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Popular Science: Anton Markoš: Profil senescenta

Popular Science: Anton Markoš: Profil senescenta

At the occasion of his jubilee, scientist, university lecturer and writer Anton Markoš published a collection of essays, studies and short texts he had written over the past 10 years. It is a diverse collection, and in his lively language, the author invites readers to follow him on his journey through various topics. On this path, he attempts to understand the very essence of life.

Published Feb 25, 2019

Popular Science: I SENSE A FIREBUG NEARBY…

Popular Science: I SENSE A FIREBUG NEARBY…

Animals are naturally trying to avoid becoming prey. Some depend on perfect camouflage, some prefer a hidden lifestyle, and some are equipped to defend themselves actively. However, even a wasp with a pointed stinger would rather fly away instead of fighting for its life. Could it somehow warn a potential predator ahead then? Aposematic signals have evolved for this exact reason. Aposematism is a easily-noticeable warning signal informing the recipient that the signaling animal is distasteful, venomous or otherwise dangerous. The striking yellow and black colors of wasps, newts or yellow-bellied toads are just that. Nevertheless, aposematic signals don’t end with coloration. Sometimes a smell is the best way to demonstrate how dangerous or distasteful one is. Whether a smell is truly a strong enough sign was investigated by a team of zoologists of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, led by Jan Raška.

Published Feb 18, 2019

Popular Science: Is there a danger from arctic mosquitoes?

Popular Science: Is there a danger from arctic mosquitoes?

Mosquitoes are known to be carriers of a wide spectrum of dangerous diseases. In this regard, tropical diseases, e.g. malaria, are the most well-known ones. However, we can also find some of them in the polar regions. A research team led by the Institute of Parasitology of Biology Centre CAS in České Budějovice focused on a survey of dangerous viruses in mosquitoes in the Arctic.

Published Feb 11, 2019

Popular Science: Support for innovative companies in Czechia – where and who

Popular Science: Support for innovative companies in Czechia – where and who

EU funds are a frequently mentioned topic even in mainstream media. They support regional development, but also represent clientele networks and corruption or they are considered with other EU policies, for example migration policy. David Hana and Lenka Hellebrandová from the Department of Social Geography and Regional Development focused on spatial and sectoral differences in support of innovative companies in Czechia from the EU funds.

Published Feb 04, 2019

Popular Science: Land cover changes in Central European Mountains: Case study of Šumava

Popular Science: Land cover changes in Central European Mountains: Case study of Šumava

Central European mountains are predominantly covered by forest. Norway spruce is the most prevalent species and the most affected one. Windstorms and subsequent insect outbreaks are two main disturbances that influence the structure, composition, species richness and land cover changes in general. Therefore, Tomáš Janík and Dušan Romportl from the Department of Physical Geography and Geocology investigated changes in the forest after the Kyrill windstorm in the Šumava National Park.

Published Jan 28, 2019

Soil Fauna Can Support Both Litter Decomposition And Soil Organic Matter Accumulation

Soil Fauna Can Support Both Litter Decomposition And Soil Organic Matter Accumulation

These findings are described in the article entitled Effects of soil macro- and mesofauna on litter decomposition and soil organic matter stabilization, recently published in the journal Geoderma (Geoderma 332 (2018) 161-172). This work was conducted by Jan Frouz from the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Charles University in Prague.

Published Jan 23, 2019

Popular Science: Carnivores in the shadow of bigger and more famous colleagues. How do foxes, badgers and martens live?

Popular Science: Carnivores in the shadow of bigger and more famous colleagues. How do foxes, badgers and martens live?

In recent years we can see the return of big carnivores into Central Europe. Wolves, lynxes and bears are resettling the landscape and smaller carnivores are on the edge of interest. Therefore, a team of scientists led by Klára Pyšková from the Department of Ecology of our faculty focused on them.

Published Jan 21, 2019

Opening of electron microscopy laboratory as a part of Charles University Centre of Advanced Materials

Opening of electron microscopy laboratory as a part of Charles University Centre of Advanced Materials

Newly established Electron Microscopy Laboratory is now part of our Faculty. Laboratory is equipped with new JEOL JEM-NEOARM 200Ftransmission electron microscope.

Published Jan 16, 2019

PhD STARS program is open for applications

PhD STARS program is open for applications

Faculty of Science of the Charles University in Prague has launched its program supporting talented PhD research students from all over the world. During the STARS 2019 call, prospective students can apply to PhD research topics announced on the web pages on January 14th, 2019. Deadline for application is March, 15, 2019.

Published Jan 16, 2019

Popular Science: A trip in Baroque Bohemia

Popular Science: A trip in Baroque Bohemia

Bohuslav Balbín was a Baroque scholar, priest, writer and a very gifted natural historian. He concentrated his findings in a magnificent work entitled "Miscellanea of the Bohemian Kingdom". The first volume of the book has recently been published - for the first time in the Czech language (the original work was written in Latin). It is full of detailed and highly interesting information about many subjects. It opens a deep insight into the history of Czech science.

Published Jan 13, 2019

POPULAR SCIENCE: How are holes in sandstone formed?

POPULAR SCIENCE: How are holes in sandstone formed?

Larger or smaller holes are often found on sandstone walls, sometimes separated by thin protrusions creating a structure resembling honeycombs. But how do these structures form? A team of scientists from the Institute of Hydrogeology asked this very question and experimentally verified the two most common theories.

Published Jan 07, 2019

Popular Science: How to score an invasion?

Popular Science: How to score an invasion?

There are already several documents listing the one hundred worst alien species in Europe and aiming at raising awareness of the biological invasions and their possible impact. However, an international team, including Professor Petr Pyšek from the Department of Ecology of the Faculty of Science, decided to create a first list based on objective, precisely-defined criteria scoring the plant and animal species with respect to their real potential to cause ecological and socioeconomic damage in Europe.

Published Jan 01, 2019

Melting ice sheets release tons of methane into the atmosphere

Melting ice sheets release tons of methane into the atmosphere

The Greenland Ice Sheet emits tons of methane according to a new study, showing that subglacial biological activity impacts the atmosphere far more than previously thought.

Published Dec 27, 2018

Popular Science: Towards innovations with knowledge bases

Popular Science: Towards innovations with knowledge bases

The latest research reveals that “knowledge bases” have a significant influence on the performance of companies and even regions. This stems from the theory that the process of innovation can have different forms in different sectors (or even in a single company). Now, we distinguish among three types of knowledge bases: analytical (exploring of scientific frontiers in subjects like nano/bio-technology), synthetic (applying of scientific knowledge in industry) and symbolic (creative industry – design, fashion, film). Viktor Květoň and Vojtěch Kadlec from the Department of Social Geography and Regional Development tried to shed a light on the development and spatial pattern of those three knowledge bases in EU regions and their influence on the innovation process.

Published Dec 24, 2018

Popular Science: WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT BIRD-MAMMAL RELATIONSHIPS USING GOOGLE IMAGES?

Popular Science: WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT BIRD-MAMMAL RELATIONSHIPS USING GOOGLE IMAGES?

Citizen science – or the involvement of the public into science research – has become an integral part of research work in many fields. There are thousands of projects anybody can join. In your free time you can record a bird song, classify photos of retina neurons, build a quantum computer in an app game or search for dusty debris disks in NASA’ photos. Another possibility is to make use of a huge amount of data people unconsciously collect – photos and videos of various plants and animals. Such pictures were analyzed by zoologists Peter Mikula, Jiří Hadrava and Tomáš Albrecht from the Faculty of Science of Charles University.

Published Dec 17, 2018

Popular Science: How did the elite and serfs chew in the Great Moravian Empire?

Popular Science: How did the elite and serfs chew in the Great Moravian Empire?

The human body has axial symmetry. However, the symmetry is not perfect; everyone certainly knows the unnatural pictures which result from mirroring half of a human face. Asymmetry is a common fact and occurs even in bones. It may be caused by side preferences, but it may also be a signal of long-term stress during maturation. A relationship between chewing and face asymmetry was studied by a research group led by PhD student Alexandra Ibrová from the Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics who focused on the skeletal material from the age of the Great Moravian Empire.

Published Dec 10, 2018

Plant cells inherit knowledge of where’s up and where’s down from mother cell

Plant cells inherit knowledge of where’s up and where’s down from mother cell

In plants, polarization of the entire organism depends on every single cell being polarized. Cell division, however, disrupts polarization. How polarity is reestablished was unknown – until now. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) and Faculty of Science, Prague, have solved one piece of the puzzle: They found that plant cells inherit the knowledge of where is up and where’s down from their mother cell. Study published in Nature Plants.

Published Dec 09, 2018

Popular Science: Cemetery or urban park? Where do birds have more fear?

Popular Science: Cemetery or urban park? Where do birds have more fear?

Have you ever thought that by visiting a cemetery, you are influencing the behavior of its inhabitants? Of course, not those who have passed away, but those still living, like birds for instance. They have to deal with your presence, get used to you walking, talking, working and altering their habitat. Peter Mikula, from the Department of Zoology of the Faculty of Science, was part of an international team that compared the escape behavior of birds in European cemeteries and urban parks in order to determine the birds’ ability to adapt their behavior to different environmental conditions.

Published Dec 03, 2018

Our Yeast research experts have received a prestigious Czech-American grant under the INTER-EXCELLENCE programme

Our Yeast research experts have received a prestigious Czech-American grant under the INTER-EXCELLENCE programme

The Yeast Colony Group team has been awarded grant support from INTER-EXCELLENCE programme for a new project of international research and development aimed at Czech-American collaboration. Supported project focuses on research into the molecular mechanisms of cell adaptation connected with cell aging, one of the most important questions in current biology. Regulatory proteins mediating cellular response to extracellular signals are among the most evolutionary conserved proteins in eukaryotes. Understanding of their function in relatively simple yeast model thus could contribute to identification of new regulations in metazoa.

Published Nov 30, 2018

Popular Science: Colloquium – Science – Visualisation – Perception

Popular Science: Colloquium – Science – Visualisation – Perception

In late June the first one-day gathering about the issues of visualisation in science took place at the Department of Philosophy and History of Science, intended for both a scientific and non-professional audience. The event was organized by the department staff members (Lucie Čermáková, Eliška Fulínová, Tereza Liepoldová and Roman Figura) in collaboration with Barbora Müllerová from the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. Filip Jaroš (University of Hradec Králové) and Doc. Karel Stibral (Masaryk University in Brno) also took part in the event.

Published Nov 26, 2018