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Stanley ‘Robotman’ Povoda is the father of Czech robotics. After over half a century of bringing people’s old colanders, chandeliers and vacuum cleaners to life, Stanley has just become the subject of his first own retrospective in Prague’s Trafačka Gallery. Stanley (real name Marián) Povoda has been back in the Czech Republic for five years now, after spending most of his life in exile in North America. On a recent tour of his new show, Stanley told me where his passion for robots began:

An exhibition titled Czech inventors and inventions is currently underway at the National Museum in Prague. It introduces visitors to the life and work of more than 20 Czech or Czech-born inventors who made their mark in the world. The exhibition covers achievements in many fields of human activity - engineering, medicine, agriculture, biology, chemistry, as well as in the humanities. But you will also find curious and somewhat absurd creations which never went beyond the prototype stage. I asked Pavel Douša, who heads the museum’s cultural heritage

One hears a great deal about the importance of fighting free radicals, but it is not often that one sees the benefits of this in practice. Czech researchers from the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences have an outstanding success story in this respect. They have developed a gel that has proved exceptionally effective in healing both chronic and acute wounds with the aid of free-radical-binding technology.

In this week’s Panorama: how walled-in windows can be a big attraction, the Vltava river gets a symbolic lighthouse and, the nation’s fierce one-eyed commander is back on his horse on Vítkov Hill - facing a new enemy.

In Panorama this week: mistletoe is associated with Christmas good cheer –in the Czech lands it is believed to bring good health, good luck and prosperity –but what happens when it turns into a killer? A Czech hospital discovers the magical properties of Kiwanis dolls in treating children and, the country’s new hero Super Václav is unmasked.

In Panorama this week – military history buffs invited to take their pick from Warsaw Pact era equipment and facilities. Will Karlovy Vary get a life-size statue of Peter the Great? And why producing a stuffed elephant can be a tall order.

A group of Czech volunteers are helping to save stray dogs in neighbouring Slovakia where there is a widespread practice of exterminating them. Over two thousand animals a year are legally put down in this manner, regardless of the fact that many are perfectly healthy or only puppies. Prior to their extermination, which usually takes place within a week of their capture, they are placed in overcrowded, dirty kennels and in most cases left hungry. These dog shelters are often referred to by the locals as “concentration camps for canines” and their

A booth on Prague’s Jungmann Square is making people stop and stare. Individuals walk inside, close the door and yell at the top of their lungs – to come out smiling moments later, as someone else takes their place. What you hear there is not a frustrated employee letting off steam after a bad day at work –it’s a voice raised in support of fair trade and making companies observe human rights and give people decent work conditions in countries where it is easy to abuse them. The Czech NGO Na Zemi has launched a campaign to raise awareness of how

In this week’s Panorama :a play at Prague’s National Theatre highlights the problems of coexistence between ethnic Czechs and the Roma minority, Karlovy Vary protesting against too many foreign language signs, and, Czech politicians make headlines from here to Belgrade.

Michal Thoma – like his father Zdeněk – is a well-known Czech photographer, traveller, and author focussing on countries in Asia, including India and Nepal. In Part 2 of this special Panorama, we focus on Manang – a village in the Himalayas which was unchanged for centuries when Zdeněk Thoma visited and photographed there in 1979. Thirty years later, his son Michal followed in his father’s footsteps and has since put together a joint-exhibition about Manang which you can see at The House at the Stone Bell in Prague.