Archive: Science and technology | Science Science
Ondrejov Observatory celebrates 100th anniversary
100 years ago to the day, the first astronomical observation was carried
out in the Ondrejov Observatory southeast of Prague. Only a modest
establishment at the beginning, it has grown into the largest scientific
observatory in the country. Since 1953, it has been part of the
Astronomical Institute of the Czechoslovak (Czech) Academy of Sciences and
it also houses the largest telescope in the Czech Republic as well as
Central Europe.
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Czech scientific institute signs landmark agreement with US pharmaceutical company
Czech science - and one scientist in particular - received a great honour
last week, when the United States pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences
announced a donation to the Institute of Organic Chemistry and
Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences for the establishment of a
special research centre bearing the company's name. The California-based
biopharmaceutical company will donate 1.1 million dollars a year to the
institute for an initial five-year term to fund the centre's operations
and ongoing research activities. A part of the amount will be used to
finance the research of the renowned Czech scientist, Professor Antonin
Holy, for whom the company has established the Gilead Distinguished Chair
in Medicinal Chemistry.
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Research institute developing "menopause" beer
Czechs drink an average 161 litres of beer annually, about thirty percent
more than their German neighbours. But surveys suggest that the number of
women partaking of "liquid bread" is slowly decreasing. That's
because they aren't aware that beer is actually good for them, says the
Czech Research Institute for Brewing and Malting.
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"Science in the Streets" - persuading young people to study science
The streets and squares of Prague were turned into temporary laboratories
and research centres this weekend for a project called "Science in
the Streets." Organised for the second year running by the Czech
scientific body Ceska Hlava, or Czech Brain, it's an attempt to attract
more young people to scientific careers.
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Hunting dinosaurs in Mongolia
In less than a month's time, a team of Czech scientists will leave for the
Mongolian desert of Gobi to spend a month at a rich fossil location
looking for the remains of dinosaurs. The team of Expedition Gobi 2006 are
now making the final preparations and also bracing themselves for the rough
weather conditions of the Mongolian desert. By the end of the project in
2009, they are hoping to excavate and bring back to the Czech Republic a
complete dinosaur skeleton to be displayed in Prague.
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Czech scientists a step closer to success in the fight against Type 1 diabetes
The Czech Republic has an impressive record in innovative medical research.
For the last six years, laboratories around the world have successfully
been offering a new form of treatment of diabetes that could lead to a
life without the daily injections of insulin. In the experimental
procedure called islet transplantation, healthy islets from the pancreas
of deceased donors are transferred into diabetic patients. But it was not
until a Czech team of scientists recently proposed to put small particles
of iron into the islets that these could be monitored.
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New Antarctic station puts Czech polar research on the map
In February 2004, a group of Czech scientists set out for the freezing
temperatures of James Ross Island in Antarctica with a view to
establishing the first Czech Antarctic research centre there. 2 years on,
and the unprecedented project has finally been completed, giving Czech
scientists a chance to study the Antarctic climate and its effects on
global weather systems from their own state of the art polar station. More
Doctors in eastern Bohemia invent vaccine against middle ear infection
Otitis media, or middle ear infection, is an inflammation of the ear
chambers that is very common among infants. It often follows a cold and is
treated with antibiotics. But doctors at the University of Defence in
Hradec Kralove, eastern Bohemia, have now developed a vaccine that helps
to significantly reduce the disease. Dr. Roman Prymula heads the
epidemiology department at the military faculty and told Dita Asiedu more
about the invention:
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Professor Vaclav Paces on Czech achievements in genomics research
Genomics, or the study of the genomes of organisms and the use of the
genes, has among other things the potential of offering new therapeutic
methods for the treatment of some diseases, as well as new diagnostic
methods. On the achievements of Czech scientists in this field, Radio
Prague talks to the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, former
director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of
Sciences and genomics expert, Professor Vaclav Paces.
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Scientists uncover secrets of red wine
Have you ever wondered where the ruby colour of red wine comes from? And
did you know that some wine producers enhance the colour of wine even
though they shouldn't? These questions arose during research conducted by
scientists from the eastern town of Olomouc, which focuses on natural dyes
called anthocyanins.
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