Nauka

(1) Jak pokazują powszechnie akceptowane i świetnie udokumentowane wyniki badań naukowych, ludzkość, chcąc uniknąć najbardziej dramatycznych skutków antropogenicznego ocieplenia klimatu, musi radykalnie obniżyć, w perspektywie 10-letniej o połowę, a docelowo do 2050 roku do zera, emisję gazów cieplarnianych. To zadanie stoi też przed Polską i wynika zarówno z odpowiedzialności za przyszłość następnych pokoleń Polaków i naszej cywilizacji, jak i konieczności wypełnienia zobowiązań międzynarodowych.
(2) Dekarbonizacja gospodarki dotyczyć musi wszystkich gałęzi gospodarki. W Polsce najpilniejszym zadaniem jest szybka dekarbonizacja produkcji energii elektrycznej, gdyż z powodu dominującej roli węgla największy, bo 45-procentowy udział w emisji gazów cieplarnianych ma sektor energetyczny (średnio w Unii Europejskiej 29%). Transformacja przemysłu energoelektrycznego musi uwzględniać jednak bezpieczeństwo energetyczne kraju i obywateli. Konieczność szybkiego odchodzenia od paliw kopalnych w sektorze energetycznym wynika nie tylko z dbałości o klimat, ale także z przesłanek ekonomicznych (ceny hurtowe energii elektrycznej w Polsce należą do najwyższych) oraz technicznych (znaczna część energetyki węglowej dobiega kresu możliwości eksploatacyjnych). Dekarbonizacja sektora energetycznego musi następować w tempie większym, niż sugeruje to rządowy dokument PEP2040, który zakłada niezrozumiałe ograniczenia dotyczące szybkiego rozwoju energetyki wiatrowej na lądzie i fotowoltaiki. Niezbędna jest też intensyfikacja działań zwiększających oszczędność energii.
(3) Transformacja energetyczna w Polsce powinna uwzględniać wszystkie nieemisyjne źródła energii, zarówno OZE, jak i energetykę jądrową. Ponieważ energetyka jądrowa dostarczy energii nie wcześniej niż za kilkanaście lat i pokryje tylko część rosnącego zapotrzebowania na energię elektryczną, natychmiast należy przyspieszyć budowę farm wiatrowych na morzu, a także odblokować i wesprzeć rozwój najtańszego obecnie źródła energii ! energetyki wiatrowej na lądzie. Fotowoltaika rozwija się bardzo szybko i jej aktualne wsparcie wydaje się wystarczające. Należy jednak wprowadzić przepisy, które umożliwiłyby mieszkańcom wielorodzinnych budynków i osiedli udział w produkcji energii jako zbiorowych prosumentów, aby w jak najszerszym zakresie włączyć kapitał obywatelski w proces transformacji energetycznej.
(4) Ponieważ produkcja energii elektrycznej z wiatru i słońca ma zmienny charakter, równolegle do wzrostu mocy tych źródeł niezbędne jest inwestowanie w szczytowe/ bilansujące źródła energii i jej magazynowanie, a także możliwość zagospodarowania nadwyżek wyprodukowanej energii. Wśród źródeł szczytowych/bilansujących należy wymienić szczytowe elektrownie gazowe (z możliwością współspalania wodoru), magazyny bateryjne, a także możliwość utrzymania części najnowszych elektrowni węglowych jako rezerwy w wypadku długich niedoborów energii z OZE. W ramach zagospodarowywania nadwyżek energii z OZE system energetyczny powinien być stopniowo wyposażany w elektrolizery do produkcji wodoru, możliwego potem do wykorzystania jako paliwo. Ze względu na okresowość działania, a jednocześnie ważną rolę w bezpieczeństwie energetycznym te elementy systemu energetycznego mogą być nierentowne, dlatego inwestycje w nie, a następnie utrzymanie, muszą mieć wsparcie finansowe wliczane do kosztów systemowych.
(5) Kluczowe znaczenie będzie miała modernizacja i rozbudowa sieci przesyłowych, w tym przystosowanie ich do zwiększającego się rozproszenia źródeł energii elektrycznej. Powinien to być jeden z priorytetów transformacji energetycznej i koszty tych działań także powinny zostać uwzględnione w kosztach systemowych.
(6) W polskich warunkach środowiskowych (brak możliwości istotnego rozwoju energetyki wodnej i geotermii, niskie usłonecznienie w chłodnej porze roku i długie okresy bezwietrzne na znacznej części kontynentu europejskiego) istotną rolę w domknięciu dekarbonizacji odegrać powinna energetyka jądrowa. Konieczne są więc systematyczne prace ponad podziałami politycznymi nad jej bezpiecznym rozwojem i budowa społecznego poparcia dla tego rozwiązania.
(7) Szybka transformacja energetyczna jest szansą na włączenie w proces generowania energii nowych podmiotów i grup społecznych oraz na zrównoważony rozwój lokalny. Jednocześnie będzie ona powodowała wiele napięć społecznych, szczególnie w sektorach i regionach zależnych od energetyki opartej na węglu i górnictwie, a także może skutkować ubóstwem energetycznym wśród niektórych grup społecznych. Ważnym elementem transformacji powinna być odpowiednia polityka zachęcająca do wykorzystania lokalnych szans rozwojowych i łagodząca niepożądane skutki społeczne.

The COVID pandemic very shortly became the world’s most serious social and economic problem. The paper’s focus is on the spatial aspect of its spread, with the aims being to point to spatial conditioning underpinning development and to identify and assess possible socio-economic features that have been exerting an impact. The authors’ work concern with a relatively large number of countries located in different parts of the world, as well as a quite lengthy time period – linked at least to the COVID-19 pandemic’s second phase of development. The co-occurrence of morbidity index and mortality index, with intentionally selected socioeconomic variables has been investigated. The results has been summarized by means of classification of countries regarding both indexes. The basic conclusion is that dependency of pandemic on environmental and socio-economic conditioning is becoming more complex and ambiguous, as well as displaced gradually by a concrete political decisions.

Correct diagnosis and appropriate selection of pharmacotherapy will not upgrade patient’s health if the drug is not available in the pharmacy. Pharmaceutical supply chain breakdown may occur due to epidemiological or political reasons. Then, the finished drug form factories located in Poland will not secure the drug supply. Thus, cooperation of the scientific community with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries is necessary to boost the domestic manufacturing of active pharmaceutical substances and substrates. Due to number of substances needed, the scale of national demand and the investments, the problem needs to be solved at European level. The Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe is an important guidance in this regard. The aim of our paper is to review the current state, indicate solutions and initiate a discussion on the development of the synthesis of active pharmaceutical substances in Poland. We focused on small-molecular compounds, the national perspective and the relationship between the synthesis of active substances and protection of the natural environment. Point actions for investments in infrastructure as well as research and development are not enough. Thus, we propose to create a system supporting synthesis of active pharmaceutical substances in Poland.

On the occasion of receiving the highest distinction of the honorary professor from the Jagiellonian University at Kraków, the author looks back at his academic career and ponders how sociological wisdom has left an impact on his life. He singles out the sixteen principles and rules formulated by the eminent sociologists, both classical of the XIX century and modern of the XX century, which he believes have influenced his professional social roles of the researcher, writer and educator, as well as his private everyday life. The famous quotations drawn from the sociological literature (e.g. the Thomas theorem, C.W. Mills’ sociological imagination, C.H. Cooley’s looking-glass self, E. Goffman’s the theatre of everyday life, R. Merton’s metaphor of scholars as pigmies on the shoulders of giants etc.) are accompanied by extensive interpretations by the author, relating them to his personal life-experiences.

In these remarks I recall such views which pretended to be scientific or at least rational enough to give some acceptable arguments to support them. One of such notions is made by epicureic physicalism and the so called scientific racism. Not all assumptions of those notions or the conclusions drawn from them may be included in the pseudoscientific and irrational sphere. At least some of them may be said that they had made a testimony of science and rationality „designed” for the context of their times and when this time passed they still remain in social circulation it is worth to look how they present themselves today and what arguments speak for their prevailing.

The author recalls the profiles of some selected Polish scientists and their achievements in context of the current situation of Polish science.

The article begins by briefly introducing the main points of Freud’s approach to dream interpretation. Then, against this background, we discuss Wittgenstein’s understanding of dream interpretation, referring to both his personal dreams and his comparison of dreams with movies. The purpose of this article is to analyze some of Wittgenstein’s descriptions of dreams. At the core of his interpretation, unlike with Freud’s unconscious, is the idea of consciously perceiving a meaningful relationship between the dreamer’s mental state when awake and the content of his or her dream. The discovery of this relationship can, according to Wittgenstein, be achieved in various ways, for example by comparing dreams to movie presentations.

Paul Valéry (1871–1945), the great French poet and essayist, did not finished his last work Mon Faust, however it was published after his death. It is poetic and philosophical drama in two parts. The story of the eponymous hero takes place in our times. Unlike in Johann Wolfgang Goethe,s Faust, the devil, not a man, is here tempted. It is obvious, because for Valéry the devil is not attractive enough to be the tempter par excellence. The unknown God is probably absent in the modern world, whereas man is lonely, tormented uncertainty. Mon Faust has not been translated into Polish, however, it is performed in theaters around the world from time to time.

The Iconology by Cesare Ripa (1593), which constitutes a rich compendium of iconographic representations in which abstract concepts, virtues and vices were imagined through human figures and their attributes, features also the figures of old women. In the article the following questions are raised: Which of these concepts, virtues of human character, vices and inclinations are personified by “crones”, which by old women and which by women “in their prime”? Does the Italian iconographer motivate his choices and what explanations does he provide? What features were attributed to old age in the 16th and 17th centuries? And finally: how do ancient patterns of writing about old age and medieval stereotypes are reflected in Ripa's Iconology?

The article is intended to be an appendix to an earlier discussion on the activities of the foreign scientific centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences (“Nauka” 4/2020 and 2/2021). It presents another case study, namely the centre situated in Rome – one of the eldest Polish centres abroad – its historical background and heritage as well as its recent activities. It points out also some actual present problems and challenges in order to stimulate a broader debate on how the PAS foreign centres could be better used to promote and disseminate the achievements of Polish researchers.

Wojciech Józef Burszta (1957–2021) was one of the most prominent Polish anthropologists. He specialized in the theory and methodology of ethnology, cultural anthropology, cultural studies, folk and popular culture, and anthropology of the present. He is the author of several hundred works in these fields. The importance of his achievements for cultural studies is unquestionable. His researches largely defined the shape of Polish cultural anthropology. In 1979, he graduated from ethnography at the Historical Faculty at Adam Mickiewicz University. In 1984, he received his PhD in Ethnology. In 1993, he obtained a readership (habilitation) and in 1998 he became a professor. He played an important role in the community of cultural researchers. He was a member of the Committee on Ethnological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Committee on Polish Diaspora of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Cultural Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences (member and chairman). His activity in scientific life also included participation in scientific societies: the Polish Folk Society and the Polish Cultural Studies Society, the Polish Sociological Society and the European Association of Social Anhtropology. He worked in scientific councils and editorial committees of Polish and international journals.

The commission held 8 meetings using a hybrid approach to its work (remote work as well as work on-premises). CRI has pointed to shortcomings of remote work in science and education, where direct contacts between members of academic community assure optimal envirnment for achieving highest standards of research and teaching. Moreover, focusing the vast majority of research on COVID-related projects endangers progress in other scientific disciplines while an exaggerated pressure for the fast development of new anti-COVID medications may cause lowering of standards used to evaluate research results. CRI has expressed its concern caused by activities of Ministry of Education and Science related to s.c. „freedom package” – a planned amendments to Act on Higher Education and Science. CRI believes that the proposed changes may endanger academic freedom and contribute to dissemination of knowledge not based on solid scientific grounds. Following consultations with the entire Polish academic and scientific community CRI has amended its Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and published its updated version (approved by General Assembly of PAS on 25 June 2020). The new version addresses in a more detail the issue of conflict of interest (CoI). CRI believes that the issue of CoI is of growing importance in science, medicine and other aspects of human activities. Following the examples of leading universities and research institutions CRI has introduced an ethical requirement to report – on an annual basis – the existing CoI to university/research institute administration for possible instructions informing if and how such existing CoI need to be adjusted.

This is response of the authors of the article published in the “Nauka” (3/2020) to the polemic note published in the issue 1/2021. In the response, authors signaled the progressive difficulties in conducting research on animals, attributed to the practices of applying the “Act on the protection of animals used for scientific or educational purposes” of January 15, 2015. The use of animals for research in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 2015 was paid for by a number of ambiguities in the interpretation of the provisions of the Act, increased official reporting without any real effect on animal welfare, and increased pressure from some non-governmental organizations, whose aim is to completely block the conduct of animal research.

Stanisław Tabaczyński, a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, passed away in November 2020. He was one of the most influential theoreticians of
archaeology in post-War Poland. He developed an original concept of the archaeological process at the junction of the Annales school, the Poznań methodological school, and the inspirations from the Italian academic milieu cantered around the Polish-Italian Interdisciplinary Working Taskforce of Applied Sciences in Archaeology and Protection of Cultural Patrimony. Its main components comprised long-term processes, ethnogenetic processes, and the polisemantisation of culture. He understood archaeology as the anthropology of the prehistoric past, outstretched between anthropology and history. He participated and ran numerous excavation projects in Poland and abroad. These comprised excavation campaigns carried out in the large-scale Millennium Research project in Poznań, Wrocław, Biskupin, Kołobrzeg, Grody Czerwieńskie and Nakło nad Notecią. His major achievement was the excavation of the early Medieval Sandomierz. He discovered a glassmaking workshop of the 7–8th centuries on Torcello Island in the Venice Lagoon and participated in numerous field projects in Italy, France, and Algieria. He is the author of numerous books and articles. Among his most important publications are three-volume Theory and Practice of Archaeological Research, Przeszłość społeczna [The Social Past], Neolit środkowoeuropejski. Podstawy gospodarcze [Central European Neolithic. The economic foundations] and Archeologia średniowieczna – Problemy. Źródła, metody. Cele badawcze [Medieval Archaeology. Issues, Sources, Methods, and Research Objectives].

François Chapeville (Franciszek Chrapkiewicz), an outstanding Polish biochemist, spent his entire adult life in France. After graduating in veterinary and biochemistry there, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Fritz Lipmann laboratory at Rockefeller University in New York. There, he conducted studies that proved that the genetic information encoded in DNA is deciphered in the process of protein biosynthesis via adapter tRNA molecules (adapter hypothesis). In the years 1979–1991 he was appointed director of Jacques Monod Institute of Molecular Biology at the University VII in Paris. He was a great promoter of Polish-French cooperation in the natural sciences. He passed away in Paris at the age of 96. He was buried in his hometown of Strzyżów in the Podkarpacie region.