In light of the recent media reports of war crimes committed by the Russian military in Ukraine, we present an analysis by Dr hab. Marcin Marcinko from the JU Chair in International Public Law, in which he describes the legal classification of crimes according to the international law: a set of international legal norms that form the basis of an individual’s criminal responsibility before courts and international tribunals.

Cracow Monsters is a relatively new addition to Netflix’s streaming service, supposedly based on Slavic mythology. But is it really? In the review below, Prof. Andrzej Szyjewski from the JU Institute of Religious Studies offers his opinion on the series’ faithfulness to the source material.

An alarming weather anomaly has recently been observed in Antarctica. At certain moments, the temperatures in the second half of March were more than 40 Celsius degrees above normal. How to interpret these data? Was it a one-time event or part of a long-term trend? Prof. Robert Twardosz from the Department of Climatology at the JU Institute of Geography and Spatial Management will shed more light on this issue.

The Russian military invasion of Ukraine has exposed the weaknesses of the Visegrad cooperation as a regional forum of like-minded governments. The silence of the V4 Group proves that it has not overcome the deepening dissensus between the ostensibly pro-Russian Hungarian government and the other V4 countries increasingly fearful of Russia’s neo-imperialist stance, writes Prof. Artur Gruszczak from the Jagiellonian University Faculty of International and Political Studies.

The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the international security architecture. But we cannot say we did not see it coming, since the premises of Putin’s future actions could be noticed in both his previous statements and actions, and the West’s arrant dismissal of them. Now, with both NATO and EU standing closely behind Ukraine, we wonder how it was possible to let this happen, and where we are now.

2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Polish pharmacist, philanthropist and entrepreneur, the inventor of the paraffin lamp and a worldwide pioneer of petroleum industry. In the following article, Maria Pawłowska from the JU Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science presents a short biography of this important figure in Polish history.

Prof. Krzysztof Sacha from the JU Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science has experimentally realised discrete time crystals in collaboration with US scientists. Researchers from Prof. Sacha’s faculty will discuss what his discovery of a new quantum phase of matter actually means and why it is so important.

Data collected by researchers from pollen in 19 European countries in order to estimate the regional death rate following the outbreak of the Black Death indicates that although the disease ravaged the population of many parts of the continent, there were also areas where its impact was minimal or even non-existent. The study is a perfect illustration of the importance of adopting an interdisciplinary approach in research to understand past and future pandemics.

The recently published new Polish version of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, long known to Polish readers as Ania z Zielonego Wzgórza has provoked lots of controversy. As the novel occupies a special place in the hearts of many Polish readers, the reactions to the publication have often been very emotional.

We can be almost certain: it’s a success. In January 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope has completed all the main stages of its deployment in space after its launch in December 2021. It lasted for a few weeks, but it’s nothing compared to nearly 26 years of designing, construction and testing which preceded it.