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 | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015

1 Contents

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015

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2 From the Editors

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 3

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3 No Civil Society, No Democracy

Ewa Łętowska

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 4-8

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Abstract

The conflict over the Constitutional Tribunal, law, and civil society through the eyes of Prof. Ewa Łętowska, lawyer and an ordinary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Learning (PAU), a member of the Scientific Council of the PAS Institute of Law Studies, the first person to hold office as commissioner for human rights in Poland, a Highest Administrative Court judge in 1999-2002, and a Constitutional Tribunal judge in 2002-2011.

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Authors and Affiliations

Ewa Łętowska

4 Movement and Mystery

Piotr Nowak

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 9-11

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Abstract

We talk about mobility and index theory with Dr. Piotr Nowak, who received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council for a project entitled "Rigidity of groups and higher index theory:'

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Authors and Affiliations

Piotr Nowak

5 Shoot-em-ups Good for the Brain?

Aneta Brzezicka

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 12-15

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Aneta Brzezicka

6 The Conundrums of Cooperation

Kinga Wysieńska-Di Carlo , Zbigniew Karpiński

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 16-19

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Abstract

One of the fundamental issues raised by scientists in fields as varied as biology, behavioral economics, psychology, and sociology concerns the causes of pro-social behavior, and cooperation in situations in which individuals could benefit by acting selfishly. Why do we honor others' trust if we would be better off exploiting them? In other words, what is the basis of social order?

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Authors and Affiliations

Kinga Wysieńska-Di Carlo

Zbigniew Karpiński

7 Helping Hands of Machines

Igor Zubrycki

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 20-23

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Abstract

We talk to Igor Zubrycki, doctoral student at the Faculty of Robotics at the Institute of Automation at the Łódź University of Technology and winner of this year's INTER competition of the Foundation for Polish Science, about robots supporting children on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD), artificial intelligence and dangers posed by machines.

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Authors and Affiliations

Igor Zubrycki

8 Ways of Tallying Up Votes

Kazimierz Rzążewski , Wojciech Słomczyński , Karol Życzkowski

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 24-27

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Abstract

What kind of electoral system is the best? This question, easy to formulate in theor has considerable practical significance. However, the answer is as widely kn as it is disappointing: it has been sho n that, given certain reasonable condition there is no such thing as a perfect votin system. This is the upshot of several different mathematical discoveries made in the latter half of the 20th century.

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Authors and Affiliations

Kazimierz Rzążewski

Wojciech Słomczyński

Karol Życzkowski

9 In the Beginning There Was Water

Agata Karska

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 28-30

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Abstract

Water and fire are thought of as extreme opposites. So what does water have in common with the great fireballs known as stars? Data from the Herschel Space Observatory indicate that young stars are where water molecules are formed.

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Authors and Affiliations

Agata Karska

10 Conversation, Games or Intrigues?

Agata Roćko

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 31-33

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Abstract

The epistolary novel genre evolved from the art of letter writing, as well as from the 18th-century fashion of witty salon conversations centered around games, intrigue, understatement, quips and emotional manipulation. Does the Polish literature and history of the period reflect these conventions?

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Authors and Affiliations

Agata Roćko

11 Monitoring the Mountains

Zbigniew Perski

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 34-35

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Abstract

Active landslides are a significant problem in today's world, especially in highly urbanized mountain regions. We are now able to monitor changes to the existing landform using increasingly sensitive technologies. Our joint team of scientists from Poland and China is working on implementing state-of-the-art technologies for monitoring landform deformation, which will be used to assess future threats.

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Authors and Affiliations

Zbigniew Perski

12 I Catch Myself Thinking in ALGOL

Jan Madey

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 36-40

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Abstract

Back in the 1960s, as a 21-year-old, he managed the first gigantic computer in Poland. Now the young people he gives win prizes in prestigious programming contests. We talk with Prof. Jan Madey about the history and future of computer science.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jan Madey

13 The Heart at Stake

Andrzej Witkowski , Witold Rużyłło

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 41-43

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Abstract

Despite a significant drop in mortality rates, cardiovascular diseases remain the number-one cause of death in Poland. Funding for novel procedures, such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), is nevertheless insufficient, compared to the scale of the problem in Poland and average implantation rates in Europe. That is one of the factors motivating the European Society of Cardiology's and European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions "Valve for Life" Initiative.

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Authors and Affiliations

Andrzej Witkowski

Witold Rużyłło

14 Geological Treasure-Hunting

Paweł Woźniak , Monika Krzeczyńska

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 44-45

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Abstract

Learning from textbooks? Certainly not for players of "geocaching" - i.e. several million people across the world who absorb geology-related knowledge by looking for places and objects according to clues left by others.

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Authors and Affiliations

Paweł Woźniak

Monika Krzeczyńska

15 Memories of Old Bones

Gwidon Jakubowski

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 46-49

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Abstract

Mammoths, wooly rhinos, and forest elephants died out long ago, but the massive bones they left behind enable us to imagine how impressive these prehistoric animals truly were.

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Authors and Affiliations

Gwidon Jakubowski

16 I Play, and so I Am

Włodzimierz Zawadzki

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2015 | Nr 4 (48) 2015 | 50

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Authors and Affiliations

Włodzimierz Zawadzki