Science Reform Gets Under Way... What's Next?
Prof. Barbara Kudrycka, minister of science and higher education, talks to Danuta Górecka.
From the Publisher
Another year of The Polish Science Voice is drawing to a close (our readers have sent us many positive opinions, remarks and words of encouragement-thank you!), as is the first year of government by the Civic Platform and Polish People's Party (PO-PSL) coalition. It is neither proper nor elegant for a periodical like The Polish Science Voice to deal with politics, but this situation is special. As it was taking power, Donald Tusk's Cabinet announced that one of its priorities would be far-reaching changes to Polish science and higher education-changes for the better, of course, involving both organization and finance.
The Clean Coal Challenge
Marek Ściążko, director of the Institute for the Chemical Processing of Coal (ICHPW) in Zabrze, southern Poland, talks with Ewa Dereń.
The Broad Picture
Prof. Jerzy Buzek, former Polish prime minister, a member of the European Parliament and its rapporteur on the development of energy technology in the European Union:
Going for Zero Emissions
The Polish Clean Coal Technologies Platform, established in February this year, brings together the largest suppliers of energy in the country and actively lobbies for the development of a zero-emission coal-burning program under which carbon dioxide emissions would be trapped and stored underground.
In Pursuit of Clean Coal
Piotr Kędzierski, Head of Communications at the Polish subsidiary of the Swedish energy company Vattenfall, which helped launch the Polish Clean Coal Technologies Platform:
Fuel Giant More Eco-Friendly
Polish fuel giant PKN Orlen, one of Central Europe's largest refiners of crude oil, has thrown off its reputation as a polluter and successfully reduced its negative impact on the environment. It has also established a special subsidiary, Orlen Eko, to take care of the corporation's operations in areas such as waste generation and the management of that waste.
EU Flagship Program
Andrzej Siemaszko, Government Group of European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants:
Poland and the Climate-Energy Package
A special European Union summit in Brussels in December will be a battleground over the contents of a legislative package to fight climate change.
Toward Emission-Free Power Plants
At the beginning of this year, the European Commission unveiled its Flagship Program to build 12 trial power plants by 2015 using Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology. Poland has applied for permission to host at least one such facility.
Tackling Climate Change
Janusz Reiter, special envoy of the Polish government on climate, talks to Andrzej Ratajczyk.
Power of Virtual Reality
The Virtual Reality Center run by the i3D company in the southern city of Gliwice is capable of generating interactive three-dimensional images that help engineers learn to operate complicated machinery, or allow designers to stroll through an aircraft, changing its shape, size and interior in an instant.
How Stress Can Make You Fat
Polish scientist Zofia Żukowska led a team of researchers in the United States that discovered the mechanism by which mice gain weight when under stress. Experts say this kind of mechanism may also apply to humans. If so, it could revolutionize medicine as well as cosmetology and plastic surgery.
A Boat Powered by Solar Energy
Engineers from the Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology Faculty of the Gdańsk University of Technology in northern Poland have designed and built an experimental passenger boat powered by solar energy.
A Revolutionary Braking System
The ALFA composite-AL for aluminum and FA for fly ash-is a new high-performance material that can be used to make ultra-light aluminum brake discs.
Industrial Processes in 3D
Researchers at the Technical University of Łódź have found a way to obtain three-dimensional images of industrial processes such as the flow of oil through a pipeline or the passage of grain through a silo-without resorting to invasive methods.
In brief
Polish archeologists uncovered the remains of a 14th-century settlement on the banks of the Biebrza River during construction of a ring road around the town of Sztabina in the Podlasie region in eastern Poland. They have found thousands of objects belonging to people who once lived in the area.
Seeing Through Metal
Scientists at the Computer Engineering Department of the Technical University of Łódź have developed a system for analyzing the geometric features of metals and alloys at high temperatures.
Polish Iris Recognition Software Wins Award
An iris recognition method developed by Polish researchers at the Technical University of Łódź won second prize at an international competition organized by the University of Beira Interior in Portugal.
Polish Students Help Discover an Asteroid
Students from High School No. 13 in the northwestern Polish city of Szczecin, who took part in the International Asteroid Search Campaign organized by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Astronomical Research Institute based in Charleston, Illinois, discovered an asteroid on the Main Asteroid Belt, the region of the solar system located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter and occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets.
|
Latest News
