News archive

Researchers from the IOCB of the CAS, the Institute of Physics of the CAS and Palacký University Olomouc have made a groundbreaking discovery – using an advanced method of scanning electron microscopy, they’ve managed to image not only the inside of a molecule, but also the structure of the electron shell of the atom. Their experiment was the first in the world to confirm the non-uniform distribution of electron density in aromatic molecules and the existence of the so-called π-hole. The significance of the results of this research at the submolecular level is comparable to that of the discovery of cosmic black holes. The study was published in Nature Communications.

Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wonder Woman... Our modern culture is rife with fictional figures wielding extraordinary abilities. However, superheroes are nothing new. One of their predecessors, found in the literature of the medieval Byzantine Empire, is the focus of Markéta Kulhánková from the Institute of Slavonic Studies of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The interview with the researcher (below) was first published in the current Czech issue of the CAS magazine A / Easy.

The development of new antibiotics is one of the global health challenges of our time. Now, in an international collaboration with the University of Tokyo, researchers from the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS have decoded the structure of a key condensation enzyme used for antibiotic biosynthesis and have clarified how it works at the molecular level. The enzyme is one-of-a-kind, according to the researchers, because it combines the individual components in a unique way. The scientists liken the enzyme to the duck-billed platypus, which also appears as if it were a cross of various animals. The study, “Molecular basis for carrier protein-dependent amide bond formation in the biosynthesis of lincosamide antibiotics”, was published in Nature Catalysis.

It was dark when the train arrived in Auschwitz. To the sound of barking dogs, kicking, and swearing, she was forced out of the carriage and made to walk to the camp. They tattooed a number on her and Vlasta Danielová suddenly became “Cvelfhundertfynfuntfeercikh”. She was one of the few who managed to return home after the war and was able to tell her story. Her testimony documents the horrors that both Jews and the Roma went through during World War II. Of the roughly 6,500 Czech Roma and Sinti, only six hundred survived the Holocaust. Starting today, some of their testimonies are now available on the website https://www.romatestimonies.com/, and more will soon be added. The Institute of Contemporary History of the CAS made the website available on the occasion of the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, which falls on 2 August.

There are places to explore in cities that urban planners never put on the map, and there are urban beauties that nobody intended to show. There are facets of the city that aren’t part of its official image. In almost every city – Prague being no exception – we can find places that are not exactly appealing at first glance. Why is this space here? How did it appear and what is its purpose? Reflection on such places is offered by the authors from the Center for Theoretical Study run by Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences in their monograph Město naruby – Vágní terén, vnitřní periferie a místa mezi místy (The City Inside Out – Vague Terrain, Inner Peripheries, and Places In Between), published by Academia.

He was deciding between a career as a basketball player and an artist, but eventually, plant cells won out. Surprisingly, the processes occurring in seemingly static flowers are more dynamic and exciting than one might think. And what a feast for the eyes! The interview with the young researcher from the Institute of Experimental Botany of the CAS was published in the CAS Magazine A / Věda a výzkum.

When it comes to retaining water, mountain peatlands do not behave like a sponge. Most of the rainwater drains out of them in the form of so-called fast water, which can raise the level in watercourses quite abruptly. Ordinary forest soils, on the other hand, allows water to filter through to greater depths. This discovery was made by researchers from the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the CAS, who compared the runoff response of peatland vs regular forest soil. The experts added that the impact of peatlands on cooling the landscape during the summer is also questionable.

Born in the time of William Shakespeare and still swimming in the depths of the cold ocean. The Greenland shark or grey shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is a unique creature, living to be over an incredible 400 years old. What's its secret? What's hidden in its genetic information? Let's take a closer look – on Shark Awareness Day, which falls on 14 July.

Beads, decorative pins, coins, but also weapons such as arrows and spears. Such artefacts were found by archaeologists hidden in the graves of members of the ruling elite of the Germanic Lombards in southern Moravia. A team from the Institute of Archaeology of the CAS in Brno unearthed a previously unknown part of a burial complex in the area of Mušov–Roviny, dating back to the first half of the sixth century. Systematic field research of the largest known Lombard necropolis on the territory of the Czech Republic is continuing there this year as well.

The Czech Academy of Sciences is not just one of many isolated islands in imaginary scientific waters. Instead, it is actively building bridges that connect it with partner organisations at home and abroad. How well is this going? And what plans does the Academy have for the World Expo 2025 in Osaka? Read our interview with David Honys from the Academy Council of the CAS below, taken from the May issue of the in-house e-magazine of the CAS, AB / Academic bulletin.