Česky
Academic bulletin 04/2003
RESUME
EVENT
Professor Ivan Wilhem has been inaugurated the Chancellor of Charles University for his second term. The Chairman of the Academic Senate, Professor Václav Hampl, introduced Professor Wilhelm in the office and summarised his activities to date. The Chancellor described the current state and prospects of Charles University in Prague.
SCIENCE AND EUROPE
Top Czech scientists answer the question: "What can Czech Science bring to the EU and what is better left behind? "
TOPIC OF THE MONTH
Lectures given by top Czech scientists as a part of the annual "European Week of the Brain" attracted hundreds of students and the general public to the administrative building of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Doctor Horáček of the Psychiatric Centre of Prague describes new functional imaging technologies scientists and physicians have at their disposal to examine the functioning of the brain. These include SPECT - Single-Photon Computed Tomography, fMR - Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, PET - Positron Emission Tomography and others.
ANNIVERSARY
Ninety years have passed since the birth of Professor František Šorm, an outstanding chemist, a co-founder of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and the first director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry.
SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
František Šmahel's seminal work on the Hussite Movement
The Goethe-Institut in Prague in co-operation with the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Centre of Medievalistic Studies staged a presentation of Professor František Šmahel's life work, Die Hussitische Revolution or The Hussite Revolution.
What Our Genes Can and Cannot Do
Leading Czech scientists explain which features and characteristics of both humans and animals are determined by their genes and what is the role played by the environment. They also answer the question to what extent our life style can influence the length and quality of our own lives.
A Two-Photon Microscope
A unique two-photon microscope, the first of its kind in this country, has been put into operation at the Department of Biomathematics of the Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. It should improve, among other things, both short-term and long-term observations of living cells and tissues and allow improved three-dimensional computer reconstructions of the observed structures.
A Breakthrough in Cosmology
Data gathered by WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) studying the cosmic microwave background radiation help to determine the age of the universe with greater accuracy than ever before. This data also suggests that the first stars began to appear as early as 200 million years after the "Big Bang" - in other words, five times earlier than had been previously thought. WMAP has also allowed scientists to improve their knowledge of what space is composed of.
INTRODUCING PROJECTS
The Czech Academy of Sciences now has a computer which performs highly demanding calculations and data processing
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
A report on the 172nd session the Czech Government Research and Development Council.
NEWS FROM THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
A report on the 29th session of the Academic Council of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
PORTRAITS FROM THE ARCHIVES
Vincenc Lesný (1882-1953)
Fifty years have passed since the death of Vincenc Lesný, one of the leading Czech Indologists who pioneered the study of new Indian languages in this country. He spent several years in India and translated a number of texts from Hindi and other languages, including fairy tales from Kashmir and Bengal.
A European Prize for the Development of Technology for the Information Society
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
This time the section introduces the Czech Society for the Law Concerning the Environment.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Water as an Omen - About Floods
Destruction and Hope
The article describes the efforts to save precious records and collections at the depository of the Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences which were flooded last summer.
Books for Archaeologists
Immediately after the floods, which destroyed precious books and exhibits at the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, archaeologists and others abroad began determining which books needed to be replaced and collecting them. The National Institute of the History of Arts in France has collected five thousand books which have been sent to the Czech Republic.
The Sociological Webzine SOCIOweb
It is an electronic biweekly magazine issued by the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences for everyone interested in the society we all live in.