The Topic of this Issue

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize is perceived globally as the highest recognition that can be won for achievements in the fields of physics, chemistry and medicine, literature, contribution to world peace and economics. The idea originally came from Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist and dynamite inventor, on 27 December 1895 in the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. The reason for this move is believed by many to be his disillusion with the use of explosives. In his last will he stated that the prize for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Science, the prizes for medicine by the Caroline Institute in Stockholm, and the prizes for literature by the Swedish Academy for Literature. The Prize for Peace is awarded by a committee consisting of five members elected by the Norwegian Parliament, and the Prize for Economics, which has been introduced more recently, is awarded by the Swedish National Bank.
The first award giving ceremony was held in 1901. Among the winners so far are two chemists and one writer originating from ex-Yugoslavia.

The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU)

The Year of Jubilees and Elections

What has SANU marked during the year 2014? More anniversaries than ever before: 200 years of the birth of Josif Pančić, the pioneer of natural sciences in Serbia; 160 years of the birth of Mihailo Pupin, the inventor of telephone clamps; 150 years of the birth of the greatest Serbian comedy writer Branislav Nušić; 135 years of the birth of climatologist Milutin Milanković; a century and a half of death of Vuk Karadžić, the reformer of the Serbian language; 100 years of the death of music composers Stevan Mokranjac and Davorin Jenko. These are people who have indebted science and culture and on all of these occasions scientific seminars have been organized, lasting for a number of days.
During the first half of the year elections were held for the new management and new members of the Academy. During this year the new President of the Academy will elected, as the present President Nikola Hajdin will be 92 and will be retiring.

Ophthalmology

Laser correction of short and long sightedness

Laser interventions give back clear sight to persons who need prescription glasses, completely relieving them of the need to wear glasses or lenses. For this purpose, modern laser refractive surgery is using state of the art technologies, primarily the EXCIMER laser, an exceptionally accurate laser without heat generation. The success of these patient friendly and painless procedures depends on the skills and experience of the ophthalmologist. This is the topic discussed by one of the most reputable refractive surgeons globally, Dr Mirko Jankov, Ph.D. one of the founders of the LaserFocus Centre for Eye Micro-Surgery and also an associate of the General Hospital Bel Medic in Belgrade.

Urology

Laparoscopic Surgery

Laparoscopic surgery is used at present time to perform the most comprehensive urologic interventions, including even radical prostatectomy. The pioneering steps of laparoscopy in urologic surgery in our region is the topic discussed with Dr Marko Zupančić, head of department for urology at the Slovenian general hospital in Slovenj Gradec, an institution which was the first to master and for almost three decades assist in introducing and developing modern minimum invasive surgical procedures in countries of South-East Europe. As external associate, Dr Zupančić is the head of laparoscopy section of the Serbian Association of Urologists and an associate of the General Hospital Bel Medic.

Pharmacology

Learning from Previous Generations

Institute for Medicinal Herbs “Dr Josif Pančić” from Belgrade and the Agricultural School in Valjevo have been cooperating successfully in planting and growing medicinal herbs. They started with 350 herbs on 750 m2. Currently they are undertaking additional human resources training for tasks in similar institutions abroad, establishing wet and dry collections, the photographic documentation, developing herbaria and herbaria collections, processing an electronic data base. The garden grows only native herbs originating from Serbia.

Exotic People

Chukchi

The autonomous region Chukotka is a vast plane at the most northeasterly end of Russia. The region includes also the peninsula of the same name, demographically characterized by a significant concentration of indigenous people of Siberia, the most numerous among them being Chukchi. There are about 16,000 and they are threatened by extinction. They live under very dire climate conditions, in tundra where temperature often drops to below -50 degrees Centigrade.
Chukchi are a people of numerous myths and legends. In their stories, evil spirits are blamed for disease, disasters and bad luck. In their stories they also explain the creation of the cosmic bodies. The language of the Chukchi is Paleo-Asian, and the script is pictographic. It was only very late that they introduced family manes, and it was only under official pressure that they did so.

Zoology

Distinct Species

Gigantopithecus is a taxonomic name of an extinct ape, including three species. Most attractive is the record size species among all apes that ever existed. It is the Giganthopitecus – in upright position it was as much as 3 meters tall and more than half a ton in weight! The other two species are Gigantopithecus gigantheus and Gigantpithecus bilaspurensis who were half the size, although fossil remains are so scarce for firm conclusions. These species are part of the family Hominidae , which still includes chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and people.

Science and Business

From Home Inhalator to Nano-Powder

Many decades of successful business in providing medical equipment can be broken down to: sound foundations, vision, good technical team, respect for professional standards, hard work, and quality. This is how the company PRIZMA from Kragujevac turned from importer of medical equipment to a reputable producer of some of this equipment, changing the picture of the economy of Serbia. This company, as the only one from our country, has been exhibiting its products at the prestigious Dusseldorf MEDICA Fair of medical equipment. Prizma has client and scientific cooperation all over the world.

Traffic

Electrical Vehicles

Vehicles moving on electricity are not the invention of the present time. They first appeared at the end of the 19 th century and have blossomed at the beginning of the 20the century, when 28% of city and intercity traffic in the USA was driven by electricity. The ample oil wells in Texas, the serial manufacturing of fuel driven automobiles, and the lower prices for the purchasing and maintenance of vehicles have led to the gas driven automobiles becoming predominant.
Due to the energy crisis related to oil production (1970-1980) and due to the greenhouse effect, conditions have matured for increased interest in electricity driven vehicles. We are witnessing increased production of private vehicles driven by electricity and it can be expected that this century will be marked by this kind of vehicles.

Nikola Tesla

Exhibition and Book

In mid November a major exhibition was opened in Madrid “Nikola Tesla – The Future is His”. The exhibition was staged by the Museum Nikola Tesla from Belgrade and two Spanish authors. Judging by the great interest demonstrated the first day of the exhibition, it is expected that by mid February it will be seen by half a million visitors, before it closes! It is planned to move the exhibition to Barcelona, and afterwards most likely to South America.
At the same time a book presentation was organized in Belgrade “Tesla's Inspiring World – Life, Works, Ideas”, by Branimir Jovanović, the present director of the Museum of Nikola Tesla. Experts say that this book is presenting many facts so far unknown about the life and work of the great scientist and inventor.

Climate

Biblical droughts and storms

The International Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change recently published that the 1990's were the hottest decade of the past one thousand years and that this is a consequence of manmade activities. Temperatures have risen from 0.4 to 0.8 degrees since 1860, mostly due to the emissions of CO2 from combustion of fossil fuels. It is projected that the period 1990-2100 will see increase in temperatures from 1.5 to 5.8 degrees. The sea level will increase by almost 1m, turning coastal areas into swamps. The increase of the level of NO2 will lead to a toxic ozone layer. What is the way out? It seems that essential help can only come from greater use of nuclear fission which many are reluctant to accept.

Typography

Searching for the Key of Writing

The international competition for a script design in the last five years “Modern Cyrillic 2014”, held in Moscow, had among its prize winners also Nikola Kostić (36), a graphic designer and typographer from Belgrade. The competition attracted 356 designers from 29 countries. The technical jury selected 29 fonts for highest recognition. Kostić was awarded for his font Chiavettieri . It is a serif font intended for longer texts in small font size (6-10 pt).