In 2018, a pair of enthusiastic paleontologists discovered a site in southern France where, in addition to the usual fossilized shells and skeletons, even remains of soft bodies of ancient organisms were preserved. This site, the study of which was also contributed by Lukáš Laibl of the Institute of Geology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Martina Nohejlová of the Czech Geological Survey, offers a hitherto unknown view of polar ecosystems 470 million years ago. The site was located near the South Pole at that time, whereas the most similar sites with preserved soft bodies come from former tropical regions. Moreover, the high diversity of species at the new site confirms the migration hypothesis towards the southern hemisphere, where these species sought refuge from the high temperatures prevailing in the then-tropical zones.
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Image caption: Artistic reconstruction of the Cabrières biota © Christian McCall

A new study by the team of the Environmental Geology and Geochemistry Department led by Tomáš Navrátil found that elevated concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury and also particle-bound mercury in the air near Spolana Neratovice decreased rapidly after the shutdown of the amalgam electrolysis line in 2017. Annual air measurements performed since 2013 indicated a decrease by over 60 %. The study published in journal Environmental Science Pollution and Research further indicates that the concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury in the air near Neratovice still remain approximately doubled compared to sites unaffected by emissions.

On the occasion of the November 17 anniversary of the events in 1939 and 1989, a ceremonial assembly of the academic community was held in the historic hall of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, BUT Brno, at which important personalities were honoured. Prof. RNDr. Lukáš Krmíček, Ph.D. was awarded the Signum Excellentiae ("sign of excellence") silver medal for his outstanding achievements in publishing scientific articles, research in the field of geosciences, and for pedagogical and science-promotion activities. Lukáš Krmíček is engaged in comprehensive research in the field of volcanology and geochemistry of igneous rocks at Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. In the current issue of Vesmír magazine, he published an article dedicated to the Litli-Hrútur volcano, which arose on the Icelandic peninsula of Reykjanes in July 2023.

The scientific community takes it as a viable working hypothesis that hot ocean-floor springs on Mars represented a source of energy for a group of chemotrophic bacteria, such as those found in terrestrial conditions. Nevertheless, the evolution of possible life on Mars did not reach beyond the level of microbial communities of stromatolite type. It is presumed that sediments with microbial remains were deeply buried and altered by high temperatures and pressures in a similar way as phytoplankton which gave origin to oil deposits on Earth. The new study in the International Journal of Astrobiology, which was contributed by Václav Cílek of the Institute of Geology, considered Mars surface in view of Mars gravity data in order to determine areas with possible occurrences of organic remains in rocks. The purpose of this research is to point to potentially significant sites to be studied by future Martian missions.