DUCKS

A photo taken on our campus last winter:

PRESENTATIONS on ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Climate change alert

Portugal has been singled out as being one of the European countries that will suffer most from global warming. According to the Stern Review published in Britain this week, and which has gained international prominence since, unless urgent action is taken, Portugal is set to suffer more than most from global warming.
in Portugal News, 4/11/2006

Earlier growing season.

A study of the timing of leaf unfolding for four tree species shows that from 1969 to 1998 the beginning of the growing season has advanced by 8 days. The earlier leaf unfolding corresponds with increasing early spring temperatures over the last 30 years. The greatest warming occurred in Portugal, where average air temperatures in early spring (February to March) increased by nearly 1.1^oF (0.6^oC) per decade, and the beginning of the growing season has advanced by about 14 days since 1969.

http://www.climatehotmap.org/euroruss.html retrieved: 10/11/2006

TARMAC/TARMACADAM

My thanks to Arnaldo Santos of CVN11 for this interesting information on the origin of the term Tarmac.

John Loudon McAdam (born September 21, 1756 in Ayr; died November 26, 1836 in Moffat) was a Scottish engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, "macadamisation", for building roads with a smooth hard surface that would be more durable and less muddy than soil-based tracks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Loudon_McAdam

DUCTILE - definition

We had various opinions in class about the usage of the word DUCTILE (in Portuguese dutil) .
I haven't been able to find a clear definition in Portuguese but the English Wikipedia article gives a definition which suggest both sides were right in the class discussion -I was talking about ductile referring to metals but for other materials the definition is wider:

Ductility is the physical property of being capable of sustaining large plastic deformations without fracture (in metals, such as being drawn into a wire). It is characterized by the material flowing under shear stress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ductile

WELCOME TO INGLÊS TÉCNICO 2006 - 07

To improve and practice your English, in addition to the resources on the right hand side and the glossary mentioned in the previous post, you might also find these two sites of interest:

Portugal News newspaper, online version - general news about Portugal in brief (subscription is required for details)
http://www.the-news.net/

Ig Noble Prize awards at Harvard University:

http://www.improbable.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ig_Nobel_Prize

Flying frog.

A live frog is magnetically levitated. An experiment that earned André Geim from the University of Nijmegen and Sir Michael Berry from Bristol University the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in physics.

TRANSLATING CIVIL ENGINEERING TERMS

Came across a useful glossary which links technical terms in English and Portuguese (well Brazilian actually). Although it concentrates more on individual words than word partnerships, it features quite a few technical words I have had difficulty translating over the years.

Assessment

As we are now moving into the final test and exam period, over the next few weeks the usual Atendimento timetable will not apply so if you to talk with me about your assessment preparations I would recommend that you email me to set a mutually convenient time.
( http://www.estbarreiro.ips.pt/Default.aspx?tabid=32#1 )
Likewise if you want me to check or correct your work.