Research

Karel Závěta – Gentleman Physicist

Karel Závěta was an important figure in condensed matter physics. 67 years ago, on the first of February 1956, he joined the then Institute of Technical Physics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, today called the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He began his scientific career in the Department of Magnetism led by J. Brož. He became involved in the study of ferrites and continued in this area in cooperation with S. Krupička. The topic of his doctoral thesis was the use of electric conductivity to measure the magnetocaloric effect. For several years he held the post of the Science Secretary of the institute.

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Karel Závěta

I would love to fall inside a large black hole

Professor Veronika E. Hubeny, a leading expert on string theory and quantum gravity, says that rushing is not good for science, and might make us miss tremendous opportunities.  We interviewed the theoretical physicist from the University of California on the occasion of GRAVITY@PRAGUE 2022.

 

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Veronika Hubeny

A revolution in fire protection

A multidisciplinary team of physicists and chemists from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences managed to create a graphene aerogel resistant to flames at a temperature of 1500 °C. A mere millimetre of the material is sufficient to shield such high temperatures. The new porous graphene aerogel temporarily resists various types of high-temperature flames, including an extremely reactive hydrogen flame

Research
Nový uhlíkový materiál odolávající plamenům s teplotou až 1500 °C

Thanks to Czech scientists, ecological production of photovoltaic systems in Europe is within striking distance

Thanks to the PILATUS project, there will be three pilot lines built in Europe by 2025, covering the entire production cycle of innovative silicon solar panels. Special technologies with contacts on the bottom side will allow solar cells to convert energy with efficiency higher than 26%. In the production of this photovoltaic "Ferrari", the experts also want to minimize its CO2 footprint. In the project, a team from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Martin Ledinský will be involved as well.

Research
Naprostá většina fotovoltaických systémů, které v Evropě vidíme, je z křemíku.