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40 maltatoday, THIS WEEK SUNDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2013 Science in the City contributes to 1.2 million record for Researchers' Night 2013 AROUND 15,000 people attended the 2nd edition of Science in the City on the evening of September 27 in Valletta. It was held as part of the pan-European event Researchers' Night 2013. Almost 1.2 million people participated in similar activities in 300 different cities from across Europe. The figures, based on estimates provided by the event organisers in each country, represent a record in the history of the event. It is higher by almost 20% over 2012 estimates. Participation figures have been exponentially increasing since the first pan-European edition in 2006. These European events are supported by the Marie Curie Actions of the EU that promote the development of scientific careers and the mobility of scientists across member states and other countries. Coordinated by the Research Trust of the University of Malta (RIDT) and the Malta Chamber of Scientists, the Malta event was supported by the FP7 Programme of the EU, the University of Malta, and the Malta Arts Fund. Valletta's main areas were bustling with scientific, artistic and entertaining activities, making Science in the City a truly special and memorable event for everyone. Some of the scientific and entertaining activities from Science in the City 2013 A musical journey from 1938 to today ON Tuesday, November 12 at 20:00, Manoel Theatre presents Het Collectief, Belgium's leading chamber ensemble in a recital which journeys from 1938 to today with music by Béla Bartók, Ruben Zahra and Olivier Messiaen. Over the years, Het Collectief has gathered international acclaim for its refreshing interpretations of 20th century chamber music. For its Maltese public, the Brussels ensemble has selected two very special masterworks from that fascinating repertoire; Bartók's 'Contrasts' and Messiaen's 'Quartet for the End of Time'. The Hungarian Béla Bartók composed his 'Contrasts' for a concert with two of his best friends: his compatriot and star violinist Joseph Szigeti and the American jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman. The result is an intriguing mix of Hungarian folklore and Dixieland jazz. The programme is chiefly devoted to the 'Quartet for the End of Time'. The French composer Olivier Mes- YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt siaen (1908-1992) wrote his 'apocalyptic vision' in 1941, when he was a war prisoner in the detention camp Stalag IV in Silesia. Devastated by the horrors of the Second World War and inspired by the Apocalypse from the New Testament, Messiaen gave an overwhelming expression to his Catholic faith in this piece. Using a number of ingenious composing techniques, he achieved a musical translation of the notion of 'eternity'. This shows from his original palette of timbres and harmonies, but equally from his selfcreated rhythmical language which, in combination with the sometimes extremely slow tempi, manipulates the perception of time. To round off the programme of French and Hungarian music, Het Collectief are delighted to perform 'Pan the Goat-God' by Maltese composer Ruben Zahra. The music for this cycle, set in four movements, is driven by hard rhythmic patterns which support complex motives and intricate melodic lines. The composition is also characterised by aggressive contrasts within the same movement which often surprise the listener as the music jolts forward in leaps and bounds. Het Collectief was founded in 1998 in Brussels. It has created an intriguing and idiosyncratic sound, achieved by an unfamiliar mix of strings, wind instruments and piano. The group also creates a furore with daring crossovers between contemporary and traditional compositions and with adaptations of ancient music. The group's affinity with innova- tive twentieth century music has been widely recognized by the international music press and next to the many concert platforms in Belgium, Het Collectief regularly brings its productions to concert venues abroad, including The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, France, Spain, Austria, Malta, Iceland, Cyprus, South America (Brazil, Peru) and Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia). There is a pre-concert talk for ticket holders at 19:15 and tickets can be purchased online at www.teatrumanoel.com.mt by email bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt or telephone 21 246389. There is a 50% discount for students, under 25s and kartanzjan holders on selected tickets and primary school children go free Europe's land demand creating inequalities 377. PLAIN TIGER Nothing to do with a tiger that lost its stripes, the animal here is a butterfly, and there's nothing plain about it. Indeed it's one of the most stunning lepidopterids (that's science speak for member of the butterfly family) that visit our land. It's arguably the biggest too. Although it occurs more or less every year, the Plain Tiger (M: Danaws) - also known as African Monarch - is rare in Malta, and breeding records are few and irregular. It's a great migrant, however, and some years we see it in good numbers, usually in autumn. This autumn, for example, seems to be a good one, as over the past few days we had a nice influx of this dark amber beauty passing through, often gliding in for a rest and a power drink from flowering shrubs. Have you signed the REFERENDUM PETITION to BAN SPRING HUNTING? Please write to cashmalta2013@gmail.com. Text and photo Victor Falzon Europe's appetite for an ever-increasing amount of land is putting huge pressure on this finite resource as well as putting other nations' development at stake, concludes a study published this week. The new discussion paper by the Sustainable Europe Research Institute for Friends of the Earth Europe shows that a small minority of the global population, mainly located in Europe and other developed countries, are consuming more much than their fair share of land. Land is a limited resource and is vital for the production of most goods and materials that we consume. In Europe, we currently consume 640 million hectares of land annually, of which 58% is imported from outside Europe. In other words, we consume the equivalent of 1.5 times the size of the European continent every year. The paper examines the land requirements of a typical EU diet and reveals that if everybody in the world was to consume as much meat as the average European, we would need to use 80% of all arable land just for meat production. Europe needs to reduce its 'land footprint'. This is a measurement made up of the land consumed domestically within a country plus land imported within products such as food and clothing, minus the land which is used for exports. Friends of the Earth Europe is calling for the EU to start using land footprint as a tool to measure our overall land consumption and to set reduction targets by 2014. The land footprint also needs to be used in impact assessments to ensure policies have been appropriately assessed for their potential impact on our land footprint. This exemplified by EU policies on agrofuels and the bioeconomy which have further increased our dependency on land. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 279 Shoe Shine – The next time you finish eating a banana, here's something to try if your leather shoes or boots need a polish. Rub them with the inside of the banana peel, then wipe and buff with a cloth. It sounds odd, but it will give them a lovely shine.