This year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences went to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström, specialists in contract theory. We asked Prof. Ewa Okoń-Horodyńska, head of the JU Chair in Economics and Innovation to comment on the decision of the Nobel committee.

Pewex shops, Pepsi-Cola, hip-hop, Rambo on VHS – these places, objects and images shaped the perception of America among many Poles. To learn more on this subject, we have talked to Dr Jolanta Szymkowska-Bartyzel from the JU Institute of American Studies.

Thanks to the collaboration between three Polish universities, we now understand the mechanisms behind the NS3 protease – one of the most important enzymes used by the Zika virus to develop.

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa were jointly presented with this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Their research brings us closer to an era of nanomachines operating on the level of individual particles.

In 2003, Lucas Asicona Ramírez from a little town in Guatemala decided to renovate his house. In a surprising turn of events, after he removed the outer layers of plaster from the walls, he beheld a series of colourful murals.

Climate change studies allow us to make predictions about the next stages of the current climate change crisis. But how do we know, for instance, what the humidity was a hundred, a thousand or a million years ago? This time, we asked Dr Anita Bokwa from the JU Institute of Geography and Spatial Management and Kamil Kopij, a regular collaborator of www.nauka.uj.edu.pl, to explain the science behind climate change studies.

With a tablet, it is possible to identify the symptoms of autism in 93 percent of cases, as indicated by the results of the latest study by Anna Anzulewicz from the JU Institute of Psychology and her collaborators, published by the journal Scientific Reports.

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are a controversial subject, frequently sparking off heated discussions between its supporters and opponents. Unsurprisingly, some scientists are fascinated by such a controversial issue. What motivates them? Where does that fascination of theirs come from? We asked Paweł Jedynak from the Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.

Ticks, flies, mosquitoes, wasps – we know these unpleasant companions all too well. They often disturb us when we're trying to take a relaxing walk through a forest or garden. Plants usually seem to be less of a threat, but are they really? Dr Piotr Klepacki from the JU Institute of Botany describes the most common exceptions to that rule.

What is light art? What philosophical trends form its foundations? In her research, Dr Paulina Tendera from the JU Chair in Comparative Studies of Civilisations investigates these issues.