28 Apr 2021

Anthropologists from the Faculty of Science at MU have begun a unique project focused on the body shape and composition of the Czech population

Earlier this year, experts from our Institute of Anthropology began a new project entitled A.D.A.P.T. (Anthropological Database of Body Proportions). Its main aim is to examine the body shape and composition of the Czech population and to design tools that will help record, evaluate and subsequently archive and share this data.

28 Apr 2021

New coronavirus mutations? Czechs are gaining immunity, but scientists say that further development is poorly predicted

The number of vaccinated people and those with natural immunity is rapidly increasing. But the coronavirus SARS-CoV2, according to virologists, has not yet said its last word. It is still spreading, mutating and may surprise with new, more dangerous variants that scientists are trying to follow. Now, scientists are warning, among other things, of those they have recognized in Brazil or South Africa, because they may escape acquired immunity. (Article in Czech only.)

27 Apr 2021

Jiří Grygar: I also used popularization in my own research

Astronomer, astrophysicist, alumnus of the Faculty of Science MU and MFF UK and popularizer of science Jiří Grygar influenced several generations. How has popularization changed, will he be surprised by something else after so many years and what advice does he follow? These and other questions were raised by Forum magazine on the occasion of his recent 80th birthday, which he celebrated on March 17. (Article is available only in Czech.)

23 Apr 2021

Eighteen kilos of clay from Antarctica. Polar scinetist Jana Smolíková describes what can be read from the ice

She returned from Antarctica a month ago. And even though Jana Smolíková has been there three times, she would like to return again. "It's easy to catch an Antarctic virus and fall in love with it. And I caught it too," says one of two women of this year's polar expedition of Masaryk University to Mendel's polar station on James Ross Island. Read more on lidovky.cz (in Czech only).

22 Apr 2021

How do neurolipids trigger degeneration?

Alzheimer's disease - an incurable disease that affects not only old age. PharmDr. Zdenek Spacil, Ph.D., studies at the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University in Brno changes in the composition of membrane lipids, which precede the onset of neurodegeneration and the development of Alzheimer's dementia (AD).

22 Apr 2021

The 2022-2023 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is Open!

The competition for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program for the 2022-2023 academic year is launched.

Lack of collaboration between science and politics is harming the planet

PFAS substances – water and soil contaminants that will stay in the environment forever and their use is steadily growing. Endocrine disruptors that interfere with the human as well as the animal hormone system, causing various diseases including diabetes, obesity, and male infertility. Also, the by now extreme pollution of the planet by plastics and electronic waste. According to Martin Scheringer, professor of environmental chemistry, scientists are alerting politicians to these dire threats yet their warnings go unheeded.

20 Apr 2021

Antarctica in uncertain times. Season 2021 at Johann Gregor Mendel Station

Read the National Geografic article (in Czech only).