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.
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.
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.
The International Center for Ecology focuses on advancing the science of ecohydrology and on the practical application of its principles, so as to regenerate our drinking water resources and improve their quality.
Białowieża forest has survived to the modern day retaining a broad diversity of animal and plant species, while at the same time hosting a centuries-old human presence.
Although the possible existence of extrasolar planets, similar to the Earth or different, has intrigued astronomers for centuries, it was only in the early 1980s that the technical capacity to discover them emerged.
The long hyphae of fungi-like Streptomyces bacteria contain many chromosome copies, yet a precisely controlled mechanism ensures only one copy ends up in each newly-formed spore.
The identity of every ethnos - from tiny groups to great nations - is defined not only by its common history or culture, but also by the space it inhabits.
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.
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.
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.
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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