Press releases

The global food system is in the crisis of growth-addicted development. Exploitative of humans and animals, ecologically rapacious, hooked on fossil fuels, and controlled by a small number of multi-national corporations from food to fork, this system produces massive quantities of the wrong foods at incredible social, ecological and economic cost. With food crises again looming on the near horizon, a strategy to tweak and maintain the current growth-driven food system is highly questionable.

In the Czech Republic, there is lack of systematic research on ethical problems related to climate change and the so-called emerging technologies. The situation is about to change thanks to the newly forming international research Centre for Environmental and Technology Ethics – Prague (CETE-P) at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Thanks to a prestigious European grant awarded to the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Mark Coeckelbergh from the University of Vienna will participate in its establishment and development.

Large amounts of pesticides in agricultural production can negatively affect mycorrhizal fungi, invisible to the naked eye, and thus the ubiquitous cooperation between plants and soil micro-organisms. This is suggested by the results of a unique giant survey of more than 200 soil areas from Spain to Sweden. Among the experts, who examined how mycorrhizal fungi influence the transport of phosphorus from soil to plants, were also scientists from the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS.

Breastfeeding for more than half a year has a positive effect on children's psychological development. This was confirmed by a long-term study of Czech and Slovak researchers who observed children from České Budějovice and Karviná. The results have also shown that the duration of breastfeeding is particularly beneficial for the development of cognitive functions in children who live in areas with high levels of air pollution. The study was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the CAS in collaboration with colleagues from other institutions.

Before the internal biological clock of the fetus starts ticking on its own, the mother's rhythmic behaviour influences the function and development of this structure. This was discovered and published in a new study in the PLOS Biology journal by a team led by Alena Sumová from the Institute of Physiology of the CAS. The discovery significantly contributes to the understanding of the development of the internal clock and may find application in the treatment of premature babies.

Artificial intelligence will help with diagnosing patients on the basis of their lab samples. The unique pilot technology called MAIA is the joint project of the Biology Centre of the CAS, České Budějovice Hospital, and biotech company Aiolite. The project is co-financed by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, and it culminated at the end of June this year. The collaboration will result in the development of an advanced software tool that will help doctors make informed decisions about patients' further treatment.

Three scientists from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the CAS helped to significantly refine the use of so-called atmospheric reanalyses in examining the causes and consequences of extreme precipitation. Knowing the inaccuracies of these "backward" analyses compared to the real situation will help in estimating future weather changes. However, the use of reanalyses is much broader as the provided data are the basis for hydrological applications and climatological studies.

One of the world's most prestigious scientific journals, Nature, recently published the research findings of a team of Czech researchers. Their empirical research shows that a large part of the public has misconceptions about doctors' views on the COVID-19 vaccination. Although the vast majority of physicians trust and support the vaccination, there is a common belief among the public that doctors' opinions are split roughly 50–50. Informing the public of the broad consensus of the doctors' opinions has persistently increased vaccination rates and has played an important role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

They are always there, dwelling in the water, where they play a key role in food webs, in cycling of nutrients, matter and energy, and water purification. However, as happens with organisms that tend to be inconspicuous and often invisible to the naked eye, society mostly neglects them, and forgets their huge importance in providing support and stability of aquatic ecosystems. What is even more problematic, we also forget that they are exposed to a wide range of threats from human activities. Without proper conservation measures, their populations can decline and go extinct just like all of the other, more conspicuous aquatic organisms, with unforeseen consequences for marine and freshwater ecosystems. This was the object of a study by an international team led by researchers from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, as well as from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Germany, and the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

Bird species whose males perform aerial displaying inhabit open rather than closed (forest) environments and are more likely to have multiple mates. They usually have more elongated wings, which is related to the fact that they migrate longer distances, and breed at higher latitudes, i.e. further from the equator. In addition, the aerial displaying seems to be relatively common in generally small passerine species with brightly coloured plumage. All of this suggests that the evolution of aerial displays in passerine is the result of both sexual and natural selection, as scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Science of Charles University have found in a recent comprehensive analysis. The results of the research have been published in the prestigious Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal.