The story goes that while St Paul was on his way to Rome to face charges he was shipwrecked on Malta at St Paul’s Islands in St Paul’s Bay. The truth is that no hard evidence backs the tale. Recent research and archaeological findings narrows it down to two bays: one in the South and another in the North of Malta, as told in the latest issue of Think magazine.

Another article talks about the science behind Maltese wine, the project ViEnergy (Italia-Malta ERDF Programme [2007–2013]) is seeing Maltese researchers, ranging from engineers to food scientists, working with Italian oenologists and energy experts.

Some creative solutions are turning wine and its waste into algae, pharmaceutical products and electricity—apart from making that glass of wine taste better and giving Maltese wine its identity.

Malta is also close to Earthquake prone areas, exhibit A: Etna, exhibit B: the Hellenic Arc under Greece. Local seismologists write about the dangers to local buildings and what should be done to keep damage minimal.

Erosion is another danger to local buildings. Researchers are coming up with new materials to restore stone, keep it together, and prevent further deterioration.

On a more light-hearted note, local researchers are studying Star Trek while others are reinventing how we tell stories with Transmedia storytelling—a technique that still needs to gather ground locally.

University students are writing about the gender stereotypes that culture artificially creates, while other students are researching how marine pollution spreads around Malta’s sea, how to control TV sets with hand gestures, and making better hip implants.

Alumni are talking about how to succeed by failing, and their research to understand Alzheimer’s disease using fruit flies.

This issue also stuffs in a list of the must have gadgets for 2014, film, game, and book reviews, and a comic—Think everything.

 

 

Think, the University of Malta’s magazine, may be picked up for free in newsagents around Malta and Gozo and in Agenda bookstores, it is now available online at http://www.um.edu.mt/think, available on Issuu , followed on Twitter @ThinkUoM http://twitter.com/THINKUoM or liked on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ThinkUoM.