Last month saw the 50th anniversary of the first full hip replacement surgery in the former Czechoslovakia under the lead of Professor Oldřich Čech who later played a role in the first Czech-made endoprosthetics design.

David František Wagner on the popularity of the live-action hobby and (occasional) art form

PCs were almost impossible to get in 1980s Czechoslovakia but microcomputers proved a different matter. As so-called micros were slowly smuggled into the country and hobby programming quickly caught on, enthusiasts soon coded all manner of computer games. Under the radar of the authorities, some subtly - and others rather daringly – mocked the socialist regime.

the late hours of Thursday, October 31st – Halloween - downing opponents the Prague School of Economics by a score of 4:0.

Zoologist Petr Šípek on how dramatic drop in numbers can impact ecosystems

More and more analysis is pointing to a dramatic drop in insect populations in Europe and across the world. A long-term study in neighbouring Germany, for example, suggests that flying insect populations dropped alarmingly by more than 75 percent over the last three decades.

Work groups from six universities within the 4EU+ European university alliance met recently in Copenhagen to move forward with some of the project’s key aims.

Much of the focus of IDEA, a think-tank of the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which is part of CERGE-EI, is tied this year to the novel coronavirus, and anti-Covid measures. However, that is far from its only activity: this week the think tank hosted an online conference examining the influence of public policy on labour markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out large numbers of volunteers across the country, offering help in a time of unprecedented crisis.

Disinformation online by malicious actors by now will surprise few people – but the big question is how best to tackle the problem. Increasingly, some are saying more damage than good is committed when the issue is framed only in alarmist terms and described solely as conflict or war – shutting down critical thinking.

The moon has fascinated us for most of recorded history: a guiding light on dark seas, a sacred disk illuminating the heavens, a symbol of the unattainable, a god. For most of human existence, its stark, cratered surface remained impossibly beyond reach. All that changed 50 years ago, on July 20, 1969. As some 500 million people watched a live televised broadcast (the largest ever TV audience at the time), the commander of the Apollo 11 mission Neil Armstrong emerged from the Lunar Module called the Eagle and – in his NASA spacesuit - became the first man in history to step onto the Moon’s dusty surface.

Foreign students who have the chance to study at Charles University under the Erasmus+ program often describe their semester or two in Prague as “unforgettable”. Not only is Erasmus+ an opportunity to advance in one’s chosen major but it’s a chance to experience something different in the heart of Europe.

Charles University, together with the Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, the Czech Philharmonic and Prague City Hall, are officially supporting a donation drive organised by the National Technical Museum to help raise funds for the rebuilding of Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Few doubt the importance of social and technological innovation projects; in a period of ever-evolving playing fields or shifting sands, it is more important than ever that good ideas don’t fall the wayside.

Between Two Ages is the sub-caption of a new exhibition which opened at Charles University on Wednesday, marking the reign of Czech King Wenceslas IV, on the 600th anniversary of his death, a monarch who bridged the period of prosperity under his father, Charles IV, and religious and social upheaval which followed.

Anthropologists at Charles University and colleagues from three American universities recently published the findings of a joint-study examining dehydration and persistence hunting by modern humans’ predecessor Homo erectus.

September 24 is Familial Hypercholesterolemia Awareness Day, established by the FH Foundation in 2012. The purpose of the day – and related events – is to raise awareness of the dangers of high cholesterol, which can lead to the onset of early heart disease, heart attacks or strokes.

Kickboxer Terezka Cvingerová made headlines when she won gold and bronze medals at the first-ever European Universities Combat Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Cvingerová won the gold in the LC 65+ category edging Croatian Elizabeta Crnković on home turf.

Pavla Horáková is well-known in literary circles as a respected translator, reporter for Czech Radio, and author. Her new novel called Teorie podivnosti (A Theory of Strangeness) received very positive reviews and has become a much sought-after title this holiday season*.

We are here outside the famous Carolinum – the heart and soul of Charles University in Prague. This year the university has been marking 100 years since the founding of Czechoslovakia and recently opened an exhibition entitled “Czechoslovakia in 100 objects”.

It has been more than three years since scientists used the LIGO system or Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory for the first time in history directly observe gravitational waves. The stunning discovery confirmed predictions Albert Einstein made with his theory of general relativity almost a hundred years earlier.