A Polish satellite launch, surprising finds of animals dating back hundreds of millions of years, and archeological finds that could change what scientists have ever known. These are some of the most important events in Polish science in 2024.
One of the most interesting scientific reports of the past year occurred in January and related to the discovery of a rare Renaissance coin of Albrecht Hohenzollern in Kamien Pomorskie. 3 silver coins were found during the cleaning work in the war cemetery in Kamien Pomorskie. This is a very rare find in the northern part of Pommern.
In February, the imagination of science lovers was captured by the results of the work of paleontologists. First, the media reported that Polish scientists discovered an unusual fish that is 365 million years old. A predatory armored fish over two meters long with a very long lower jaw, called Alienacanthus malkowskii, was found in rock deposits in the Swietokrzyskie Mountains.
Soon after, the discovery of the Bone Lake and the results of the analysis of numerous Bronze Age bones and artifacts were reported. In the village of Papovo Biskupie, located in the Chelomno region, they were tracked down by a group of Kujawsko-Pomorska history researchers. According to anthropologists from the University of Łódź, the DNA analysis of the remains from around 1000-450 BC can shake the current theory that the Slavs came to the lands of today’s Poland only at the beginning of the second half of the first millennium AD.
Moon robot, discovery about Polish fog
In March, the Polish press agency reported that the Polish engineers of “Astronica” have developed a mechanism for landing on the moon. The robot, created by the European Space Agency (ESA), is intended to be an alternative to rovers, which cannot always cope with the difficult terrain of the Moon. The chopper can freely navigate the lunar mountains, which are often an insurmountable obstacle for rovers.
Also in March, it became clear that the common belief about the objectivity of algorithms and artificial intelligence is wrong. Technology has always reflected prejudices and stereotypes existing in society, as the database on which it is based and studied is optimized and implemented by people, – emphasized the scientists of Warsaw Kozminski University (ALK).
Another interesting report from the field of archeology came in May. Archaeologists of the Institute of Archeology of the University of Wroclaw, who were working in Berenice on the coast of the Red Sea of Egypt, found papyri containing lists of Roman governors who were based in Egypt. Documents were found, among other things, along with Italian ceramics, Roman coins and a special box in what could be the remains of a centurion’s notebook. Around the same time, another group analyzing two-thousand-year-old rock art reported new interpretations of petroglyphs from Peru’s Toro Muerto. Geometric patterns, lines and zigzags accompanying the image of dancers (danzants) carved on local rocks are not snakes or lightning, but recordings of songs, the authors of the analysis suggested. Toro Muerto is one of the richest rock art sites in South America. Here there are rock carvings, i.e. petroglyphs, created at different times and preserved in thousands of volcanic rocks.
Also in May, scientists announced that – due to its physico-chemical composition – Polish smoke is particularly dangerous for the circulatory system: it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. As cardiologist Dr. Khab said. Lukash Kuzma is our “new regional product”. This was confirmed by a study conducted by the group of the invasive cardiology clinic of the Białystok Medical University under his leadership.
Smog over Poznan Lukasz Pawel Šepanski/Shutterstock
“A remarkable event in the history of Polish science”.
The naming of two asteroids by Polish scientists caused great interest. Celestial bodies discovered by Lithuanian astronomers are named after Vladislav Jevulski and Marcin Poczobutt-Odlanicki. Information about research by scientists from the University of Warsaw on reptiles with very long neck vertebrae was released in the media in June. The neck of tanistrophus was extremely long, which was half the length of its body, it consisted of only 13 vertebrae, but it was extremely long. Tanystrophus lived in the Triassic period about 240 million years ago, also in modern Poland (fossils were found, among others, in Miedari in the Silesian Voivodeship).
In July, during the tests, the Polish underground missile ILR-33 BURZHTYN 2K reached a height of 101 km. In the news of the Polish space agency POLSA and the Aviation Institute of the Lukasiewicz network of scientific research, it is noted that “This is an event in the history of Polish science and the achievements of Polish engineers in the field of space technology.” ANBER is the first rocket in the world that uses hydrogen peroxide at a concentration of 98 percent as an oxidant.
In July, Polish divers reported that they discovered a wreck full of bottles at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The shipwreck of the 19th century sailing ship was filled with about a hundred bottles of champagne and mineral water. The head of the expedition assumed that the unit could sink near Sweden in 1850-1876.
Bottles with mineral water and champagne were found in the shipwreck Stachuraphoto.com
In August, a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket launched the Polish EagleEye satellite into orbit. The largest and most advanced domestic orbiter began transmitting telemetry data almost immediately, but after a few days it stopped. According to Jacek Kosiec, vice president of Creotech Instruments, where the satellite was built, EagleEye worked fine for a week and then operators lost two-way communication with it.
EagleEye satellite in space – visualization by Creotech Instruments
Hundreds of monuments
One of the most interesting post-holiday reports involved the discovery of nearly 300 artifacts at the Lisa Gora site in Masovia, including iron axes, scissors and a rare helmet from the 4th century BC, said Dr. Bartolomiej Kaczynski, who led the research. This helmet is an example of advanced Celtic metallurgy. The discovery changes current perceptions of the extent of contact with the Celtic world in the pre-Roman period.
A Celtic bronze helmet from the 4th century was discovered in the State Archaeological Museum
Meanwhile, researchers working in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park reported the discovery of more than 30 valuable archaeological sites there and the identification of rock paintings, pottery shards and stone tools. Research is conducted there by a group headed by Dr. Khab. Marta Osypinska from the Institute of Archeology of the University of Wroclaw.
However, in Kazimierz Wielka in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, the remains of 160 archaeological objects related to Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements were discovered. Krakow archaeologists mentioned the cemetery, which belongs to the early pre-Roman and early Roman periods (1st century BC – 2nd century AD).
October was marked by a unique collection of oriental fashion presented by the Louvre in Paris. These were the clothes of kings, royal mothers and bishops of medieval Nubia, reconstructed by Polish scientists from the University of Warsaw and designers from SWPS University based on paintings that once adorned the walls of the Faras Cathedral.
A group of researchers from Krakow, in cooperation with foreign partners, investigated the mechanisms of adaptation of bacteria collected from the International Space Station (ISS). The findings suggest that microorganisms isolated from inside the ISS have adapted to life in space. The study of microorganisms that traveled with astronauts to the ISS and settled in the space station was carried out by a group of researchers from research departments in Krakow: the Malopolska Biotechnology Center of the Jagiellonian University and the Sano-Center for Computational Medicine in close cooperation with S. partners from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Acibadem University in Istanbul.
Fire, test-3
One of the most interesting reports in October concerned the extent and mechanisms of people leaving science. This phenomenon in different countries, prof. Marek Kwiek and Dr. Lukasz Szymula from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. As they found, only half of people are active scientists 10 years after publishing their first scientific publication, while only a third of people are still in science after 20 years. Dropout patterns are similar across countries.
In November, scientists published a way to fight the dangerous Staphylococcus aureus. Thanks to the use of viruses that attack bacteria and small proteins called bacteriocins, it is possible to fight dangerous strains of these bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. This is evidenced by the research conducted by the scientists of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
In December, four scientists: Dr. Hab. Sebastian Glatt, Prof. Janusz Lewinski, prof. Krzysztof Sacha and prof. Marcin Wodzinski received the Foundation of Polish Science Awards. The awards are presented for the 33rd time.
At the end of the year, the subject of space flights dominated science. It was only in December that the Proba-3 spacecraft was launched into space. Two spacecraft were launched by a rocket from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. The format of the coronagraph, that is, the telescope for observing the crown of the Sun, and the so-called occulter, the element that covers the disk of the oculograph of the Sun, creates an eclipse of the Sun every 20 hours for two years. All this, among other things, allows the scientists of the space research center of the Polish Academy of Sciences to observe the Sun’s crown.
The official name of the first Polish flight to the International Space Station was also announced. As part of “Ignis” (Latin – fire) – as this project was called – cosmonaut Slavosz Uznansky will conduct 13 experiments in the field of technology, biology, medicine and psychology prepared by Polish scientists and engineers. Uznansky will fly into orbit in the spring of 2025.
Sławosz UznańskiPAP/Albert Zawada
Main image source: Creotech Instruments
