As it was lifted out of the sand, the impressed letters ISIS and SARAPIS appeared on the side of the anchor which had been lying face down in the sand for years, probably preserving this valuable evidence. These are the names of two Graeco–Egyptian gods, suggesting a ship from St Paul’s land of origin. Although this has been considered a major find, it still does not prove that the anchors belonged to the actual vessel St Paul was on when being taken to Rome. Salina Bay has a large number of archaeological artefacts, while St. Paul’s Bay and St. Thomas Bay do not, making Salina a more likely candidate.

Mark Gatt is currently working on a documentary highlighting the importance of Salina Bay as a more likely place for St Paul’s shipwreck. Current technologies and a large concentration of archaeological artefacts found within the area are shedding more light on Salina, although this is by no means conclusive. ‘The beauty of this research topic lies in its elusive character,’ claims Gambin and it is precisely this elusiveness which motivates researchers. New concepts and outlooks keep emerging, encouraging more thought-provoking hypothesis. The answers though, are still obscure and far from conclusive. The location of St Paul’s shipwreck is still shrouded in mystery!

•

• Fiorini, S. and Vella H. C. R. (2006). “New XIIth Century Evidence for the Pauline Tradition and Christianity in the Maltese Islands,” in The Cult of St Paul in the Christian Churches and in the Maltese Tradition, ed. by John Azzopardi (Malta: Acts of the International Symposium of Malta, 26-27 June, 2006), pp.161–172 • Gambin, T. (2004). “Islands of the Middle Sea: An Archaeology of a Coastline,” in Evolución paleoambiental de los puertos y fondeaderosantiguos en el Mediterráneo Occidental, ed. by Lorenza De Maria and Rita Turchetti (Calabria: Rubettino Editore), pp.127–146 • Gambin, T. (2004). “Malta and the Mediterranean Shipping Lanes in the Middle Ages,” in Rotte e porti del Mediterraneo dopo la caduta dell’Impero d’Occidente: Continuità e innovazioni tecnologiche e funzionali. IV Seminario Genova, 18-19 Giugno 2004, ed. by Lorenza De Maria and Rita Turchetti (Calabria: RubettinoEditore, 2005), pp.115– 133 • Gatt, M. (2010). PAVLVS The Shipwreck 60 A.D.. Valletta, Malta: Allied. • Wettinger, G. (2000). PlaceNames of the Maltese Islands Ca. 1300-1800 (Malta: Publishers Enterprises Group)

THINK Feature

Photo by Jean Claude Vancell

Rocking the Islands

Debunking the myth: Malta is at no risk from earthquakes. Malta’s seismologists speak up

major earthquake hit Malta in 1693. At an estimated magnitude of 7.4, it struck about 170 km away, devastating south-eastern Sicily, destroying buildings and killing almost two thirds of Catania’s population. Historical documents record damage in Malta. Mdina’s cathedral needed to be rebuilt. While some might think that an earthquake of similar intensity is rare and would probably not happen again, research suggests that earthquakes of this strength strike every few hundred years in the area. For many, Malta is considered as an earthquake-free region and even the 1693 earthquake is regarded as a ‘Sicilian’ event.

Many of the earthquakes felt in Malta originate beneath Greece, along the Hellenic arc (more than 500 km away), but earthquakes even closer than 50 km away do occur too. Dr Pauline Galea, who lectures at the Department of Physics and coordinates the Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of Malta, explains that the nearby seismic activity is no surprise. ‘Evidence of major tectonic events that took place millions of years ago is right in front of our eyes.’ The Maltese Islands have been shaped by faulting in which large blocks of the Earth’s crust have been displaced vertically. The seabed of the Sicily Channel (between Sicily and Africa) shows that

this is still going on, as revealed by the constant seismic activity being recorded. In the last decade alone over 170 earthquakes have occurred within a 100 km radius around Malta. To understand the risk of earthquakes to Malta, seismicity close to the Islands needs to be monitored. The SMRU is setting up new facilities to better study these earthquakes. The project is a major investment amounting to €2.5 million, called SIMIT, and funded by the Italia-Malta 2007–2013 Operational Programme. Within this project Dr Matthew Agius, a researcher at the SMRU, is responsible for establishing the Malta Seismic Network and the real-time earthquake »

Feature

Clockwise: Dr Matthew Agius, Dr Pauline Galea, Dr Sebastiano D'Amico, Mariya Grech Muscat, Daniela Farrugia and an example of how wave propogation occurs through the Earth. Photos by Edward Duca.

monitoring system. Two new, permanent seismic stations are being deployed, one in central Malta and another in Gozo, complementing the seismic station in Wied Dalam. By improving coverage of earthquakes, the new stations will improve the accuracy of earthquake hypocenter location—the point within the Earth where an earthquake rupture starts—and the determination of the fault mechanism. This will provide a better understanding of what is actually causing the local earthquakes to occur. Regional earthquakes with epicentres even up to 1,000 km away can also be felt in Malta. These seismic events can pose a danger. In order to monitor these distant earthquakes the SMRU has upgraded its IT systems and installed current state-of-the-art soft-

ware for early warning systems developed by the seismological community. With this software, ‘virtual networks’ can be created by obtaining real-time feeds from seismic recording stations all over the globe—the size of the network is limited only by the amount of data storage space available. At the moment, data from over 30 stations across the Mediterranean are being retrieved at the SMRU in near-real time. The data is automatically processed to detect earthquakes, and alerts personnel when they happen. The system can issue an alert within a couple of minutes after an earthquake occurs hundreds of kilometres away from Malta. When a strong earthquake occurs, an early warning can be activated before the strong seismic waves reach our shores. Such systems are already in place in

countries like Japan, where the early warning system might give just enough time (seconds or minutes) for people to seek a safe place and essential systems, like power stations, to shut down automatically.

Plan, protect, preserve An earthquake happens because stress accumulates between two sides of a fault line. The locked-in stress gives way suddenly causing a huge quick release of energy that travels through the earth. When a major earthquake strikes an urban area the consequences may be disastrous. The assessment of seismic hazard is one of the most important contributions of seismology to modern society. Seismic hazard refers to the study of the expected earthquake ground motion of

THINK Feature

a particular area on the Earth’s surface, and the corresponding damage that can be caused there. These studies result in seismic hazard maps that identify the extent to which different areas are expected to shake, on a local, regional, or national basis. Architects and structural engineers need this information to plan for the worst and reduce the risk of damage and death in case a strong earthquake hits Malta. Recent large and moderate earthquakes worldwide in densely populated areas have shown that buildings are often inadequately built to withstand seismic events. Many houses, industrial complexes, and cultural heritage sites are unable to resist strong ground shaking and may collapse or experience severe damage. To predict how susceptible an area is to earthquake damage, ground motion scenarios (a description of expected ground-motion levels) need to be generated, combined with a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and proper earthquake source characterisations (an analysis of the size and behaviour of the faults that generate earthquakes). These models simulate how a hypothetical earthquake would affect each point in an area. This is the work of Dr Sebastiano D’Amico, a resident academic at the SMRU. By basing scenarios on realistic earthquake events, such research can help governments understand specific problems based on scientific and engineering knowledge rather than on fear. D’Amico and other local researchers are building this type of computed scenarios for Malta and nearby regions. These are extremely important. A set of well-crafted scenarios provides a powerful tool for decision makers,

The brand new, state-of-the-art seismometers and digitisers recently purchased by the SMRU.

emergency planners, private industry, and the general public to evaluate an area’s risk, and create plans that would minimise damage and loss. In addition, the use of these simulations in quasi-real-time can be critical for emergency management that can save lives and optimise Civil Protection operations. Several factors need to be considered to obtain reliable earthquake ground motion scenarios, such as location of the earthquake source, the energy released at the source area, the physical properties of the Earth’s crust, and the local site effects. Over the past few years the SMRU scientists have carried out several studies, investigating the behaviour of different areas of the Maltese Islands during earthquake shaking. This behaviour depends in part on the underlying rock types. Ph.D. student Daniela Farrugia is helping build a scenario of how the ground surface could respond to earthquake shaking in Malta and Gozo. Using field equipment acquired through the SIMIT project, she is recording and utilising seismic ambient noise— the natural and continuous vibrations of rocks caused by wind, ocean waves, »

When a strong earthquake occurs, an early warning can be activated before the strong seismic waves reach our shores

Feature

Damage to Port au Prince's downtown area in Haiti after an earthquake measuring 7+ on the Richter scale rocked the country just before 5 p.m., 12 January 2010.

traffic, and other passive sources. This type of commonly available seismic signal is becoming increasingly used by seismologists, who are finding that it can provide detailed information about the Earth. From her analysis Farrugia can establish various rock properties of the shallow subsurface, down to around 100 m in Malta, which affect the amount of vibration and duration of ground shaking caused by an earthquake. Soft layers of rock amplify ground motion and can cause considerable damage even if an earthquake is not large or at distance. The 1985 Michoacán (Mexico) earthquake caused severe damage in Mexico City, which was more than 350 km away, and much less damage in places closer to the epicentre. Mexico City is built on soft shallow sediments. The Maltese Islands are characterised by four main strata (layers) of sedimentary rocks. The blue clay layer is softer

The 2011 Japan earthquake, which had a magnitude around 9, was equivalent to around 30,000 Hiroshima bombs exploding altogether!

than the other limestone layers, and found commonly in the western half of Malta and Gozo. Farrugia is investigating the degree of amplification caused by the soft clay layer. This information can help create a model that predicts the behaviour of different localities in response to earthquake ground shaking.

Which stands? Which falls? Violent ground shaking rarely kills people; earthquakes lead to deaths because of collapsing, structurally-weak buildings. In general, damage during an earthquake results from several factors: strength of shaking, duration of shaking, type of soil, and building construction. During an earthquake all buildings oscillate irrespective of their size. A taller building does not necessarily shake more. This is because different

THINK Feature

buildings have their own ‘unique’ frequency at which they shake by a much greater amount, known as their natural resonant frequency. Small buildings are more prone to shaking by high frequency waves, whereas high-rise structures are sensitive to slower ground shaking. Moreover, earthquakes from different sources give rise to different ranges of frequency of ground motion. If the frequency at which the earthquake causes the ground to shake is close to a building’s natural frequency, the building is much more likely to be damaged. In general the most damaging earthquakes are closer and stronger. The only way to reduce damage is to construct buildings that can withstand the shaking. Sometimes, even weak earthquakes unexpectedly cause a lot of damage because of poor preparedness. In the 1908 Messina earthquake, the major cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria, and surrounding areas, were almost completely destroyed with 70,000 deaths. Buildings were not earthquake resistant having heavy roofs and vulnerable foundations. Four years ago a magnitude 7 earthquake in Haiti caused one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history. Again, the buildings that collapsed were built shoddily. Most of the worst natural disasters result from poor strategies in preparing for, and dealing with, earthquakes. The underlying geology is another key ingredient to earthquake damage. The 1985 earthquake that devastated Mexico City killed 10,000 people, injured 50,000 and left 250,000 homeless. Bizarrely, short and tall buildings remained standing while medium-height buildings proved vulnerable. These buildings’ resonance frequency matched the frequency amplified by the subsoils under this area of Mexico City. The subsoil made the damage much worse than it should

Above: Earthquakes which occurred in the Mediterranean region as recorded by the SMRU between 2007 and 2012. Below: Seismogram of the Great East Japan earthquake recorded at Wied Dalam (Malta) on Friday, 11 March 2011.

have been, leading to a damage bill of $3.5 billion. Malta needs to learn from these events. In the last few decades urban development has sky rocketed after the nineties’ building and economic boom. If Malta were to be hit by a similar earthquake to the 1693 one, the economic impact and

damage would be very high. All around the world the economic losses from earthquake disasters are increasing, not because earthquakes are stronger or more frequent, but because cities are becoming metropolises having high population densities and sophisticated infrastructures. »

Feature

The bright side of earthquakes For many people the word ‘earthquake’ sends shivers down their spine, but for Earth-curious seismologists every earthquake is an opportunity to discover what the Earth looks like from the inside. Just like in the medical field patients undergo ultrasound imaging or CT (computerised tomography) scans to see what is inside their body, similarly, seismologists use seismic waves to image the entire planet. Earthquakes release tremendous amounts of energy. For each unit increase in magnitude the energy increases by about 30 times. For example, an earthquake of magnitude 3 has the energy equivalent to a large lightning bolt, while a magnitude 6 earthquake has the energy equivalent to the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The 2011 Japan earthquake, which had a magnitude around 9, was equivalent to around 30,000 Hiroshima bombs exploding altogether! Earthquakes release their energy as seismic waves. The energy radiates across the globe both at the surface and deep within the Earth. These pulses penetrate through the entire planet, literally propagating from one side of the Earth to another—a distance of approximately 12,700 km. In the early 20th century seismologists carried out tedious searches for the arrival of these pulses by examining seismograph recordings from across the world. By analysing this data they realised that the Earth is not a homogeneous sphere of uniform density. Waves were being slowed down, accelerated, reflected, and refracted by the planet’s internal

The Magħlaq Fault, located south of Malta, is a perfect example of vertical displacement of large blocks of rock that make up the Maltese Islands.

layers. The way the waves are modified gives a clue on the Earth’s rock composition. As a result of these studies, we know that the Earth is made up of a rigid crust, a softer mantle, a liquid outer core, and a solid inner core. There are tens of thousands of seismographs around the world keeping track of earthquakes. This number is increasing hand in hand with computing power enabling seismologists to process huge amounts of data relatively quickly, and extract much more detail about the Earth’s interior than ever before. A powerful imaging tool used to image the Earth’s outer layers is the analysis of different velocities of seismic surface waves at different frequencies, an effect known as dispersion. During his Ph.D. at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dr Matthew Agius investigated the tectonic dynamics beneath Tibet by studying the dispersive properties of such waves. Tibet is considered a natural laboratory to study active plate tectonics. India is moving northwards towards Eurasia by approximately five centimetres a year and subducting beneath Tibet’s plateau. By analysing how seismic surface waves propagate through the vast region, Dr Agius was able to image the geometry of the Indian continent buried under Tibet, and has established how far north India is beneath Tibet today. Dr Agius explains

The 1985 earthquake that devastated Mexico City killed 10,000 people, injured 50,000 and left 250,000 homeless that when an earthquake strikes it is like a flashlight illuminating the Earth’s interior—the stronger the earthquake the better the quality of the data. The compilation of many earthquake recordings from many seismic stations increases the resolution of the image. Earthquakes give the opportunity to image the world in 3D and help us better understand the driving mechanisms that generate the earthquakes in the first place. Another study is peering deep into the ground beneath Malta and the Sicily Channel. Mariya Grech Muscat, another research student at SMRU, is

THINK Feature

Ground motion scenario for an earthquake of magnitude 5 located about 20 km south of Malta. Colour scale represents peak velocity of the ground surface in cm/s.

studying the seismograms of large, distant earthquakes (more than 1,000 km away), where the waves have travelled through the planet’s interior and were recorded at a few stations in the central Mediterranean. She can extract the part of the signal that represents the last few kilometres of the travelling path of the seismic waves—the layered

crust and upper mantle beneath the station. On travelling through these layers the waves are modified and reverberate within the crust. This produces seismic signatures that contain information about the thickness and nature of these crustal layers. In this way the thickness of the crust around Malta and Sicily can be measured. Below the Sicily Channel, a rift in the crust appears to be causing a part of the Pelagian platform to pull away from North Africa (beneath Malta and Tunisia). Such studies could shed more light on what is happening. Malta is not an earthquake hotspot like California or Mexico, but it is susceptible to large quakes that happen elsewhere in the Mediterranean. The SMRU is finally getting the injection

of funds it needs to expand its facilities, work to continue monitoring the local and regional seismicity, and to piecing together the puzzle of Malta’s subsurface landscape. Studies on how different areas of the Maltese Islands could react to earthquakes is important for developing national strategies that will minimise damage. These studies need to go hand in hand with civil engineering efforts to make sure that our buildings are safe. Only then will the Maltese Islands be earthquake ready and ensure the preservation of their beautiful heritage.

•

This article is part of a series celebrating 100 years since the Faculty of Science was founded in 17 September 1915.

THINK Feature

Immortalising Heritage Limestone is precious to Malta. The softness of the stone makes beautiful sculptures but also erodes quickly. Jessica Edwards caught up with Dr Daniel Vella and Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra to find out how limestone and Malta’s heritage can be protected

alking through a historical city, seeing all the old buildings and statues, how are they still in such an exceptional condition? Or, imagine you need to renovate an old house in Mdina, or the Neolithic temples in Tarxien, or the over 100-foot high bastions around Valletta. These structures all need stone conservation.

Stone conservation is a complex science. Two methods used to conserve and/or restore stone are consolidation and cleaning. Limestone is soft and deteriorates by weathering. This erosion is caused by natural phenomena: wind, rain and salt crystallisation—very common in Malta. The salt may come from fog or sea spray, or even from rising damp with the salt dissolved in water. If the water evaporates »

Jessica Edwards

Feature

on the stone’s surface it is harmless (efflorescence), but if it crystallises below the stone’s surface (inflorescence) it is a very different issue. Then salts crystallise in the stone’s pores, where they apply pressure on the surrounding pore walls that eventually breaks the structure down causing the stone surface to flake. This is the purpose of a consolidation, which is the application of a material on a stone’s surface to bind the deteriorating outer layers with the ‘healthier’ inner stone. The consolidant restores its mechanical integrity. But how do conservators know which material to use? Dr Daniel Vella, Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra and their teams at the Univer-

sity of Malta are testing consolidants to find the best ‘glue’ for local limestone. Before his work at the University of Malta, Vella worked for nine years with Heritage Malta teaching conservation students the science behind the practice. His Ph.D. involved applying transparent protective coatings to historical steel objects. After his Ph.D., Vella teamed up with Sinagra to work on stone conservation and, in doing so expanding his research portfolio. One of the first chemicals used for consolidation were organic polymers (polymers are chains of the same molecule strung together). Substances such as acrylic, PVC, and epoxy were used as consolidants. The problem is that

these materials degrade with time and change to a yellowish colour. A consolidant needs to seem invisible, not be noticeable. Old Maltese houses are built of limestone. Limestone is porous, with water and its dissolved salts passing through it. This continuous passage of water is needed in old houses to prevent salt build up. Another problem of organic polymers is that they prevent the free passage of water through the stone. The salt deposits end up forming beneath the consolidant. Accumulation of salt eventually pushes out the consolidant along with a thick layer of stone. Modern houses are damp proofed with a thick layer of tar so that the water never

THINK Feature

Left: Dr Daniel Vella and Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra. Photo by Edward Duca. Above: Shots of stone deterioration in Valletta. Photos by Jean Claude Vancell.

reaches the stone walls, eliminating the problem completely. Vella and Sinagra’s research focuses on a new breed of consolidants that provide mechanical support for the stone, but allow it to breathe allowing water to pass through it along with dissolved salts. These polymers are not organic but instead based on lime (calcium oxide, used in concrete and mortar) or silica (Silicon dioxide, used to make glass and microchips). Silica consolidants will be discussed later, lime works by first being used to coat walls after being made into a coarse lime slurry that is applied to the stone. This blocks the pores but the stone still remains porous. ‘The advantage of lime is that if it is

A consolidant needs to seem invisible, not be noticeable

used as a consolidant it can also be used as a sacrificial layer,’ Vella explained. This approach was used back in the 15–18th century by the Knights of St John. The lime was applied as two thick layers together with a colour pigment. The second layer acted as a protective layer from salt crystallisation within the stone, which causes the outer layer of the consolidant to eventually fall off. If the outer layer does fall off it can easily be reapplied. Lime dissolved in water is one consolidant Vella and Sinagra are investigating. Limewater (calcium hydroxide) works by entering the stone where it reacts with carbon dioxide being transformed into calcium carbonate, »

Feature

limestone itself. The downside of limewater is that large amounts are needed because lime does not easily dissolve in water. Improving the solubility of lime would turn it into a much better consolidant for stone conservation and restoration. One solution is nano-limes, so named due to their small size. These small particles are so tiny that they can remain suspended in the water for a long time without settling, allowing much more lime to be applied to the stone. Nano-limes are already available commercially. Tests by Prof. JoAnn Cassar (Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malta) and her team showed that these limes are not always as small as is claimed on the packet. Commercial nano-limes do not always penetrate local limestone even though they should be small enough to do so. To control the nano-lime’s size, chemistry student Duncan Micallef created a micro-reactor. Micro-reactors are confined spaces used to make particles of a specific size. He created a micro-reactor out of a micro-emulsion, a liquid mixture of water in hexane. Hex-

In large amounts, hexane is a health hazard to the conservator

ane is not soluble in water, forming tiny droplets, like the fat droplets in milk. He grew his lime nanoparticles in these tiny droplets. Micallef grew 10-20 nm nano-lime particles, around an order of magnitude smaller than commercial products. These nano-limes could pass through stone pores and properly consolidate local stone—problem solved. Micallef dissolved his nano-lime in hexane—a toxic compound—creating another problem. In large amounts, hexane is a health hazard to the conservator. The next stage is to find a harmless solvent to dissolve the nano-lime. An ideal consolidant would be a liquid that when placed inside the stone polymerises becoming solid. The consolidant should also line the internal stone pore structure rather than fill up pore space as happens with organic polymers. Vella researched salts that are basically liquid glass. The starting material is a liquid precursor molecule containing silicon-tetraethoxysilane—a modified form of silicon. With the addition of water this molecule reacts to form silica nanoparticles (~4 nm diameter) small

THINK Feature

enough to seep through the limestone pores and polymerise. This consolidant nicely lines the stone’s pores rather than blocking them. Silica consolidants suffer from weak chemical binding with limestone. Silica is not chemically attracted to the calcium carbonate that makes up limestone. The stone needs a ‘guru’ (a primer to help it bind) to be consolidated. One ‘guru’ is pre-treating the stone with ammonium tartarate. This primer reacts with the stone forming a layer of calcium tartarate, which silica consolidants can react with forming a stronger bond and improving the mechanical integrity of the stone. The only problem is that the reaction does not occur easily. Vella, Sinagra, and their team are working on making new silica-based molecules that can be more effective. Their student, Sophie Briffa, tested the ammonium tartarate primer and is planning to improve silica-based consolidants by having the primer attached to it. This would reduce the number of steps simplifying the procedure to conserve or restore limestone. Apart from consolidation, the stone must be cleaned. The requirement to

clean a building is usually motivated by the aesthetic benefit. Stains of iron (III) oxide, or rust, are the most common stains, these usually give the stone a reddish colour. Rust has a very low solubility in water which means it is incredibly difficult to wash away. The ochre decorations at the Hypogeum would probably have been lost otherwise. Looking over the bastions of Mdina, some of the stone appears reddish due to this. One way of removing these stains is through the chemical reduction of iron (III) to iron (II) by using a mild reducing agent followed by a chelating agent that traps

the heavy metal, the iron. Vella and Sinagra used a similar method to remove copper stains, were they used an amino acid called glycine as a chelating agent, which worked in cleaning the copper. Malta’s limestone heritage can be kept alive. The methods Sinagra and Vella are researching still need refining before they can be applied in the real world. What would Malta be like if it lost the bastions of Valletta or Birgu’s houses, not to mention the churches and chapels all over the Islands? Heritage denotes the history of a place, its identity: a projection of Maltese culture.

•

Photos by Jean Claude Vancell

Alumni

ALUMNI talk Brain Works Ariana Gatt talks about pharma, fruit fly research, and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

IN 2008 I graduated from the University of Malta with a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biology. Then, I worked as an R&D chemist with SoleaPharma Ltd., which also allowed me to spend six months training in pharmaceutical chemistry in Spain at the mother company Gadea Pharmaceuticals. I learned a lot in this period—not only lab work skills, but also about the whole business and industry. However, after two years working in the pharma industry, I realised I still wanted to further my studies. I had always dreamed of studying abroad and experiencing a university in another country, so I applied for Masters courses in the UK. I had realised by this point that I wanted to carry out biomedical research, with a particular interest in neuroscience. I read for an M.Sc. in molecular sciences and biomedical research at King’s College London, funded by an EU funded STEPS scholarship. The M.Sc. opened the door for a Ph.D. in the same lab, which I am currently finishing . For my Ph.D., I am investigating the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegeneration. Mitochondria produce energy for our cells. They are especially important in brain cells,

since the brain uses 20% of the body’s energy. In neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, mitochondria stop functioning properly, leading to a loss of energy in the brain. This may contribute to the eventual death of brain cells. In my project, I am modelling the loss of mitochondrial function in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to understand the early stages of neurodegeneration. Fruit flies and humans share many genes and therefore, studying the genes involved in mitochondrial dysfunction in the fly allows us to find potential early treatments to prevent irreparable damage in human neurodegenerative diseases. Part of my Ph.D. focuses on studying human tissue from patients who have died from these diseases. These post-mortem tissue samples are obtained from UK brain banks. I am using them to identify genes that are involved in these diseases. I don’t know what lies ahead in my career path. I hope it will involve answering questions regarding brain function and helping to solve the many puzzles related to neurodegenerative disease.

•

THINK Alumni

Succeeding by Failing Luana Micallef tells us about her career starting from a young computer scientist at Microsoft and CERN to helping treating cancer FIRST, become a computer scientist. Second, study abroad. Third, work at Microsoft and CERN—one of the world’s largest nuclear research centres. Fourth, get a Ph.D.. Did I plan this since I was a child? No, not really. I was fortunate enough to have tutors who helped me recognise my abilities and the career I should pursue. My career was kick-started by the opportunities provided by the academic institutions I attended. I graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Information Technology from the University of Malta in 2008. A year before, I was chosen by University to be the computer scientist in the first group of Maltese students to work at CERN over summer. That year, my group was selected to compete at the Microsoft Imagine Cup with a system we had devised for a course module. The system was deployed in a primary school in Malta, where 30 students in a class could each participate in the computer activities using only 8 computers. This system made it to the finals and we were awarded an internship with Microsoft Research to help improve education in India.

These enriching experiences encouraged me to pursue a research career and to further my studies. The inspirational people I met helped me realise that with hard work, passion, determination, and perseverance anything is achievable. You just have to believe in yourself and give it a go. If you fail, you try again. Failures just help us strengthen our weaknesses—a mentality often forgotten in our culture. The University of Kent awarded me a postgraduate Ph.D. scholarship in the area of information visualisation. I devised computer methods to facilitate the analysis of groups in data through visualisations. These data groups are commonly found in areas like medicine and criminology. One of these methods featured in a New York Times Science article and on the US Department of Energy National Laboratory website, while another was used to help patients understand the likelihood that they have breast cancer when diagnosed with a positive mammography. As a Ph.D. student, I tried not to lose any opportunity to learn and get involved in my scientific research communities. For instance, I interned with

INRIA (the current top European Computer Science research centre), gave a featured talk to the Charlotte Analytics and Big Data Society, helped organise conferences, got a National Security Agency scholarship for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, and attended the Google EMEA Scholarships Retreat. The list of opportunities for Ph.D. students is endless, especially for women in science. You just have to be active and look for them. After completing my Ph.D. I was appointed a Research Fellow at the University of Kent. A few months ago, I moved to Finland where I am now a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology. I am also an Honorary Research Fellow with the University of Kent. My current research is trying to help clinicians determine the right treatment for a cancer patient through visualisations. I could only achieve all that I have thanks to my mentors, my role models, and my failures. And now? I just keep an eye out for new exciting ventures and other inspirational role models, while trying to support the next generation of researchers.

•

Culture

A Relationship of Cultures

alta is European (and a few other things). So European that in 2018 Valletta will be the European City of Culture (ECoC). ECoC was set up to raise awareness about ‘Europeanness’ with mixed success over the last 25 years. To explore through cultural diplomacy the common histories and geo-political realities of Europe and the Mediterranean, the Valletta 2018 Foundation launched the first of a series of conferences last September. For Dr Jason Dittmer, a conference speaker and expert on cultural practices and diplomacy at University College London, ‘the ECoC offers the opportunity to learn about parts of Europe that have rich histories and cultures but which are overshadowed by the more obvious cultural centers. Many of these places are absolutely fascinating and distinctive and only need a nudge from a programme like this in order to get the limelight’. In fact, one of the outcomes of the conference was to create a concrete road map for Valletta (and Malta) in the build-up to its celebration of ECoC, 2018. Having the spotlight on Valletta in 2018 also raises the issue of what Malta’s identity is. Dittmer thinks that ‘the

identity of any city or country is always an amalgam of other places, shaped by historical flows of people and ideas’. Being in the centre of the Mediterranean has left Malta with a rich identity. Dittmer then expands on the concept and gives an important warning. ‘I prefer not to talk in terms of identity, but instead to think in terms of cultural repertoires from which people can draw. These repertoires are produced from the full array of influences shaping the place in which they live. Those attempting to nail down a single identity for a place tend to have an unsavoury objective in mind.’ Anna Steinkamp’s views on identity are different on paper, yet also very similar in that both Dittmer and Steinkamp are arguing for a more inclusive idea of ‘Europe’ that acknowledges the role of the south shore of the Mediterranean (Steinkamp was another conference speaker and is an expert on cultural diversity at the German Commission for UNESCO). ‘[…] Human beings identify through differences. Accordingly, the European identity is not only built upon diversity but also [on] differences. These differences become very clear in the Mediterranean area, [for example] through the high number of migrants

Dr Jason Dittmer

Anna Steinkamp

who fail at the European borders. Hence, this discourse about EU/European identity is also generating new boundaries whereas the Mediterranean has always [been] a melting pot of cultures. We should focus more on commonalities than on differences and not think too much about our European identity but about our identity as global citizens.’

•

The ‘Dialogue in the Med’ conference was the ‘First Annual Valletta 2018 International Conference on Cultural Relations in Europe and the Mediterranean’ and took place between 4–5 September 2014 at the University of Malta, Valletta Campus. A second conference is being planned for October 2015 focused on Cultural Mapping. www.valletta2018.org

THINK Fun

BOOK REVIEW by The Editor

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot Quill rating:

OVER 60 Best Book of the Year lists, 75 weeks on the New York Best Sellers list, and several prestigious awards, The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a must read for all. I don’t usually review 4-year old books, but this non-fiction book has it all: race and class issues, betrayal, loss, education and healthcare access, exploitation, and lucidly told science. The book is a journey. A journey for Skloot, you can sense a certain naïvety and youthful enthusiasm at the beginning of the book that matures by its end. You also see a change in the people she meets, especially the family of Henrietta Lacks: some became close friends, others shunned her, others still ignored her then became her strongest allies in righting the wrong behind Henrietta’s life and beyond. Book proceeds helped Skloot set up the Henrietta Lacks Foundation to help her family and people in similar circumstances. I met ‘HeLa’ before I met Henrietta. For my masters, I grew her cells to study a protein complex involved in cell division (cells dividing incorrectly leads to cancer) without knowing anything about her. I learnt about Henrietta before this book; my Ph.D. supervisor Prof. Margerete Heck passed around a one-page article about her with a moral

tag line about one of the lowest ethical points in science. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman who died on the 4 October, 1951 aged 31 from a very aggressive form of cervical cancer. The cancer was so aggressive that she died within months of her diagnosis at Johns Hopkins Hospital. That aggression made these cells special. Before she died, Dr Howard W. Jones took a sample of her cancer and passed it on to researcher George Otto Gey who, together with his wife Margaret Gey, successfully cultured Lack’s cells in a lab.

The story is what I love about this book. Many popular science books are slaves to explaining really cool science, missing the point of storytelling Otto generously and freely distributed this first immortalised cell line popularising it around the world. Researchers used it to develop a polio vaccine protecting millions, to learn about how

cells work, DNA functions, cancer, toxicity, and even AIDS. Companies commercialised it making countless millions from Henrietta’s cells with nearly 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells. Her family received neither notifications of these developments nor any royalties. Yet even Skloot doesn’t demonise the scientists since back then the concept of informed consent was non-existent. It’s not even a question of race; Skloot admits that the scientists would have propagated the cells of a poor white woman in the same way. It’s a question of education and healthcare access, points still pertinent today. The story is what I love about this book. Many popular science books are slaves to explaining really cool science, missing the point of storytelling. The best science books manage to balance these two qualities. Skloot goes one step further. To appreciate the story, she needs to tell you about the amazing scientific findings behind these cells. By learning the scientific background, the story becomes richer. After this book, Skloot started tackling animals. Before science writing, Skloot was a veterinary technician. If you thought HeLa was an ethical mine field, animal research is much more explosive.

•

Fun

GAME REVIEW by Costantino Oliva

Vib Ribbon If you’re into music-centric games, you’re in for a treat. Vib-Ribbon, the seminal rhythm game released in 1999 for the original Playstation, is back on contemporary consoles. It’s not a new version, but rather a faithful emulation: an important recognition for a title that was never commercially released in North America, but still made its way into the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York) collection. The gameplay has remained crucially simple and appealing: push the console buttons on time, and the rabbit heroine will jump, spin, and rotate, all to the rhythm of the incredibily well-fitting ultra-pop songs composed by the Japanese

band Laugh and Peace. The soundtrack is heavily manipulated with morphing tempos and bass counterpoints in reaction to the player’s input: the result is exhilarating. The visual style, somewhat reminiscent of the famous animation La Linea, is extremely minimalistic, contributing to the remarkable originality of the game. It’s a shame that the PS Vita version lacks one of the main features: using any kind of music CD to generate potentially infinite levels. Even so, one of the most creative titles to ever appear on the Sony console is back, ready to surprise a new generation of players.

•

Can humans live on other planets? Well this is a vast question, yes they can. However, it is not all that simple. Start off with the fact that we don’t have the technology to access Earth-like planets we could live on. Over forty planets that could be habitable have already been found. Reaching the exoplanet might only be half the problem. Will the planet already be suitable for life? Or, will we need to terraform it, manipulate its

environment, so we can mould it into our Mother Earth? Will we be wiped out by some unknown disease we have no resistance to—as happened to the aliens in War of the Worlds. Will we be able to adapt to the environment? What about building a colony outside our planet which will be completely independent of Earth? Eventually yes, on a planet with the right conditions, but let’s get there first.

Send your questions to think@um.edu.mt and we’ll find out if it’s the truth or just a fib!

?? ?

? ? ? ? ??

FACT or FICTION? by Alexander Hili

Developer: NanaOn-Sha/Sony Computer Entertainment Platform: PS Vita (version tested)/PS3 Game Rating: «««««

THINK Fun

FILM REVIEW

by Noel Tanti and Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone

Horns Krista: I will first get one gripe out of the way. There are two female supporting characters who fit too easily into the binary categories of ‘slut’ and ‘pure’. I’d like to say that it’s a self-aware critique of the way social perceptions entrap anyone, but the women are simply there to either support or motivate the action, leaving boyhood friendship dynamics as the central theme. Unfortunately, the female characters felt expendable. Noel: The female characters are very much up in the air, shallow, and abstracted concepts that are thinly fleshed out. As you pointed out, they are little more than unimaginative props that work around the murder mystery plot. Thematically, they don’t make much sense and come across as half-baked (at best). K: Does it work on the crime-thriller level? Being a two-hour film it’s overlong. If it were to rely on the ‘suspense’ of its ‘whodunnit’ plot, the solution is pretty obvious early on, given the shortage of suspects. N: I loved the bits where the film became a sort of Carry-On Demon. I loved the scene with the doctor and the nurse. These moments were funny, poignant, and had a point to make. They reminded me of early John Landis films: light,

Film: Horns (2013)

««««« Director: Alexandre Aja Certification: R Gore rating: SSSSS

campy, and with something interesting to say, extremely tongue-in-cheek. K: The premise is inherently comical and the film embraces that for a while. It then seems to swing between bitter-sweet sentimental extended flashbacks and the ridiculous. The tone feels unsettled. The film was at its best when it was indulging the ridiculous streak. I wanted more of the shamelessly overthe-top parts and less of the cringe-inducing Richard Marx doing Hazard vibe which firmly entrenched the woman in a sentimentally teary haze. The more delightful parts reminded me of Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981). In that film the community-pariah was excluded for a crime he didn’t commit, revenge transformed him into a monster. (On a side note: the soundtrack features a great music selection.)

he embarked on two remakes that are more miss than hit, Mirrors (2008) and Piranha 3D (2010). Both of them share the run-of-the-mill, textbook scare-bynumbers approach as Horns. K: Verdict? Like you, I enjoyed the over-the-top aspect interrupted by the over-earnestness in the overly extended flashback sequences that were too drastic a change of tone. N: I see it as a missed opportunity. This film could have been really good if only the filmmakers had the guts to pursue its campy, mischievous premise. K: Agreed.

•

N: The film started off well but then it didn’t seem to know where to go next. It resorted to a clichéd approach—seemingly, director Alexandre Aja’s preferred way of doing things. He started off as one of the bad boy French directors—High Tension (2003) was daring in many ways. Few films had dared to empower women with so much savagery as he did. Then

. 76. 75. 74. 73. 7 . 77 2. 7 78 1 .7 9. 0. 69 . 6 8. 67, 66 65, 64. 63. 6 2. 38. 37 9 . 36 61 . 1. . 25 .6 . 34. 33. 32. 31. 30 .

. 83. 82. 5. 84 81. 6. 8 80 .8 .7 87 . 8

. 99. 100

6. 4 7. 4 . 51. 50. 49. 4 8. 4

4 5. 4

41. 40. 3 42. 9. 3. .4

.9 . 93. 92 1. 90. 8 . 94 9. . 95 8 96 7. 9 .

Fun

28. 27. 26. 2 5 , . 4 . 23. 22. 2

56. 55. 54.

53. 2

20. 19. 1 8. 1 7 . 16

. 1 5. 14. 13

. 11. 10. 9. 12

. 7 . 6. 5. 4

0. 59. 58 .5 2. 1 7. 3.

100 WORD

ideas to change MALTA

PLAS by DR JEAN-PAUL DE LUCCA Think breadth: broadening your knowledge, pursuing your passion and acquiring useful transferable skills. Think opportunity: studying at your own pace while juggling many commitments. An opportunity to continue your education or improve your career prospects. Think flexibility: designing your own programme of studies

[Don’t] THINK!

by choosing any and as many short courses as you wish from a wide variety of fields. You can take just one or several classes, but you can also build up a diploma or a degree, with no time limits. The University of Malta’s Programme in the Liberal Arts and Sciences (PLAS). Think about it. Visit www.um.edu.mt/clas

•

by Dr Ġorġ Mallia

2 3 4 5

THE MUST-HAVE 2014

TECH CHRISTMAS LIST

by Matthew Cesareo from the Gadgets team

hristmas is just around the corner, and for many of you out there, that means that it’s time to start dropping hints to your loved ones. Gadgets are growing in popularity and are one of the most wanted Christmas presents— according to us. Below is our list of top Gadgets for your Christmas stocking.

1 The GoPro Hero4 GoPro have released the latest in their series of blockbusting action cameras, the GoPro Hero4. It’s the first gadget on my list because it provides amazing filming in the palm of your hands. The Black edition caps out at 4K resolution at 30 fps (Ultra HD), or 1080p (HD) at 120 fps, which brings impeccable detail to your footage. The image sensor has been tweaked, enhancing overall performance and image quality in low light conditions. The Silver edition has an LCD panel at the back of the camera and records at 1080p at 60 fps—just like the GoPro 3+ Black. For those on a budget, the Hero model offers 1080p at 30 fps video for just €125!

2 The Bose QC®25 Every music lover wants a decent pair of headphones, and even though the Beats by Dr Dre have dominated most of the mainstream market, I still find Bose headphones deliver impeccable performance and offer a fuller, more dynamic sound. Their latest noise cancelling headphones, the QC®25, are perfect for noisy environments like people enduring regular flights—remove on take-off and landing—or commuting by buses or trains.

3 The Sphero Ollie The list wouldn’t be complete without a gadget that provides senseless fun. Ollie is basically a smartphone-controlled robot-cylinder which has been dubbed as the ‘Tony Hawk’ of the Sphero family. The device can reach speeds of up to 14 mph and can perform cool tricks. Ollie is also extremely rugged, and is able to take some abuse. Thanks to the third party hubcaps, Ollie can tackle different terrains without affecting its manoeuvrability.

4 The moto 360 Smartwatches have taken over the world and the craze is far from over. The only smartwatch which I would be inclined to purchase, and wouldn’t mind finding in my Christmas stockings, is the moto 360. The minimalistic design, the sleek finish, and the superb high-resolution display, simply set this device apart. The smart notifications keep you constantly connected to the online world. The smartwatch is hardy with a Gorilla Glass 3 screen mounted on a waterproof housing.

5 The Playstation®4 This was released last holiday season, but the device is being revitalised with a set of exclusive game titles and a new virtual reality headset. Project Morpheus is hitting the shelves in 2015. The Playstation®4 has sold 10 million units, so if you’re mildly interested in gaming you should really immerse yourself in the world the of PS4™ and jot it down on your Christmas List.

•

Fun

BOARD GAME REVIEW by David Chircop

Haggis HAGGIS is the only game that I rate a round solid 10. I know, it’s probably not good review practice to give your opinion so clearly and obviously at the very beginning, but Haggis is a special game. It’s the only game that I voluntarily own two copies of, just in case something happens to my other one, or the cards just disintegrate after one too many plays. Haggis is that game. The game is strange, because Haggis has no theme. It’s a game of numbers, colours, and emptying your hand of the cards in delightfully strategic moments during gameplay. Quite simply, you need to shed all your cards. Sounds like Uno! Well that’s where the similarities end. Haggis’s design is much more modern, fresher, and not shoved down our throats. Let me put it another way. Uno is a terrible, terrible

game. Haggis is my favourite game of all time. Haggis is in the family of card games called ‘climbing’ games (it has nothing to do with rocks and climbing them). Tichu, another extraordinary card game made specifically for four players is the spiritual predecessor of Haggis. The designer wanted to make a Tichu-like game which plays well with only 2–3 players. The main mechanic of ‘climbing’ games is that the starting player leads with a set of cards reminiscent of poker: so, a pair, a three of a kind, a four of a kind, and so on. The next player needs to play the same set, but of a higher value. So if the previous set was a pair of twos, the next one needs to be either a pair of threes or higher, but the pair always stays. Each of the players takes a turn until nobody can play any higher cards in that set. The player with the

Designer: Sean Ross Publisher: Indie Boards and Cards Game Rating: ««««« highest number takes the points and also the right of choosing which set will be played next. Climbing gameplay introduces very interesting decisions on which set to play at which point in the game. The balance of trying to maintain control of the game whilst getting the most points is exquisite, and further additions of mechanics like ‘bombs’ and ‘betting on who will win the round’ help bump up the strategy to a whole new level. Haggis is a great three-player game and an even better two-player game. Haggis wins and wins again on too many levels.

•

THINK Research

Let us set a precedent Words by The Editor

changing University greeted me when I returned to Malta four years ago. This culture of change has only snowballed as new institutes, centres, and facilities have opened up, backed by personnel that are pushing its research portfolio. To continue supporting this progress the Research Trust (RIDT) is launching a Staff Contribution Scheme as from January 2015. The Staff Contribution Scheme allows any University of Malta staff member to donate some of their payroll to research. After filling in a simple one-time form, donations can be started from a minimum of €1 per month, and donations can be stopped at any time through a quick email. Donations are effected before tax, which ensures that all of the donation goes towards research. A few staff members have already signed up to the scheme. Dr Ing. John Betts (Dean, Faculty of Engineering) talked about how ‘University does not “need” to collect money from staff, but as a member of staff I wanted to support an initiative which is part of a collective effort to promote, help sustain, and enhance research at University.’ Research is the core of any world-class university. The University of Malta has a solid teaching background with over 11,000 students. It has trained Malta’s leaders with academics, administrators, technocrats, and professionals who have transformed our country from a barren archipelago into a civilised, developed nation. Continuing this socio-economic development needs more funding. Prof. Charles Sammut (Dean, Faculty of Science) stated that the scheme was

Dr Alessio Magro and Dr Jackson Said have recently graduated with their doctorates from the University of Malta. They organised a party to thank their friends and families. They also used the celebrations to collect money for the RIDT collecting €1000 for research.

‘an excellent idea which gives University members an opportunity to set an example. Government (and citizens) will take note that we have achieved so much over the past few years that we are confident in investing our own money to support research. Local industry might also appreciate our dedication and hopefully cultivate a culture of investing in research. I hope our voluntary contributions will be matched by others.’ ‘No modern-day University can rely exclusively on Government funding’, stated University Rector Prof. Juanito Camilleri. Traditional funding sources will not increase substantially, thus making creative schemes like this one vital to continue expanding research funds. The Rector continued echoing this sense of hope by saying that his donation was ‘because I believe it is a good cause’. I’m signing up to the scheme myself. Like all others already pledging part of their payroll towards this scheme, we all think that research is vital for Malta. Betts said ‘I am happy to con-

tribute to supporting this, not only by my work, but also by putting my money where my mouth is.’ While Sammut hopes that ‘we can easily double what little money is allocated by government for research at the University of Malta’, supporting what the Rector said previously. I have faith in the culture change I see around me. The University of Malta is communicating to the public what it is doing, more graduates are furthering their studies, and world-class research groups are being built locally. NGOs and corporate partners are also donating money to research, realising the vital role it plays in achieving their long-term goals. The Staff Contribution Scheme will not change the world, but every little bit does count and I will be putting my money where my pen is.

•

The scheme has received endorsement from other staff members and three Unions: UMASA, MUT and UĦM.

MEME

culture genes

MEME

With you wherever www.um.edu.mt/think

THINK I D E A S

•

M A LTA

•

R E S E A RC H

•

P E O P L E

•

U N I V E R S I TY

COMPUTIME INTERNSHIP

Coffee.

No matter where you choose to work you will drink up to 5 cups on your average working day. Discover a world of opportunities in between. Visit us on facebook or apply under the careers section on w w w.computime.com.mt