All plants need light to stay alive, although various species harness light in different ways. Moreover, light serves as more than just a source of energy - in alternation with darkness, it also provides plants with valuable information.
The benefits for consumers of network-supplied heat generated in combination with electńc power include not only a lower price, but also more convenient use, a reliable supply, and no pollutant emissions.
Polish research on corruption began only as late as in the 1990s, following the publication of international reports on this issue. Two main approaches have dominated Polish academic studies: one focusing on individuals' attitudes towards corruption, the other on social norms.
For those unversed in the arcana of hydrocarbon economics, it might seem like utter nonsense to pump oil or natural gas back underground. Even so, doing so can help solve the problem of storing key energy commodities, especially in countries that do not have sufficient reserves.
Will we ever harness the power of lightning? Probably yes, but first we need to answer some fundamental questions, because we've really just begun to tap into the secrets of atmospheric electricity.
Liquid crystals have recently found their way into many everyday applications. Indeed, they are now employed in numerous devices without which contemporary life seems difficult to imagine.
The gray economy, the shadowy world of infonnal economic ties, is generally considered a factor that exerts a negative impact on the economic system. Yet viewed from the perspective of a researcher dealing with the economy's social aspects, the gray economy's existence does give rise to important benefits.
Poverty in modern Poland differs in many regards both from its forms in earlier times, as well as from the types of poverty that are now seen in other, both post-Communist and Western countries. Polish poverty most frequently affects rural residents, children, women, the unemployed, and the "working poor".
The progress of civilization is inevitably connected with the ever increasing production of waste. Waste has become humanity's global problem. All over the world, new_ technologies are being developed that strive to decrease the amount of waste and seek ways of utilizing waste in industry. One of the opportunities for this involves the use of the combustible fractions of waste as an energy source.
For close to 200 years, a certain stereotype has lingered in Polish publicist commentary and frequently also in historiography - one contrasting the anarchical liberty of the Polish nobility to the modem, not to say .progresslve,' liberty of the enlightened. Yet the problem is not that simple.
Earthquakes might appear sudden and unpredictable, but are actually not so. They are in fact preceded by numerous signals that are imperceptible to human beings, but can be picked up by sensitive devices and interpreted using complex mathematical methods.
The correct functioning of our bodies hinges upon precise energy management: neither excessive energy expenditure nor inordinate conservation will keep us in good shape.
According to popular impressions, all real processes involve energy losses. However, such an interpretation is not satisfactory from the logical point of view - since energy is bound by the law of conservation, it cannot be destroyed.
Will it continue to be possible to achieve further progress simply by miniaturizing the transistors used in microprocessors and the memory cells in disk devices? Spintronics might hold the key to a new breakthrough in nanotechnology.
Dark matter is the primary building material of galaxies and clusters. It is most prevalent in the biggest cosmic objects, like galaxy clusters, as well as in some of the smallest ones, like dwarf galaxies. Both may help us to unlock some of dark matter's secrets.
The years 2007-2008 have been declared the 4th International Polar Year. Poland has a long history of Arctic and Antarctic exploration, and is now ready to join the international effort.