The Czech Institute of Egyptology at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts is launching a new trademark to designate products and technologies able to tackle “extreme conditions” found at the institute’s archaeological concession in Abusir, Egypt and expeditions in Sudan.

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.

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.

Charles University’s Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer (CPPT) and subsidiary Charles University Innovations Prague hosted the 7th National Knowledge and Technology Transfer Conference in the Czech capital last week.

A triptych by Czech artist Jiří Sozenský, commemorating the sacrifice of student Jan Palach (who died at the age of 20 from severe burns from self-immolation in January 1969), was unveiled on April 4 at Charles University’s Carolinum.

Charles University’s gift shop officially reopened for business at Celetná 14 this week. The official launch on Tuesday was attended by university representatives such as Quaestor Miroslava Oliveriusová, Rector Tomáš Zima, and invited guests.

Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has begun a three-day visit to the Czech Republic. After meeting for talks with the prime minister, Ms. Suu Kyi was hosted by Charles University on Monday afternoon.

The former president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Joachim Gauck, has been awarded the international Charles IV Prize.

Charles University Rector Tomáš Zima and the president of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Vladimír Dlouhý have signed a memorandum further strengthening cooperation between both institutions.

Held at the institute’s headquarters at Prague’s Výtoň and at the European Union’s Prague House in the city centre, the conference was described as a key event by ÚJOP deputy director Dr. Dana Hůlková Nývltová when I met with her on the conference’s final day.