Popular sciences

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Description

The „Academia” magazine was founded on the initiative of Professor Andrzej B. Legocki, a President of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2003 – 2006. In the beginning it was published only in English as a reply to the growing demand for a current information on the Polish Academy of Sciences` activities, expressed by foreign scientists and Poles living abroad and interested in Polish science.

Since 2005 the magazine is published both in Polish and English.

The „Academia” is an exceptional - on the Polish market - scientific magazine for the general public, propagating achievements of Polish scientists here and abroad. Authors of articles in „Academia” explain their subject in a way that is accessible not only for all sorts of academics but also for students, pupils and all other readers interested in scientific topics for the general public.

ISSN

1731-7401

Publishers

Polish Academy of Sciences

Editorial Staff

Jolanta Iwańczuk (Editor-in-Chief, Earth Sciences)

Daniel Sax (Editor, English-Language Version)

Marcin Pietras (Biological & Agricultural Sciences)

Justyna Orłowska (Journalist)

Andrzej Figatowski (Graphic Designer)

Anna Bielec (Project Coordinator)

Scientific Council

Marek Konarzewski, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Chairman)

Dariusz Jemielniak (Deputy Chairman)

Andrzej Buko

Katarzyna Czarnecka

Patrycja Dołowy

Paweł Golik

Janusz Jurczak

Tomasz Kapitaniak

Marek Krawczyk

Krzysztof Nowak

Anna Zawadzka

Publisher:

Polish Academy of Sciences

Communication and Science Information Department

Defilad sq. 1,

00-901 Warsaw, Poland

e-mail: academia@pan.pl

Volumes

Select number

Content

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes

1 Contents

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes

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2 Editorial

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 3

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3 Our Unsteady Sun

Janusz Sylwester

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 4-7

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Abstract

The Sun, our closest star and source of life, has been under systematic study for only the past several hundred years. Research shows that it is not as stable as once thought, and also not always benign to mankind. Nowadays we keep close tabs on solar activity to try to predict what lies in store for the Earth and its inhabitants.

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Authors and Affiliations

Janusz Sylwester

4 Reflections from Crystals

Mariusz Jaskólski , Mirosław Gilski

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 8-11

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Abstract

Scientists no longer have to have the objects they study within arm's reach. Using the Internet and sophisticated equipment, researchers in Poland have - for the first time ever - remotely investigated the structure of protein crystals mounted at the synchrotron center in Grenoble, all without leaving their own lab in Poznań.

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Authors and Affiliations

Mariusz Jaskólski

Mirosław Gilski

5 Live a Good, Long Life

Irena E. Kotowska

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 12-15

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Abstract

In Poland, like in many European countries, the age structure of the population is changing: the number of individuals above 60 years old is rising while the number of children and youth is dropping. Our reaction to this process should aim not just to reform the system of social insurance and the labor market, but also to change people's behavior on the individual level.

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Authors and Affiliations

Irena E. Kotowska

6 Cellular Cleaners

Agnieszka Podlaska

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 16-19

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Abstract

While the destruction of molecules is commonly considered to be among the most important cellular processes, for a cell's integrity to be preserved, synthesis reactions must be balanced by precisely regulated degradation.

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Authors and Affiliations

Agnieszka Podlaska

7 Radioactivity Around Us

Jerzy W. Mietelski

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 20-23

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Abstract

The fear of radioactive contamination is one of the anxieties that are part and parcel of modern civilization. Mankind's biologically-coded way of reacting to such fears is twofold: "fight or flee" The natural reaction is to take immediate action.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jerzy W. Mietelski

8 Between Worlds

Anna Landau

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 24-27

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Abstract

lnterwar Poland was a multinational state inhabited by Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Germans, and Jews. But Poland was also inhabited by people not reflected in any statistics, about which little is in fact known: the assimilated Jews.

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Authors and Affiliations

Anna Landau

9 Risk and the Market

Łukasz Stettner

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 28-31

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Abstract

As risk is an inevitable part of all human activity, we naturally seek to be able to better measure it, estimate it, and even reduce it.

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Authors and Affiliations

Łukasz Stettner

10 Science for Export

Anna Kicinger

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 32-33

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Abstract

The magnitude of emigration from Poland seen since EU accession has rekindled discussion about the "brain-drain" and the exodus of highly qualified individuals.

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Authors and Affiliations

Anna Kicinger

11 From Gasoline to Hyacinth

Maciej Szaleniec

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 34-35

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Abstract

For more than two centuries, scientists and technologists have been seeking better and cheaper methods of chemical synthesis using catalysts - molecules that can accelerate and boost the efficiency of certain chemical processes. But over millions of years of evolution, Nature itself has developed extremely specialized catalysts, called enzymes. Chemists are nowadays looking more and more to such extant bio-catalysts found in living organisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

Maciej Szaleniec

12 Boron Targets Cancer

Agnieszka Olejniczak

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 36-37

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Abstract

Modifying chemical compounds found in living cells is one of the methods for developing potential new medications. Boron atoms included into multimolecular complexes, for example, can be used as precision targeting mechanisms for destroying diseased cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

Agnieszka Olejniczak

13 Under Stress

Jerzy Lipiec , Jerzy Rejman

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 38-39

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Abstract

The processes of soil compaction and erosion, while seemingly opposite in nature, in fact lead to similar consequences: significant soil impoverishment, lower ground water quality, and environmental pollution.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jerzy Lipiec

Jerzy Rejman

14 Without Compulsion

Roman Teisseyre

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 40-43

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Authors and Affiliations

Roman Teisseyre

15 Mentor of Polish Astronomy

Kazimierz Stępień

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 46-47

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Abstract

Prof. Bohdan Paczyński, one of the most distinguished contemporary Polish scientists, passed away on 19 April 2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

Kazimierz Stępień

16 A Festival Against Ignorance

Magdalena Fikus

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2007 | Nr 3 (15) 2007 Changes | 48-49

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Abstract

The science festival concept originated in the US and Western Europe, but in Poland, due to great passion and goodwill shown by scientists, such festivals have grown into grand-scale events with unprecedented flair.

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