Crime in Time

In April 1979 , a sudden outbreak of a deadly disease hit a large Russian city located 1400 kilometers east of Moscow. Today, the city is called Yekaterinburg; back then, it was known as Sverdlovsk. Hundreds of people and unknown numbers of pets and livestock were collapsing of fatigue, fever and shortness of breath. The black lesions that began appearing on their skin identified the illness even before the doctors confirmed it: it was anthrax. TASS, Russia’s chief news agency, reported the outbreak in a terse note which identified the reasons: tainted food sold in a local market illegally, without veterinarian approval, and, of course, taxing. Criminally amoral dealers had fed people meat from illegally butchered animals – most likely sheep, the press added – that were infected with anthrax, or possibly had even died of it. "Сибирская язва!" , warned the posters and placards posted all over the city. Сибирская язва , Siberian sore, was the commonly used nam

A word of introduction: this article narrates the story of the silent plague that has been creeping across the United States for almost four decades, consuming and corrupting everything it touches like an unstoppable river of acid and filth, taking away lives, livelihoods and hope. It is the story of the American meth epidemic, and its blight upon rural and small-town America. It is, in fact, a chapter taken out of a book which I'm writing. The book tells the tale of a decade-long spree of serial killings in a small American town, which - like so many others - fell victim to the meth invasion at one point. It was a backdrop to the story of the murders, and one of the reasons why the serial killer was able to operate in his rural environment for so long. As such, I decided that it was a tale worth being told in full on its own, and I chose to devote a chapter to the phenomenon, from its earliest roots to its grimmest effects. I n the America of the 1970s and the 19

Futurystyczny detektyw znajduje na miejscu zbrodni ślad sprawcy – odcisk palca, a na nim komórki naskórka, włos, kroplę krwi... Niczym swój poprzednik z dalekiej przeszłości, pobiera ów pozostawiony materiał i przekazuje do badania technikom z laboratorium. Wkrótce z namysłem spogląda na ich dzieło – i wbija spojrzenie w oczy poszukiwanego. Dziełem naukowców z laboratorium kryminalistycznego jest bowiem kolorowy, trójwymiarowy, realistyczny portret przestępcy, odtworzony w najdrobniejszym szczególe ze znalezionego materiału… Tak było kiedyś – i tylko w fikcji. Fikcja często wyprzedza rzeczywistość. Nieraz ją inspirowała. Wiele technologii narodziło się jako iskra zapału w umysłach młodych miłośników fantastycznych opowieści, którzy z czasem dorośli i zyskali szansę realizacji owych zakotwiczonych w pamięci pomysłów w autentycznych laboratoriach. Dziesiątki z nich były niegdyś marzeniami, dziś zaś są powszednią oczywistością – od łodzi podwodnych Juliusza Verne’a

Jaromir Król SCENE OF THE CRIME How Roman Polanski nearly died at the hands of a serial killer -- 20 years before Charles Manson. It is not by coincidence  that the thousand-year-old city of Kraków in southern Poland has been described as Vienna’s little cousin. During its tumultuous existence, Kraków – once the country’s capital – was annexed by Austria, as Poland was attacked by three countries at once, and split into three parts as a result. But compared to the German and Russian partitions, Austria’s takeover proved so gentle, and its Emperor Franz Joseph so friendly and benevolent, that to this day Kraków considers him nothing short of a patron, and there are more memorabilia bearing his portrait to be found throughout the city than in any other place outside Vienna. Today, Kraków is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a place where history and culture come alive, and where scores of Poland’s foremost creators and thinkers have spent their days. Among them is Roman Polans