Beyond evil cyborgs: the benefits of artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is here but it is not taking over. Prof. Georgios Yannakakis from the Institute of Digital Games brings a fresh view to how computers can be creative. He imagines a new social network of computers that can make new playable games on their own. Think as well how you might act like a computer. Yannakakis’s ideas have helped create games that help children with dyslexia, soldiers with PTSD, and many other problems, as published in the latest issue of Think Magazine available now.

Researchers at University are redesigning hip joints. A team of engineers and biomedicial scientists are testing new alloys that will make hip replacements safer and cheaper.  In Malta during 2014, 145 people needed their hips replaced.

Prescription drugs are abused worldwide. Apart from illicit substances, legal drugs used off-prescription is a dangerous problem Europe-wide. In the US its use is second only to marijuana. The University of Malta is part of an EU-wide project studying the problem in order to tackle it.

The recent solar eclipse had everyone looking up to the skies. ISSA (Institute of Space Science & Astronomy) researcher Ian Fenech Conti writes about the Universe and how it was made. His work measures the most elusive matter in the universe.

Another elusive find was of black coral around the Maltese Islands by a team of marine researchers that includes Prof. Alan Deidun. They used underwater robots, ROVs, to map a new underwater forest just off the coast of Filfla. Fishing gear was found to have damaged this coral, in a different article JD Farrugia talks about overfishing and the need to change our fishing and eating habits to save our seas.

Alumni in Malta are finally getting the recognition they deserve. The University has just launched a new Outstanding Alumni Achievement award. If you know someone who has excelled after studying at the University of Malta then nominate them on: http://www.um.edu.mt/alumni/oaaa

The magazine is full of other stories from students and alumni on fish, lighter planes, hereditary disease, research funds, green chemistry, and robots. The fun section covers a range of reviews, with a comic strip by Gorg Mallia and a 100-word idea to change Malta.

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 http://www.issuu.com/thinkuni, followed on Twitter @ThinkUoM http://twitter.com/THINKUoM or liked on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ThinkUoM.