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Stanisław Lem, who created extraordinary worlds in his science fiction works, was well known not only for an exceptional imagination, but also for a sophisticated sense of word-formation. The products of his imagination have fascinated researchers from many scientific disciplines: literary scholars, philosophers, sociologists, astronomers, or futurologists. Linguists have to be included in this group as well, since Lem poured his brilliant ideas onto paper, inserting into the descriptions of the invented worlds not only words featured in Polish dictionaries, but also borrowings from foreign languages and his own neologisms. As a matter of fact, these neologisms caused almost cosmic problems for Lem's translators. 

Worlds known from literature or science fiction films have accustomed us to terrifying contacts with the Other; be it through invasions of extraterrestrial civilizations or with soulless artificial intelligence. In his novels, Stanisław Lem often wonders what a real confrontation with an alien life form might look like and whether we would be able to hear it at all. In Golem XIV, the Other – a supercomputer – has the answer to probably every question plaguing humanity. The communication barrier seems not to exist; Golem has no biological body or senses, it is a perfect machine, pure Reason. However, a superintelligent computer must reach humans with its inhuman words.

Stanisław Lem chronically detested films based on his texts, and treated every adaptation ever made as sacrilege. Despite the great interest in his work by the movie industry, Lem was never enthusiastic about cinema adaptations. “Terrible” is one of the milder words Lem used with regard to “his” movies. Was it the writer's character that did not permit any changes in the texts he had written, or was Lem unaware of film language rules and did not want to come to terms with the framework of the audiovisual translation process, including the sometimes necessary interference with the content?

Dr. Agnieszka Podruczna conducts research on science fiction in English-language postcolonial literature, however, she deals with specific SF literature – not only with works related to North America, but also written by non-white women; authors who come from minorities and diasporic or indigenous communities. In dealing with these works, Dr. Podruczna describes themes around which sci-fi specifically revolves, such as physicality, slavery, displacement, the search for a home, and the rifts between two worlds that usually put human beings in situations of decisive choice.

Formations of wild birds or schools of fish follow a given direction; they fly or swim according to a symmetrical pattern in a harmonious and coordinated manner. When they suddenly change direction, they neither bump into each other not break the formation. This is a real natural phenomenon. And it is precisely such phenomena that researchers not necessarily associated with the natural sciences have begun to look at, and created artificial intelligence algorithms useful in solving specific optimization problems based on mathematical models observed in the natural world. The collective pattern of individual behavior in self-organizing systems, such as bird formations, schools of fish, and a colonies of insects, was used to create an artificial intelligence technique called swarm intelligence.

Every day we take pictures, have conversations via various communicators, send documents, or pay for purchases with a money card. We do not give any consideration to the issue where this data is collected and how it can be used. In the meantime, Internet transactions, online shopping, or even web browsing leave a permanently recorded digital footprint of our online presence. Notwithstanding the fact whether digital footprint identifies us or we remain anonymous, it contains information about our activity that can be used – legitimately or illegitimately.

Intelligent decision-enhancing systems are interactive computer programs designed to collect, process, and analyze huge amounts of data necessary to point the way to the best solution. Based on the knowledge gained from experts in different fields, an intelligent expert system based on built-in inference algorithms which simulate human thinking processes existing knowledge (accumulated in the system and obtained from a user who consults such a system) in order to obtain new knowledge, i.e. to make a decision.

Smart (intelligent) technology is more and more often used in various spheres of our lives. Remote lighting, a heating system, or a refrigerator that informs us about e.g. a lack of butter are just a few examples of smart technologies that are increasingly present in a modern home.

How do we remember facts? Why do we forget some of them but remember others for years? What processes must take place for the memorization process to produce the desired results? Although scientists have been trying to discover all the secrets of our brain for years, we still do not know much about this organ. Knowledge of the processes taking place in the body of a healthy person can provide inspiration on how to look for ways of treating people with various neurological disorders and how to inhibit disease processes. Knowledge from neuroscience is also sometimes applied in sciences related to artificial intelligence, primarily in so-called machine learning.

Tardigrades (water bears), tiny invertebrates found in wet and humid environments, are often referred to as indestructible animals that are not afraid of very high or extremely low temperatures, prolonged droughts, or even exposure to cosmic rays. For years, scientists have been studying what is behind this remarkable resistance and whether there is really nothing that could harm them.