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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.

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.

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.

It was by accident that a laboratory worker discovered the healing properties of a tiny fungus, Pythium oligandrum, for humans. In the 1970s the team of scientist Dasa Vesely found out that the microscopic organism feeds on other fungi and started applying it in agriculture to protect plants from parasitic mushrooms. In the early 1990s a lab assistant accidentally dropped a bit of the powder in her boot. She was suffering from athlete's foot, and all of a sudden her symptoms started receding. When she realised what it was that helped her, she tried

September 15th is the deadline for sending in nominations for the "Czech Head" award for outstanding Czech researchers and inventors.

The Stefanik Observatory in Prague is exhibiting two newly discovered meteorites from the Moon. The exhibition, which opens on Tuesday, marks the 35th anniversary of the landing of the first manned mission on the Moon.

The Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences can boast a questionable record. It has the oldest computer still in operation in a Czech company.