The Topic of this Issue

Man under water

Interest for exploitation of minerals and ores, for oil and gas extraction from the sea bottom, has been growing for quite some time. This particularly goes for the great powers, island countries and the world's richest economies. Investments have been made in exploitation of marine rocks containing nickel, copper, cobalt, gold… For the time being this is being performed with remote control machines. In the case of large volume work it would be easier to have human staff permanently stationed in bases at the sea bed.
There are experts who perceive life under the water as a way for preservation of mankind in case of some enormous cataclysm. In such a situation underwater settlements could play the role of the Noah's Ark, however, in the direction opposite to the Old Testament one.
In the seventies of the last century „La Chalupa“, at that moment the largest and the most up-to-date underwater habitat and research center in the world, was laid on the sea bed. Until now, of once ten underwater habitats, only three remain, all of them along the coast of Florida. Contemporary technological solutions make it possible to create underwater bases even for one hundred-strong staff. Blueprints for underwater hotels and entire settlements, tunnels for underwater highway and railroad traffic are being developed at a rather large scale. A growing number of submarines and bathyscaphes dive into marine depths, the greatest profundities on the planet have been reached, underwater archeology is being developed…

Congresses

Nikola Tesla – the future belongs to him

International congress „Nikola Tesla – history of future“was held in Belgrade between April 24th and 25th. The event addressed Tesla's perception of development of the modern historical and technological society, but also his unique ideas such as, e.g., wireless transmission of energy, usage of free energy from natural environment, non-hertzian waves, and high frequency electricity for medical purposes…
The congress differed from other similar events for it focused at the future of modern technologies, at digital and virtual world. Some forty lectures were delivered encompassing areas of Tesla's interest and his direct involvement: electrical engineering, telecommunication, renewable energy...
While lecturing at the Columbia College, in 1891, Nikola Tesla emphasized: „We are twirling through immense Universe with incredible speed, everything around us is in motion, everything is twirling, energy is all around us. There must be a way to access that energy more directly...“

Jubilees

Einstein's heritage

An entire century has passed since Albert Einstein, in the midst of the Great War, in 1915, at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, spoke, for the first time, about the general theory of relativity, one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century physics. In memory of that great moment of science, that distant year is being marked all around the globe by scientific and expert conventions, conferences, special editions of books and artistic works dedicated to the general theory of relativity.
Serbian physicists contributed to the anniversary of Einstein's theory with the event “Hundred Years of the General Theory of Relativity”, held in the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, on June 23rd. In the foreword to the book which accompanied the event it reads that “the general theory of relativity was developed with no need, without any previous experiment, but exclusively and entirely from Einstein's mind and intuition”!

Manifestations

May, the month of mathematics

When four years ago mathematicians in Serbia organized a manifestation “May, the month of mathematics”, one of the objectives was to make it become a traditional event. This has, thus far, been doable. This year's slogan “Rhythm of mathematics” pointed out at the intention to have mathematics in the course of this May, just like the sound of music, pass through local galleries, squares and lecture halls in as many places in Serbia as possible.
A number of suitable events was realized: exhibition of the Dutch sculptor Rinnus Roolofs entitled „Visual mathematics – from structure to art “, exhibition „Numbers“ delivered by students of the Belgrade-located School of design, exhibition „World of the sound“... The lectures were dedicated to Pythagoras's guitar, Esher's cube, to L-systems based on Leonardo's sketches, to the Labyrinth principle, human light-based bar code, geometry in creation of Byzantine environment, to mental arithmetic, mathematical foundations of musical theory, to etymology of mathematical terminology, mathematical virology…

Medicine

Innovations in treatment of breast carcinoma

Prevention, early detection and adequate treatment of breast cancer are, according to one of the most eminent experts for this disease in Serbia, oncological surgeon Prof. Dr. Momčilo Inić (president of the Association of oncological surgeons of Serbia and consultant to the Belgrade-based General hospital BelMedic) – are evidenced efficient steps for overcoming of this most frequent women's malignant disease. Even in those cases when breast cancer cannot be cured, progressing of the disease can nowadays be controlled and transformed into a chronical status.
Break-through innovations in contemporary medicine made malignant diseases become not incurable. A majority of carcinomas can be treated, some of them even in the metastatic phases. And if detected in early phases, they are completely curable! This good news refers also to breast cancer, the disease which is, paradoxically, in expansion worldwide and almost assumes dimensions of epidemic.

Medicine

The most frequent abdominal surgery

In the area of abdominal surgery, laparoscopic removal of gallbladder is the most frequently performed minimally invasive intervention. For decades already it has been routinely performed in more than 95 percent of surgical treatment of the sick gallbladder. According to the surgeon Dr. Srđan Radibratović, a general surgery in the Belgrade General hospital BelMedic, nowadays this intervention, thanks to development of laparoscopic technics, surgeons' experience and technological development of instruments – has been brought to perfection. Neither the once limiting circumstances (previous abdominal surgery, liver cirrhosis, abdominal adhesis, acute inflammation of gallbladder...) do not present an absolute contraindication for applying of this method, comfortable for the patient and providing quick post-surgery recovery.
Statistically, almost every third person above the age of 70 has a small gallstone in the gallbladder. The illness can remain unnoticed for a long time, and is detected by chance, in the course of regular physical examinations.

Energy towers

Utopia or future?

What is an energy tower? It is a hollow cylinder up to 1000 m high with a basis diameter of about 400 m within which an intensive circulation of air is performed which, at the end of the process, generates electricity. These towers are an invention of the American Phillip Carlson. He registered the patent in 1975 under the name „Energy towers with downward air streaming “. The invention was further developed by experts of the Israeli scientific institute “Technion” together with a team of experts from India. Researches have an objection to bring this invention toward a feasible project. The starting preconditions assume that the energy tower is built next to a huge water tank (usually at the marine coast) and in areas with warm and dry climate. For activation, the towers use natural sources – air and water! They do not use fossil fuels, do not produce CO2, do not pollute environment.
For the time being only the American engineering company „Solar Wind Energy Tower“ plans to build two towers in the vicinity of the Mexican borderline. The software has been developed and the mathematical model has been designed.

Cosmology

Life in a computer simulation

Are life and the world around us merely a computing simulation? If it is so, a direct implication would be a statement that the entire Universe is simulated, which then brings to an assertion that the man and his conscious life are also a simulation. Consequences of this philosophic issue get deeply into foundations of cosmology and ontology because they impose a limit to the man's cognition of his own self and the perception of the Universe of which we make an integral part.
Scientists are dealing with this issue more and more frequently. So does also the general public, primarily thanks to the film „Matrix“ which is not a mere science fiction, for its key premises is of purely philosophical nature.
In this context the fundamental question is: do we really live in the computer simulation? If that is so, then what is life? Is even the life we know merely a computer simulation?

Extraterrestrials

Per wavelength of hydrogen

In 1950 a Nobel Prize winner, physicist Enrico Fermi posed a famous question: if extraterrestrials exist, why is it that we have not detected them? Although, it cannot be said that we have not invested sufficient effort. On the contrary, the pursuit of extraterrestrials (the SETI program) continues for more than half a century. With no success thus far. With time some tiny elements of hope did emerge…
Astronomers of the Cornwall University as early as 1960 launched the search using a 26 meters long radio telescope. The telescope was set at the 1420 MHz frequency, which is the wavelength of natural radiation of hydrogen in the Universe. That is how the project OZMA started.
The astronomers hoped to discover radio waves transmitted by alien civilizations. The emission frequency of hydrogen was selected for it is the most widespread element in the Universe and also because it could be a recognition sign. However, nothing was discovered. Afterwards a series of other experiments followed and the search for extraterrestrial signals continues till nowadays.

Diaspora

Serbia and the population

Geographic area which, after the 1919 Versailles Treaty became the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians (later Yugoslavia) witnessed numerous migrations, ever since the first Ottoman conquests at the end of the 14th century, till nowadays. Wherever the new immigrants settled they mingled with old settlers and with autochthonous population. Thus, in the course of the following centuries the ethnic structure of the entire Balkan area significantly changed.
How many Serbs were there at the time they renewed their statehood, at the beginning of the 19th century? Where, all in all, did they live? What was considered as “Serbian space” in science and in the ruler's offices?