Topic of This Issue

WORLD IN THE FUTURE

Potentials for Populating the Solar System
Philosophers, dreamers and poets were the first people to express ideas about traveling to the Moon and the other planets, however, the first visionary who, based on science of his own time, considered flights to outer space and populating of other celestial bodies was a Russian scientists, the one who originated the theory of rocket mechanics, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. Sincerely believing that a rocket would be a vehicle for flights toward other worlds, and driven by his imagination, more than a century ago he wondered what life of people would be in conditions of lesser gravitation on the Moon and on asteroids. His statement: "The Earth is merely the cradle of mankind and it is not possible to remain in the cradle forever" could be understood as both a prediction and promise to future generations to start populating other worlds in the Solar system. In what kind of towns shall we live, what shall we eat, how shall we commute and what living species will be extinct - are only some of the questions that preoccupy imagination of nowadays people

SCIENCE, THE WAY OF LIFE
Stevan Pilipović, mathematician

In the World of General Functions

 Among globally respected Serbian mathematicians, published in significant international journals in the last two decades of the 20th century, member of the national academy of science, Stevan Pilipović (1950) is particularly noticeable for his outstanding mathematical erudition and fundamental results, the publicity of which in scientific circles indicates a scientist who directs his research in several areas of modern mathematics.
He is equally dedicated to science and to work with his students, to professional work in scientific and cultural institutions, to their promotion, expert and social activities. Stevan Pilipović achieved outstanding career in science and lecturing. In international circles he is one of the leading experts for theory of ultradistributions, microlocal analysis in algebras of general functions and partial equations with singularities.

MEDICINE
PEDIATRICS

Ultrasound diagnostic

With no harmful consequences, ultrasound is being used for examination of fetuses and monitoring of the earliest development of a child. Dr. Slavica Kalezić Milošević , pediatrician and head of the Bel Medic health center, one of the leading experts in the area of pediatric ultrasound in Serbia, emphasizes that this powerful, very informative diagnostic method is extremely important for medicine in general, however, particularly significant for pediatrics because it is painless, swift and reliable. Prenatal diagnostic of cardiac defects and other congenital disorders of the fetus, checking of potential serious consequences of a traumatic childbirth, first assessments of bone and joint system of a neonate, monitoring of development of a healthy child, including a checkup of reproductive health of girls... This is merely one part of diagnostic procedures that have a common denominator - ultrasound (ultrasonography) - noninvasive, painless and completely harmless method of radiologic diagnostic.

Fibromyalgia

Living with pain, tiredness and dejection?
In comparison to men, women are nine times more often struck by Fibromyalgia, a neurologic disease with prevalently rheumatologic symptoms. This disease is difficult to diagnose and the treatment requires lot of time and efforts. Dr. Nataša Radosavljević, physiatrist and rheumatologist, head of the Bel Medic hospital, points out at biochemical disorders in central nervous system that cause it, and speaks about ways to keep the disease under control.

I am constantly tired and exhausted! My muscles are sore and stiff! Everything aches! In the past even doctors readily declared these, generally perceived as subjective problems, as hypochondria or "female hysteria". However, today it is known that those can be symptoms of a real disease - fibromyalgia.

It has been scientifically proved that those problems do not occur "on nervous basis" but are an objective consequence of chemical disorders in the central nervous system (brain). The problem, however, is in the fact that fibromyalgia is in fact a neurologic syndrome with rheumatologic symptoms.
 

OPHTHALMOLOGY

Solution for Severe Myopia

Even persons with high level of myopia nowadays have a chance to free themselves from glasses and contact lenses. Thanks to insertion of intraocular lenses, even severe myopia, which remained beyond the limits of laser "elimination" of diopter, now can be successfully corrected. Ophthalmologist Dr. Zora Stanković, medical science Msc. consultant of the Belgrade-based Bel Medic - speaks about this.
For centuries, glasses have been a reliable means for correction of eyesight, however, for correction of refractive imperfections of the eye, in recent times contact lenses are being used and, in the last few decades, refractive surgery - permanent laser correction of sight. Be it myopia, farsightedness or astigmatism, efficient and safe laser surgery offered a possibility for significant improvement of quality of individual's life, enabling full freeing from wearing external ocular devices. However, this revolutionary ophthalmological progress remained reserved only for persons with lower levels of diopter and for young people. An alternative to efficient and safe laser correcting of sight became available at the beginning of this century - with insertion of intraocular lenses which remain permanently inside the eye.
 

ARCHEOLOGY

Beginnings of Australia

170 km far from Darwin, a capital of the Australian administrative unit North Territory, there is a national park "Kakadu". Until recently it was presumed that the Aborigines have lived there at least for forty seven thousand years. They own half of the real estate lands which they let to the national park, while they advocate for restitution of the majority of remaining lands. "Kakadu" is on the UNESCO's world heritage list because of outstandingly valuable cultural monuments and unique natural values.
Together with the Australian government, representatives of local Aborigines, some 500 of them, administer the park. They ward the tradition of their ancestors who left behind more than five thousand locations with artifacts of their art.
One of the most beautiful places known for drawings and engravements in the rock - is Ubir. Some of the drawings are old several millennia, but a majority of them are two thousand years old. They mostly depict animals which live in that part of Australia, and the ancestors of Aborigines.
 

TECHNOLOGY

Storehouse at the bottom of the sea

Along with decreasing of the carbon-dioxide, there is a growing possibility that we shall need to actively eliminate that gas from the air in order to preserve the Earth's temperature at a safe level. Presently the average temperature is 1.5 Celsius above the one of the pre-industrial period.
Where to store carbon- dioxide? The most frequently mentioned solution, thus far, has been to cover it with soil, maybe in some region lacking oil and gas fields. This approach has been tested and it seems to be efficient, however, it remains unclear if people would accept such a solution of the problem.
Experts from New Zealand proposed a radical possibility. They believe that carbon-dioxide should be stored at the ocean bottom, where it would be permanently kept in a form of a liquid lake. When carbon-dioxide is placed at the depth of approximately 3000 meters, its density becomes greater than density of water, therefore it sinks to the bottom and, naturally, remains there.
 

ZOOLOGY

Large Beasts of Serbia

Exemplars of four species of large wild animals live in Serbia. They can rarely be seen in wilderness, merely now and then, far from human settlements. If there were no cages in zoos, who knows if we would know how they look like in natural size. In spite of protection measures and legal provisions for protection of endangered species, the number of bears, wolfs, jackals and lynxes is constantly diminishing.
The bears once populated lowland forests, floodable and grassy valleys. With time, man pushed them out to mountainous and wooded areas. It is estimated that in entire Serbia live not more than 50 brown bears. Their largest habitat in the Tara mountain is the most numerous with 40 exemplars.
It is estimated that there are about 800 wolfs in Serbia, mostly living in higher hills and mountains, which means that along with Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece and Spain, Serbia has one of the largest populations of these predators. Jackals live in smaller packs in lowland and hilly grassy areas with bushes, reeds, at the edges of marshes and in areas cultivated and thus modified by men. They live at the altitude of about 350 meters, and are only sporadically seen in mountainous areas. It is estimated that more than 2000 exemplars live nowadays in Serbia, although, up to 300 jackals are legally killed annually. They live in east Serbia, in Srem and along the rivers Danube and Tisa.
Lynx is the largest representative of wild cats in Europe. Lives in beech, oak and other deciduous forests, but also in bushes and canyons and rocky areas. It is considered to be a very cautious animal, therefore it is almost impossible to see it in wilderness. The Balkan population of lynx lives in southwestern Serbia and is very small and endangered. It could be said that it is close to extinction because of interbreeding of closely related exemplars, as well as because of hunting, destruction of habitats and uncontrolled woodcutting in southwestern Serbia.
 

TRAFFIC

Vehicles with no driver

Introducing vehicles with no drivers appears to be inevitable. In that case, estimates are that traffic accidents will decrease for 90% resulting with 1,300,000 less casualties worldwide, mainly caused by driver's fault. It is also estimated that, because of greater availability of vehicles, particularly to elderly and young passengers, usage of such vehicles grow. For the time being there is a number of ethical, financial and even moral limitations.
First attempts to introduce such vehicles date back to the year 1920. The first testing was performed in New York, where two vehicles were tested - the first one with no driver and the other with a driver. The first vehicle had a radio receiver and the antenna on the top, and the other the emission device from which the first vehicle received instructions about the ride and fitting into the city traffic.