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 | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony

1 Contents

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony

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2 Editorial

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 3

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3 Politics and Harmony

Janusz Tazbir

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 4-8

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Abstract

Is the presence of harmony (which in the political domain is identified with the idea of consensus) always a factor conducive to the development of civilization - or was the emergence of the modern Polish state in fact more the product of a multiplicity of views and a certain degree of conflict?

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Authors and Affiliations

Janusz Tazbir

4 Unstable as a Pendulum

Tomasz Kapitaniak

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 9-11

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Abstract

Can we predict the behavior of evolving systems? While it is sometimes easy to do so, as in the case of an ordinary, slightly tilted pendulum, there are some systems whose ultimate state is practically impossible to ascertain.

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Authors and Affiliations

Tomasz Kapitaniak

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5 Sensing a Meal

Tomasz Janecki

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 12-15

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Abstract

If animals were unable to harness the signals coming in from their environs, their lives would be a chaotic affair. In the special conditions that prevail in Antarctic waters, chemical signals represent a particularly important source of information that acts to organize their way of life on the sea floor.

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Authors and Affiliations

Tomasz Janecki

6 Multifractal Solar Wind

Wiesław Macek

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 16-18

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Abstract

Within the complex dynamics of the solar wind's fluctuating plasma parameters, there is a detectable, hidden order described by a chaotic strange attractor which has a multifractal structure.

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Authors and Affiliations

Wiesław Macek

7 Random Phenomena

Kazimierz Sobczyk

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 19-23

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Abstract

Our recognition and quantitative characterization of real-word phenomena cannot be complete (indeed being impossible in many situations) unless we account for the great role played by randomness.

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Authors and Affiliations

Kazimierz Sobczyk

8 Evolution: Harmonizing Chaos

Adam Łomnicki , Ryszard Korona

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 24-27

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Abstract

The complexity and refinement of biological phenomena lead many to see them as the work of forces we do not know or understand. Nevertheless, one does not have to resort to any "intelligent design" concept, for instance, to explain the diversity of live on Earth - it suffices to be familiar with the theory of evolution by natural selection and the molecular foundations of biological processes. Our understanding of evolution may be built on a set of relatively simple and verifiable tenets.

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Authors and Affiliations

Adam Łomnicki

Ryszard Korona

9 Music of the Spheres

Marcin Zgliński

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 28-30

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Abstract

Church organs began to be used in the liturgy in Europe from the Early Middle Ages, and all the way until the Enlightenment they were seen as an exceptional instrument of a sacred nature whose very sound paid eternal homage to divine laws.

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Authors and Affiliations

Marcin Zgliński

10 Organic LEDs

Jerzy Karpiuk , Marek Pietraszkiewicz

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 31-33

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Abstract

Modern times have us so accustomed to technological progress that we take it entirely for granted. Nevertheless, a real revolution in lighting technology now lies just around the corner.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jerzy Karpiuk

Marek Pietraszkiewicz

11 Repressive or Non-repressive?

Mirosława Melezini

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 34-35

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Abstract

When viewed against the backdrop of European standards, Poland's cńminal justice system (regardless of the political conditions and the degree of cńminality in the country) has remained highly punitive - although this trait has at times abated somewhat, chiefly as a consequence of the stance adopted by the scholarly legal community.

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Authors and Affiliations

Mirosława Melezini

12 Algorithms for Rocks

Mariusz Młynarczuk

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 36-37

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Abstract

Image processing algorithms are enabling computers to learn to automatically recognize characteństics of what camera images portray. In geological research, speedy computers can relieve researchers from having to perform painstaking measurements on mineral grains.

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Authors and Affiliations

Mariusz Młynarczuk

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13 Eating Like a Pig

Jarosław Woliński , Wojciech Korczyński , Monika Słupecka

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 38-40

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Abstract

Newborn piglets offer an excellent model for studying the human digestive system, enabling us to learn much about our own physiology and to develop treatment methods for many illnesses.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jarosław Woliński

Wojciech Korczyński

Monika Słupecka

14 Science International

Ewa Paluch

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 41-43

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Authors and Affiliations

Ewa Paluch

15 French Connection

Jerzy Pielaszek

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 46-47

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Abstract

For both up-and-coming research grant holders from Poland and internationally-renowned Polish researchers, the address Rue Lauriston 74 in Paris symbolizes the very best tradition of scholarly ties between Poland and France.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jerzy Pielaszek

16 The Legacy of Scholars

Józef Malinowski , Anna Marciniak

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2006 | Nr 3 (11) 2006 Chaos vs. Harmony | 48-49

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Abstract

The caliber of modern-day scholarly pursuits hinges not only on research now being carried out, but also on the careful nurturing of scientific heritage - the preservation and study of documents that trace the development of past achievements.

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