Ancient Egyptian Tomb Discovered
Polish archaeologists have discovered a richly furnished tomb dating back around 4,900 years and an ancient brewery in Tell el-Farkha in the northeastern part of the Nile Delta. Researchers of the Archaeology Museum in Poznań, the Archaeology Institute of the Jagiellonian University and the Mediterranean Archeology Center of the University of Warsaw have worked together on this site for nearly 10 years. The team is headed by Krzysztof Ciałowicz of the Jagiellonian University. The site, whose name is translated as the Hill of the Chicken, contains remains of a settlement dating from the 4th millennium BC, the earliest days of the Pharaonic state.

In 2006, the discovery in Tell el-Farkha of two golden statuettes around half a meter tall depicting a ruler and his son as well as wooden figurines caused a sensation. This year, archaeologists found more bone figurines and some interesting objects, for example a little stone spoon with a crocodile-shaped handle. The archaeologists say these could have been votive offerings to a deity or ruler. The artifacts are dated to the very beginnings of the Egyptian state, around 3,000 BC.

Among the finds discovered at Tell el-Farkha so far is the oldest Egyptian brewery. And this year, archaeologists found another brewery at the site.

Tell el-Farkha is also a burial ground. The Poles have examined more than 10 traditionally furnished tombs at the site. The most interesting one dates from the early days of the 2nd Pharaonic Dynasty (around 2,900 BC). It was relatively large, measuring nine by nearly eight meters, and covered with a huge brick superstructure. Inside the tomb, the archaeologists found more than 50 clay vessels, 30 stone vessels, copper harpoons and jewelry. The tomb, very richly furnished by the standards of the early Pharaonic state, was a burial place for someone belonging to the elite class.


Probing Secrets of Zoroastrian Temple
A Zoroastrian temple of fire dating from the second century is gradually revealing its secrets to Polish and Turkmen archaeologists who discovered it in 1998. The archeologists of the University of Warsaw have just ended their seventh excavation season on the Mele Hairam site in Turkmenistan. During the digs, they discovered a chamber where priests could conduct complex rituals. They also found two interesting artifacts: a crescent-shaped iron object, which was a part of a ritual stand on which Zoroastrian believers placed bunches of sprigs, and a bone pin with the head in the form of the rooster, the holy bird of Zoroastrianism.

So far the archaeologists have discovered eight temple chambers including the main shrine covered with a dome. They still do not know why the temple was abandoned.

Large-scale surface investigations are supposed to help the archaeologists determine how large the community that used the temple was. During excavations carried out this spring, the archeologists identified around 40 sites containing remains of old settlements. Mele Hairam is a hill on the outskirts of an oasis located between Turkmenistan and Iran, 15 kilometers to the east of the town of Serachs. Since 1997 archaeologists of the University of Warsaw and a Turkmen university in Ashkhabad have conducted a joint archaeological investigation of the site.


More Sensational Discoveries in Syria
Polish archaeologists working in a Syrian settlement at the foot of the Taurus Mountains have discovered the world's oldest stone tower, numerous dwellings and 27 human and three animal burial sites dating from the time when people started to domesticate animals and cultivate cereals. The news was announced by Prof. Ryszard F. Mazurowski of the Mediterranean Archeology Center of the University of Warsaw, who heads the mission. During the season which has just ended, the archaeologists investigated a fourth temple and discovered a fifth one. The diameters of the two exceed 6 meters, while the walls are 1.5 meters thick. The central parts of the two round towers are occupied by monumental hearths. The towers were places of worship, but it is likely that they also served local people as gathering places-the monumental hearths built of pebbles and fen soil seem to suggest that. Another revelation of the last season is the discovery of numerous graves close to a previously examined temple. These included 27 human burial sites where the dead were posthumously beheaded and the heads buried nearby. In those times, this custom was fairly widespread in the Middle East. Archaeologists also found three burial sites of onagers, an animal related to the horse and donkey. Like people, some of them were buried beheaded.


Rare Plants Come to Light
In a marshland area between the coastal city of Kołobrzeg and the village of Budzistowo in northern Poland, biologists have discovered plants considered to be almost totally extinct. The list of the plants, which grow exclusively on saline soil, includes buckshorn plantain (Plantago coronopus), common glasswort (Salicornia europaea), sea arrowgrass (Triglochin maritimum) and brookweed (Samolus valerandi). According to Prof. Mirosław Stachowiak of the University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz, the area is also special for its fauna-it is a habitat for rare salt-loving coleopterons including paracymus aeneus, which does not occur anywhere else in Poland. The site occupies an area of around 20 hectares. The discovery is so valuable that the news about it has already reached the European Commission.


Life-Saving Jacket
Two researchers from the Łódź University of Technology, Janusz Zięba and Michał Frydrysiak, have devised an innovative optical system that makes it possible to monitor a person's physiological state and the frequency of their breathing while they are performing normal functions. The system consists of a light-transmitting optic fiber that is divided into two parts. Thanks to an elastic gap between the two parts of the fiber, the space between them varies along with breathing, which means that the light sent from one end of the fiber is sometimes less intense at the other end, where a light sensor is installed.

The electronic monitoring system converts the optic signal into an electric one, which can be easily displayed in visual form by means of standard graphs. Thanks to the simplicity of the device, it does not disturb the work of people who are moving about a lot. The system can be easily integrated with clothes, for example the outer protective clothing of firefighters and other rescue services who work in extremely dangerous, life-threatening conditions.

The device monitors the speed of breathing, which makes it possible to establish a person's physiological state. For example, it can be established whether a person has collapsed or not. The system can also be used to monitor the health of elderly people who live alone and who-in the case of a sudden health problem-would not be able to call an ambulance.


Bacteria Used for Dressings
Scientists of the Institute of Technical Biochemistry at the Technical University of Łódź have developed an innovative method to modify bacteria to make them produce cellulose fibers that can serve as a material perfectly suited to the manufacture of modern dressings. The Gluconacetobacter xylinus bacteria, modified by the scientists, produce cellulose of high cleanliness, elasticity, mechanical strength and absorptive capacity. Additionally, the cellulose obtained in this way is fully biodegradable and biocompatible with human tissue, which accelerates the healing process.

The material can be produced in any shape and size, which means it can be easily tailored to the needs of a specific user. Dressings manufactured with the use of bacteria-produced cellulose can be replaced painlessly. They enable easy monitoring of the healing process, protect a wound from bacterial infections, alleviate pain and absorb fluids in the wound.


To Support the Best So They Can Become Even Better
This was the motto of a recent international debate at the Warsaw University Library whose participants discussed ways of effectively financing science in Poland. The conference was organized by the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP).

The FNP also works under the motto of "supporting only the best so they can become even better." It awards prizes, scholarships and subsidies on the basis of criteria such as output, relevance and quality of applicants' scientific work rather than their financial status.

Debate participants included Prof. Michał Seweryński, minister of science and higher education; Prof. Ludwig-Ernst Winnacker, secretary-general of the European Research Council; Prof. Dieter Imboden, vice-president of Eurohorcs, an association of the heads of European research councils; Dr. Wilhem Krull, secretary-general of the Volkswagen Foundation; and the FNP's president, Prof. Maciej Żylicz.

The FNP is currently the largest non-public organization that supports science in Poland. Every year it carries out several programs directed at scientists in all fields of research. These programs include a competition for the FNP Award, which is considered to be the most prestigious in Poland in terms of recognition of scientific achievements. There are also various scholarship programs targeted at young scientists, and several other subsidy programs for scientific teams and institutes.

The Warsaw University Library conference endeavored to not only find answers to questions about ways of supporting and financing science, but also look at tried and tested examples from other European countries, and to analyze how best to benefit from them.

For the past few years, the FNP has been actively engaged in supporting international scientific cooperation, particularly in facilitating the exchange of scientific ideas and increasing the independence of young scientists.

Every year the FNP allocates over zl.20 million to science. This year, it plans to spend a total of zl.26 million.

Information on the foundation's programs and application forms are available on the FNP's website: www.fnp.org.pl

Compiled by Tadeusz Belferski