Czech Science | All stories

Monday, September 13th was a beautiful sunny day here in Prague, and that was rather apt, as it was Czech Solar Day. Its aim was to draw the public's attention to the potential of solar power.

Nanofibres - remember that word well because you might be hearing it more and more often in the future, and maybe partly thanks to Czech scientists.

Czech scientists have developed what could prove to be a revolutionary anti-cancer treatment, avoiding many of the toxic side effects of conventional chemotherapy. Sometimes dubbed a "magic bullet", the newly-developed drug can be sent straight to the cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue elsewhere.

In the northern sky at one hour right ascension and 40 degrees north declination — the coordinate on the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth and the angular distance north of the celestial equator — lies Andromeda. After her death, the beautiful Ethiopian princess was placed there by Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, to shine for all eternity.

When a flood wave hit the Czech capital Prague two years ago it damaged not only buildings in the vicinity of the Vltava but also their contents. Entire archives were destroyed by water, including many precious historic prints. But luckily not all was lost to water, thanks to modern technology and quick decision-making. Tomas Rehak is the general director of the Municipal Library whose buildings and archives - including the department of rare prints - were heavily struck back in 2002.

"Spare the rod, spoil the child," is a philosophy still widely practised by most Czech parents. Studies carried out by the Centre of Preventative Medicine at Charles University suggest that ten years ago 90 percent of children had experienced some kind of corporal punishment at home, and that the number has hardly fallen since.

A group of environmental activists get together, scrape up some money and buy a piece of land that has some remarkable features: endangered animals or rare plants - and turn it into a private preserve. That is not so unusual anymore in the Czech Republic. But cases when conservationists and botanists decide to turn a completely ordinary piece of land into something valuable are much less common.

Prague is getting ready for the 26th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, which is to take place in the Czech capital in two years' time. Several thousand astronomers from around the world are expected to meet in Prague, a city with a rich astronomical history going back to the mid-14th century.

Astronomers from the Stefanik Observatory in Prague have announced that the summer "shooting star" season has begun. Although the peak of the annual meteor shower happens around the middle of August, the first shooting stars have already started appearing.

Throughout the summer holidays, visitors to the Klet Observatory in South Bohemia can see an exhibition called "The World of Minor Planets". After that the observatory will undergo renovation. Founded in 1957, the Klet Observatory is a state supported research institution situated south of the top of Klet Mountain at the altitude of 1070 m.