RNDr. Tomáš Hrstka PhD. was invited as a keynote speaker to the international expert forum EIT Raw Materials Expert Forum of the EU (Expert Forum: Digitalisation in the Raw Materials Sector) to present the possible applications of artificial intelligence and neural networks in geosciences and sustainability. Moreover, he also presented new findings based on the project Strategy AV21 related to the use of automated scanning electron microscopes in the study of individual dust particles and environment monitoring.

The European Pince Cone Lepidella (Amanita strobiliformis) is a fungus hyperaccumulating silver in sporocarps, with concentrations exceeding even 1,000 mg/kg in dry weight. Despite this fact, it grows in soils with natural Ag concentrations below 1 mg/kg. In the recent paper published in the Science of the Total Environment, the team of the Institute of Geology CAS focused on two populations of A. strobiliformis in Prague in co-operation with researchers from the Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, University of Chemistry and Technology, Institute of Microbiology CAS, and Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. The distribution of mycelium below sporocarps was investigated by the use of the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Lead isotopic fingerprinting was used to trace the metal transfer from soil to the sporocarps. According to the results, silver is likely accumulated from the 12 cm thick topsoil layer. At the site of Klíčov, a minimum soil volume of 0.006 to 0.079 m3 is required per sporocarp to accumulate the corresponding amount of Ag which represents a minimum area of 0.05 to 0.65 m2.

In mid November, the Institute of Geology participated in the 19th year of the Week of Science and Technology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The all-time highest number of visitors, i.e., 220 guests, attended the traditional tours of selected laboratories within the Open Door Days. Most of them came from primary and secondary schools outside Prague. Those showing active interest received gifts, such as mineral and fossil samples or small souvenirs provided by the Centre for Joint Activities of the Academy of Sciences.
Besides traditional visits, the Institute of Geology participated in an escape game called “Global Natural Disasters” organized by the Centre for Joint Activities of the CAS in cooperation with the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the CAS. During the week, about 530 people, especially children, joined this game at the Institute of Geology. Some photos from the Week of Science and Technology at the Institute of Geology can be found here.

On October 10, results of the Photogenic Science 2019 contest were announced. Pavel Lisý of the Institute of Geology CAS was awarded the first prize in “free category” with his photograph “Bílá roztahuje svoje sítě – The white spreads out its nets”. The project Photogenic Science was initiated by the collective “Fórum Věda žije!” with the aim to organize a yearly photographic contest for the staff of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The result of the project is a representative calendar with selected photographs and the Photogenic Science exhibition, which will be presented not only in Prague but also at other places in Czech Republic and abroad. The exhibition is accessible in the American Center in Lesser Town of Prague (Tržiště 366/1, Praha 1) by October 29, 2019.