Michael Mifsud Scores 2 against Carisle

See his interview here below:

Michael Mifsud hopes his double strike against Carlisle on Tuesday night will enhance his chances of earning a place in Iain Dowie's starting XI for Saturday's televised clash against Preston.

The pint-sized Maltese international scored either side of the half-time break to book City a place in the third round of Carling Cup in his first start of the new season.

He is now the Sky Blues' leading scorer with three goals after adding to his late strike on the opening day of the campaign against Barnsley - and says he's hungry for more.

"I'm very happy that we won the game because Carlisle was a difficult place to go and it was great to score two goals," beamed Mifsud, who opened the scoring with a low drive from the edge of the box before doubling City's advantage with an uncharacteristic header.

Michael Mifsud was the hero for City at Brunton Park.

"Both goals were great team efforts - the defence was always pushing up and the midfielders put some good balls into the box.

"As you would probably expect I don't score many headers, but it was a great cross from Ellery (Cairo) and I just managed to guide the ball into the far corner.

"It was another good win away from home, which is something we have been desperate to improve on this season and I have to thank the supporters who travelled all the way up to Carlisle.

"I'm sure a lot of them probably went to Cardiff too and it's very helpful to the team when you see all the supporters behind you in large numbers."

The 26-year-old star admits he's enjoying life as a Sky Blue this season and is prepared to be patient in his bid for a recall to the side, adding: "Leon (McKenzie) and Kevin Kyle have started the season really well together and Dele (Adebola) also did very well on Saturday.

"But the competition amongst all the strikers here is very good and I know I have to wait for my chance and when it comes around, like it did against Carlisle, I have to take it and hopefully the manager will have the nice problem of who he wants to pick on Saturday.

"There is a good bunch of lads here, when I first arrived in England they made me feel really welcome straight away and that has helped me settle in."

Source: www.ccfc.co.uk

Hydrogen is the future fuel

I have read the following article on recent research in the hydrogen fuel field. Basically, hydrogen is seen as the next generation fuel. It is considered cleans since it only emits water vapour. It is also freely available because hydrogen can be extracted from water.

The problem with hydrogen is that it is a gas and therefore there are safety concerns on its storage on vehicles (think accidents). Well, now they have found that it can be turned into a liquid state with the help of nitrogen and then some form of mechanism releases the hydrogen gas into the hydrogen working engine. What is good about this, as the authors of the study claim, is that the existing infrastructure (petrols tanks, stations etc) can be used since hydrogen will be stored as a liquid fuel.

To read the full article, log on to Nature

And let the hurrican season begin...

Hurricane Dean:

Reached Level 5 (the highest) on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
It was the ninth most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and is the third most intense Atlantic hurricane ever at landfall (source: Wikipedia)

It is just impressive and scary:


Sources: (The Guardian, Wikipedia).

Further adding to biofuel hatred

Just wanted to add the following image which compares the amount of tonnes of CO2 per hectare that is avoided in terms of crop usage and cover. This further puts emphasis that going down the biofuel route will get us nowhere in terms of emissions reductions.

In brief:

"...reforestation would sequester between two and nine times as much carbon over 30 years than would be saved by burning biofuels instead of gasoline."

"You get far more carbon sequestered by planting forests than you avoid emissions by producing biofuels on the same land"


Source: New Scientist

Dinosouar Race

Just have look and see what some researchers have been up to.

The have created a computerised race between five virtual dinouars, a human, an emu and an ostrich. Apart from the fun and curiosity, let me increase that awe to highlight the findings arising from this study:

Top speeds:

3kg chicken-sized compsognathus: 40mph (18m/s)
20kg velociraptor: 24.2mph
430kg crested dilophosasurus: 23.5mph
1½-tonne allosaurus: 21mph
6-tonne T rex: 17.9mph (8m/s)
Emu: 30mph
Ostrich: 35mph
human: 17.7 mph

For the latter, is should be noted that world class 200m sprinters may reach a top speed of 27mph (12m/s).

Sources: The Guardian and BBC

Swansea on the way

In a recent post, Time to blog, I mentioned how I had the chance of going to Swansea, Wales for a 4-day planning workshop. I managed to secure a place and will fly off to Heathrow Airport on Sunday 2nd September. From there, the guys from the planningsummerschool will be there and take care of me for the rest of my stay in Wales.

Excellent.

I shall be coming back the following Saturday mid-afternoon. I shall go home change, grab my bag and drive to Gozo. Baanisuu and all our friends will be there. I shall stay there for I day.

Then Monday, back to work.

Biofuel sucks!

For all those green guys and gals out there who support biofuels (petrol and diesel extracted from plants):

Biofuels switch a mistake, say researchers

In a few words, it transpires that growing biofuels is likely to have a worse effect on the environment than using fossil fuels. Here's and extract from the article posted on The Guardian:

Increasing production of biofuels to combat climate change will release between two and nine times more carbon gases over the next 30 years than fossil fuels...

Biofuel policy is rushing ahead without understanding the implications...

Reforesting the land would be a better way to reduce emissions...

As always we are looking to quick fix methods without realising the implications of such actions. Policymakers and world leaders should take note of such studies since they have set targets on switching to biofuels. So what should we do?

...the emphasis should be placed on increasing the efficiency of fossil fuel use and moving to carbon-free alternatives such as renewable energy...

Recent interesting readings (on climate change and stuff)

Solar power - in the rain

Most of us would love to run our homes on solar power - if only it wasn't so unreliable, cumbersome and expensive. But thanks to a pioneering factory in Wales, those objections may not apply for much longer. Guardian Unlimited

The Earth fights back

Never mind higher temperatures, climate change has a few nastier surprises in store. Bill McGuire says we can also expect more earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and tsunamis. Guardian Unlimited

Tropical storms stepping up with climate change

Major shifts in the number of North Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes are due to climate change, not cyclic events, says a new analysis New Scientist

Flying windmills could harness the jet stream

Currently at prototype stage, the novel devices could exploit an enormous resource of reliable, renewable energy New Scientist

Time to blog

Anybody knows what writer's block is? Well if you have been waiting for some posts, that is what it means - the inability to write. That does not include laziness, which is also part of the equation.

Anyway some updates on my recent doings and goings:

Present and recent past

I have passed all my exams related to the MIRM. Therefore, I have been promoted to second year (which will be a hell of a year bdw). So, at the moment, I am just doing nothing. And I plan to enjoy it while I can since September in soon with us and that means get back to work for me.

So recently I just seemed to never have enough of those BBQs, yes lots of them some three a week. They are fun and all but make you feel stuffed and piggy. I, for one, cannot refuse food on a plate, even if I have just ate, so avoiding food altogether is a good solution. I managed to put on a few kilos. Add also the beer (Hey, we're in summer! What do you expect me to drink? Hot chocolate?) and that makes me sluggish.

So I decided to do some exercise. I tried with the bike (I am a 24 year old beginner biker) but I am still scared of cars driving fast beside me. So I decided to try and run around a little just to keep me fit since as you know I have quit football for MIRM reasons. I plan to be back next year, if my body allows me that is.

So apart from doing nothing, apart from working and hanging out with my dear ones, that is it.

Future

The next big thing is Ireland in September. I am really really looking forward to it. This is really really true (apart from the fact that I should be reading the Lonely Planet Guide instead of blogging). That will be a nice 7 days between the 18th and 24th of September.

I am also going to Gozo, for one night with old friends of mine from my secondary school days. Plus I might be going for a workshop in Swansea, Wales. This all depends if I am accepted or not. I will post the outcomes later on.

Thesis. Of course, I cannot miss this out since it has been and will be a good common headache for the coming 9 months. Naturally, I have decided to focus on climate change, my daily online love. Will keep you posted on that too. In fact, I am giving too many promises (I just feel like the usual MP Mr Beaurocrat).