Malta

120’2022 (2022-04-30) – Sköna maj välkommen, mer än någonsin på mycket länge!

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned about:

In my earlier post of 122’2020 (2020-05-01), I talked about the importance of this day in Sweden. It is then that the Swedes celebrate the arrival of Spring in many festive ways. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has now been three years since that could be done in the traditional way. I am therefore very happy that today represents going back to the traditions, and as an alumni of Chalmers University of Technology, the most important thing is of course the parade of trucks disguised as settings for various events during the preceding year, the so-called Cortege.

In my earlier post of 365’2019 (2019-12-31), I also mentioned the result of a scientific activity on Chalmers that looked utterly interesting, how to capture and store solar energy up to 18 years. Now I am pleased to show you the developments after that. As you can see in reference #1 below, Chalmers together with mainly researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, are now proceding with a system that does all that.

Today’s header photo, sent to me by my good old friend Dina Giltinan, shows the Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta. Thank you, Dina, for yet another contribution to my blog ! (I earlier showed another photo from Malta in my blog of 247’2016 (2016-09-03).

A view of Tthe Grand harbour of Valletta, the capital of Malta. Photo taken by Dina Giltinan on 110’22 (2022-04-20).

That’s what I learned in school today!

Ref.:

1: Converting solar energy to electricity on demand

*: What did you learn in school today ?

2017-09-03 (Sunday)

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned that:

Exactly 50 years ago today, on 1967-09-03, Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side to the right-hand side of the road. In my post of 2016-09-03 I gave an extensive report about the whole procedure. Today, I will complement with some interesting facts.

Did you know that:

  • Mainly island nations still drive on the left-hand side, such as United Kingdom and its former colonies (Ireland, Malta, East Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand), but also Japan. Reference # 1 has a complete list.

London1994-08-08

A photo from a country that insists on driving on the left-hand side, taken in London on 1984-08-08.

  • On 2009-09-07, the Pacific nation Samoa changed from driving on the right-hand to the left-hand side of the road, thus permitting import of cars with the steering wheel located on the right-hand side from its neighbours Australia and New Zealand, cheaper than long transports from Europe or USA. And then in 2011, the Samoan people lost December 30 when the country moved from the eastern to the western side of the International Date Line. They are now 3 hours ahead of New Zealand, instead of the former 21 hours behind. See also reference # 2 below.
  • There is nothing that says that driving on any of the sides is less dangerous than on the other side. Radio Sweden told us that last Friday in a science program (in Swedish). See reference #3.

Petropolis

Even in countries using right-hand traffic, there are examples of local exceptions. This photo was taken in the city of Petrópolis, RJ, Brazil. The road sign here alerts the drivers to use ‘MÃO INGLESA’ (“ENGLISH HAND”), i.e. to drive on the left-hand side.

Where will you be on September 12? In case you have not got a ticket to Apple’s launch of their new iPhone, then I have a suggestion for you:

Come to São Paulo, SP, Brazil, and listen to me and my colleagues present technology in the past, present and future! If that sounds interesting, then you can find an invitation in reference #4 below. See you there!

That’s what I learned in school !

Refs.:

1: Right- and left-hand traffic

2: Samoa

3: Höger eller vänster – vägvalet som splittrar världen

4: Tech seminar- Walking along memory lane into the future – Sept 12

*: What did you learn in school today ?

2016-09-03 (Saturday)

Posted on by What did you learn in School today ?

Today, I learned that:

Exactly 49 years ago, 1967-09-03, Sweden changed the rules for driving, from the left-hand side of the road to the right-hand side. It had already been the subject of a referendum held in 1955, where 82,9 % of all votes were in favour of status quo, i.e. continue to drive of the left-hand side. But the referendum was not decisive, only consultative, and external pressure of unifying the “right side” for driving eventually had the Swedish parliament decide on a change.

Already one year before the switch would take place, the actions started to teach the population how they should behave while driving after “H-dagen” (‘H Day’, where H stands for “höger”, the Swedish word for ‘right’). And thus the switch itself went very smoothly, no major accidents. Even though I was too young to have a driver’s license myself, I still remember waking up in the morning and seeing how the cars started to move from the left side of the road to the right one at 05:00 in the morning, and then at 06:00 was finally given the “go” signal. Below are some interesting images from the switch, complete articles can be found in references # 1 and 2 below.

Dagen H

Six illustrations related to the Swedish left-to-right switch. In the upper row, from left to right: – Propaganda on a Stockholm bus appealing to vote NO in the referendum in 1955; – The people managing the switch showing the sign with a big H, which was placed in thousands of places in Swedish roads; – Kungsgatan in Stockholm during the switch. In the lower row, from left to right: – The official symbol of the switch; – Gloves to remind the driver to drive on the RIGHT side; – This road sign ceased to exist at the switch, it meant that the earlier limited velocity now was invalid, thus imposing no formal limits to the velocity, but after the switch there was no more free velocity on Swedish highways .

And so you may ask, what does the following photo have in common with traffic? Well, it was taken in an EU country that still insists on driving on the left side of the road. No, it is not Britain, but one of its former colonies, Malta, located in the Mediterranean sea. My friend Rikke just returned from a marvellous vacation there, and besides this beautiful photo, she has promised us to deliver more like that one. We very much look forward to it, in the meantime here are our warmest thanks to her!

Malta2

A tempting scenery from Pembroke, Malta. It is located 10 km North of Valeta, Malta’s capital. Photo taken by Rikke Wilhelmsen on 2016-08-22.

… That’s what I learned in school !

Refs.:

1: Day H

2: Högertrafikomläggningen

+: What did you learn in school today ?