unusual holidays
World Oceans Day
|Katarzyna Juszkiewicz| The seas and oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s land surface and are inhabited by millions of species. Ocean plants, mainly algae, produce 70-80% of the oxygen and it is to them, and not to trees, that we owe fresh air. Today we celebrate World Oceans Day. The Day was established at...
Prof. Bożena Łosiewicz | Does frequent car washing accelerate corrosion?
Bożena Łosiewicz, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor Institute of Materials Engineering |Prof. Bożena Łosiewicz| The word “samochód” is the Polish equivalent for “automobile,” which was selected in a competition in the interwar period. The combination of words “sam” and “chód” made it possible to name a vehicle that had its own propulsion and moved independently. Another...
Łukasz Nicewicz | World Bee Day 2020
|Łukasz Nicewicz| The word ‘bee’ is most frequently associated directly with the honey bee (Apis mellifera), a hard-working insect producing honey and pollinating flowers. However, from the systematic perspective, it is a huge group of animals, which includes tens of thousands of species. A majority of bees are loners, only some form ‘societies’ and just...
Mathematical Adventure with Numbers Interview with Dr. Łukasz Dawidowski
Mathematics, referred to as the “Queen of Sciences”, celebrates its day on 12 March. Dr. Łukasz Dawidowski from the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Silesia in Katowice, who specialises in differential equations, teaching and science communication, will tell us about numerous mathematical festivals, as well as about epidemiological modelling, which is...
Is the fur of the “King of the Arctic” actually white? Polar Bear Day
Global warming leads to ice cover decline in the Arctic, which may soon result in the extinction of polar bear as a species. Polar Bear Day is celebrated on 27 February on the initiative of Polar Bears International. It is intended to increase the awareness of climate change risks in the society. Dr. Michał Ciepły...
We Have a New National Day. An Interview with Prof. Andrzej Noras about Polish Science Day
The first ever Polish Science Day is celebrated this year. The new national day is celebrated on 19 February (the anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus’s birthday) and was established as a form of recognition of the achievements of Polish scientists. As we can read in the justification, the following factors deserve particular attention: scholars’ pursuit of...
Loves and Death in the World of Insects. Dr. Jacek Francikowski, biologist, tells us about glow-worms, crickets and jumping spiders
We may find out how love and death are very close to each other by learning the details of remarkable intimate life of insects. It is not only their organisms, but also the courtship, mating rituals and sexual behaviours that are characterised by extraordinary diversity. The hardship of ensuring species continuity goes on, and if...