Artificial Enzymes o DNA Nanotechnology o Drug Design o Imaging and Targeting o Natural Strategies for the Molecular Engineer o pi-pi interactions: theory and scope oSelf-Assembly in Biochemistry o Vibrational Spectroscopy
The article explores the concept of convergence, which has become a key factor in the transformation of technologies in the 21st century. The author compares the impact of digital technologies to a "black hole" that absorbs analogies of the past, replacing phone books, encyclopedias, maps and individual gadgets with one universal device - a smartphone. Convergence affects not only civilian areas, but also military systems, such as assault rifles and multifunctional combat platforms, which combine the characteristics of different devices. Particular attention is paid to universal information platforms that combine the functions of processing, transmitting and analyzing data through digital interfaces. An innovative development is the universal multifunctional aperture (AIMA).
The economic feasibility and strategic effectiveness of convergence in creating compact, cheaper and accessible systems are emphasized. The prospects for reducing the cost of such technologies and their expansion within the framework of the "robot revolution" are described.
The author argues that AIMA can reduce costs and risks for humans, providing new opportunities for warfare in which autonomous systems perform essential tasks, maintaining human safety and reducing dependence on expensive traditional technologies.
The article, based on Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine, examines the prospects for applying generative artificial intelligence (using ChatGPT as an example) in encyclopedia studies, particularly for enhancing the efficiency of editors in preparing encyclopedic content. It emphasizes that ChatGPT can serve as a valuable assistant to the editor, especially through its ability to analyze author manuscripts, identify shortcomings, gaps, and inaccuracies, verify facts and statistical data, and suggest linguistic and stylistic improvements. A separate focus is placed on the compositional organization of the encyclopedic article’s text (its division into structural elements, including paragraphs) even though such structuring is absent in many reference works. The paper stresses that articles divided into paragraphs or sections are more likely to be read and, consequently, are of greater practical value. ChatGPT has the potential to provide such structural organization in encyclopedic publications, particularly their online versions (although certain risks must be taken into account). The same capabilities of artificial intelligence can also be applied by editorial teams during the preparation of new articles.
The article examines the origins of Ukrainian encyclopedism through the example of the first encyclopedic work produced on Ukrainian territory — the Polish-language edition of Benedykt Chmielowski’s Nowe Ateny [New Athens] (1745–1756). The study highlights the relevance of conducting a historical and book-studies analysis of this work in the broader context of the development of the national book culture, as well as the intellectual, cultural, and Enlightenment processes of the eighteenth century. The research is grounded in both general scholarly and specialized methods of historical book studies, including comparative-historical, analytical, contextual, and source-critical approaches. It employs an interdisciplinary framework that integrates the history of science, philology, cultural studies, and encyclopedic studies. The study establishes that Nowe Ateny represents a synthetic encyclopedic compendium of the Baroque era, in which religious, natural-scientific, historical, and folkloric knowledge are interwoven. Source analysis demonstrates that Chmielowski relied primarily on medieval and early modern authors, intentionally avoiding thinkers of the early modern period whose views conflicted with Catholic doctrine. Despite contemporary accusations of compilation and naivety, Nowe Ateny reflects the state of scientific thought and the level of intellectual curiosity among educated readers on Ukrainian lands in the eighteenth century. The work pursued a didactic aim — popularizing knowledge among the nobility, clergy, and student youth. Chmielowski’s encyclopedia should be regarded as a cultural and historical phenomenon that combines features of late Baroque intellectual culture and the early Enlightenment. It functioned as a vehicle for disseminating scientific knowledge, facilitated the spread of heliocentric ideas, and broadened the worldview of the educated strata of society. Despite its compilatory nature and evident scholarly limitations, Nowe Ateny emerged as an important monument of book culture, marking the transition from scholastic tradition to more systematic encyclopedic thinking on Ukrainian lands.
Reseña del libro de Elizabeth Hill Boone, Descendants of Aztec Pictography. The Cultural Encyclopedias of Sixteenth-Century Mexico (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2020). 244 pp.
The Ukraine’s encyclopedia industry has faced several new challenges as a result of the current war, including funding issues, personnel shortages, and limited access to verified information sources. Based on the monograph <i>Ukrainian Encyclopedias in Current Socio-Communicative Challenges</i> (Kyiv, 2024), the authors examine the difficulties that the industry has encountered amidst Russian aggression. The study emphasizes the importance of encyclopedias in affirming national identity and countering harmful disinformation, including anti-Ukrainian narratives. The role of the <i>Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine</i> in this process is highlighted.