The world of Electrical Engineering

Lately public transports have been packed with people and most of the time you feel crammed; I prefer taking the underground rather than the bus, because it is quicker and takes less time to arrive.  One thing that really gets my nerves is the fact that buses are never on time, they always arrive later than scheduled. There is a bus that stops right in front of my house, so most of the time I go home by bus and sometimes it takes half an hour to arrive at the bus stop, this is not very pleasant, particularly if it is cold and rainy.

I really hope that next year the government will come up with a solution for this issue, because they are putting our safety in danger and have no consideration for the people who wait over an hour for the bus to arrive, and when it finally does it is full of people and there is no more space for them to sit down or to stand up.

Being vegan in Lisbon is pretty easy! There are lots of vegan restaurants and even some that have a vegan/ vegetarian option on the menu. Some of my top 4 are: Jardim das Cerejas (Chiado), Psi (Intendente), Gomo (Saldanha) and Kokoro ramen bar (Alameda).

• Jardim das cerejas: offers a buffet of vegan foods with hot entrees, salads, and sauces. Has gluten-free options aswell. It is 100% vegan, has an affordable price and the staff is friendly and helpful;
• Psi: offers a mixed Asian and international veggie food variety. The majority of dishes are not vegan, however all the vegan dishes are clearly marked and there are a lot of them. A few things to take in consideration are that this restaurant is a bit more expensive but the portions a quite big, and the food takes a lot of time to arrive at your table, so you shouldn’t go there if you are looking for something quick and cheap;
• Gomo: offers a big variety of healthy soups, wraps, pastas, salads and hamburgers. They have a special menu which is very affordable and it will keep you full and energized throughout your day; I always order the soup of the day (mushroom is my favourite) and pasta with some veggies;
• Kokoro: this is a small ramen bar near IST that I go quite frequently, it only has 3 dishes and one of them happens to be vegan! It gets full very easily so make sure you make a reservation or come early, otherwise you will have to wait. I love this restaurant because even though the waiters don’t speak a lot they are very friendly and also you can see that they try really hard to make their dishes look presentable and tasty.

If you happen to be in Lisbon please give these restaurants a go, you will not regret it!!

One thing I would like to do is go to the Antarctic; every video I watch about how life in Antarctic is amazes me, I want to see the whales, penguins, seals and the stunning glaciers. I want explore the wildlife and the raw beauty of this magical place. It is a very distant place for a lot of people, it is an extreme and harsh place and there are a lot of challenges that you have to face when working in those conditions, for example technical issues. The video down below offers you an inside on the gorgeous, clam and quiet Antarctic.

Due to global warming the temperature is rising, glaciers are melting, the water is getting warmer and animals are suffering and slowly dying because they need time to adapt to these climate changes however, sadly, we are running out of time! We are destroying our planet every day a little bit more… We need a wake call; We need to realise that this is something we need to worry about, it should be discussed, it is getting out of control and worse day by day. Let’s start taking matters into our hands and make some changes that will not only help us, but also the animals and planet Earth.

If you would like to know more about how global warming is affecting our world please watch the recent and very interesting documentary by National Geographic starring Leonardo DiCaprio called “Before the Flood!”; you can see the trailer here:

For the last few days the weather in Lisbon has changed dramatically, it went from sunny and warm weather to rainy and icy cold weather. Autumn is officially here, all of the orange coloured leaves are on the floor, the wind blows and people begin to wear their warm jackets, big scarves and rain boots. They say that this is going to be a very cold winter… So you better be prepared!

I live alone and in an attic, when it rains it is very calming to hear the raindrops falling on to the roof tiles, however last night when I was sitting by my desk, it was raining a lot and it made me a little bit scared because the rain was making so much noise and it had a lot of strength, I thought that my roof was going to colapse at any minute. However, it creates a cosy atmosphere specially when you are in your bed, under your warm blanket, drinking your favourite tea, and reading you watching your favourite TV show.

Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), are pilotless and non-crewed aircraft that are capable of flying either by remote control or through the use of on-board computers, in other words, drones are flying robots which have been getting a lot of attention recently.

Some people claim that drones are taking over the world, because we cannot stop finding new ways to make good use of them. Listed down below are some interesting facts and videos that have caught my attention in the past few months:

• Chinese power: a company named DJI has had an impressive growth streak since its founding in 2006, having generated around a billion dollars in revenue in 2015. Currently, DJI is the leader in the commercial drone space and manufactures 70% of all the civilian drones in the whole world.

• Delivery drones by Amazon, Google and Facebook: picture this, you order something online and 30 minutes later your doorbell rings, you open the door and the delivery guy is there. He hands you a document to sign for your package, you sign it and collect your package, satisfied. The delivery guy flies away… because it is a drone.

• Drone invasion: the number of drones in our society keeps increasing very rapidly and is becoming a concern for some. During the holiday season last year, the FAA predicted that over a million drones were sold. Will it get out of control? In the video down below you will see some of the advantages drones have in our society and how it can improve our safety and wellbeing.

• Drones used to drop drugs in prison yards: criminals have used these machines to smuggle drugs into prison yards. In Canada, a drone was spotted by guards dropping a mysterious package somewhere in the prison yard, but neither the drone or package was found. In Dublin, a drone carrying drugs crashed into an overhead wire installed after a 1973 prison break. Similar successful and unsuccessful deliveries have been reported by prisons all around the world.