Antibiotics are considered one of the greatest achievements of 20th century medicine. Their introduction reduced mortality due to bacterial infections and contributed to the extension of life expectancy. However, the consequence of their mass use in humans and animals is the emergence and spread of strains resistant to these drugs. According to estimates, in 2019, 4.95 million people around the world died due to antibiotic resistance, including nearly a million children.
A team of researchers from Poland and Norway has developed a questionnaire to detect and measure the level of emotions related to climate change, the Nencki Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences reports.
Warm February is not an ordinary anomaly; it fits into the picture of global warming. This must be taken seriously, Professor Bogdan Chojnicki from the University of Life Sciences in Poznań told PAP. In his opinion, this is a picture of system-wide climate change.
Light at night makes bats an easier prey for predators, such as owls. This is such a big threat that in equatorial climates, bats limit their activity during the full moon. Meanwhile, researchers have now shown that bats in Poland are completely unconcerned by the Moon's glow during swarming. Where do these differences come from?
Beta blockers are a group of drugs used mainly in circulatory diseases. Remains of these substances are not removed in sewage treatment plants and enter the environment, posing a threat to plants and animals. A biologist from the University of Silesia is looking for bacteria that can degrade them.
The bones of a cave lion, a mammoth and reindeer antlers have been discovered by archaeologists working in Cave Raj (Świętokrzyskie). The aim of the research project is the analysis and detailed reconstruction of climatic and environmental changes that occurred in prehistory in southern Poland.
Researchers from the University of Warsaw and the University of Wrocław have developed a method for constructing flexible molecular knots and links. Flexibility enables the formation of entangled regions in protein or nucleic acid molecules.
Dinosaurs could have used the feathers on their forelimbs and tails to rouse and chase their prey, suggest Professor Piotr Jabłoński and a team from Korea. To confirm this hypothesis, the researchers built a robot - Robopteryx that scares insects - and examined the neurons of grasshoppers.
In Southeast Asia, population growth and the demand for agricultural land are causing significant changes in biodiversity, resulting in an increasing epidemiological risk. This risk concerns viruses such as coronaviruses, bird flu virus, MERS, USUTU, Zika, dengue and malaria, says Dr. Aneta Afelt from the University of Warsaw.
The vast majority of wetlands in Poland and Europe have already been drained for various purposes. Meanwhile, draining peatlands and, for example, introducing forest in their place brings much lower economic benefits than rewetting them. A team of scientists with the participation of Polish researchers have shown that in Lithuania, rewetting drained forest peat bogs would bring profits of up to EUR 170 million per year.