Press releases

Scientists from the international KATRIN experiment have determined the tightest direct upper limit of the mass of the neutrino - the most numerous particle that is all around us but escapes normal detection. The new result shows that the neutrino weighs less than 0.45 electron volts, about a million times less than the mass of an electron. A team from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences was also instrumental in the measurements, which were published in the prestigious journal Science.

In an effort to combat the antibiotics and pollutants flowing into our water sources from industries like hospitals and farms, two teenagers have been named as the European Winners of The Earth Prize 2025 for their innovative water purification solution, ‘PURA’. Notably, PURA is the first-ever winner of The Earth Prize from Slovakia or Czechia.

Horizontal mitochondrial transfer is the common denominator of more than 20 types of cancer. A team of scientists led by Professor Jiří Neužil from the Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, at the BIOCEV Centre has spearheaded a study summarizing the findings of this process in the prestigious journal Cancer Cell. The publication may motivate the development of new approaches in anti-cancer therapy.

A research group, led by Dr. Pavel Majer from IOCB Prague, in collaboration with the laboratories of Barbara Slusher and Louis Garza at Johns Hopkins University, have developed a compound that could potentially treat the autoimmune disorder alopecia areata, which causes hair loss leading to the formation of bald patches. The results of their study, recently published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, confirm the efficacy of a series of prodrugs based on derivatives of itaconic acid, simply referred to as itaconates. What is more, there is a good chance that the substances will be administrable orally in the form of tablets and not just as an ointment.

To date, research has told us cesium chloride hydrates should not exist at all. However, scientists from the Institute of Scientific Instruments of the Czech Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with experts from the University of Innsbruck, have now demonstrated their existence. The key to their preparation involves a special freezing procedure. This strategy could serve as a new pathway for synthesizing unstable molecules, potentially leading to novel pharmaceuticals and a better understanding of chemical reactions in space.

A consortium of 18 partners from Czechia, Lithuania, and Ukraine has embarked on a groundbreaking project to transform the European hi-tech industry through advanced laser technologies. To mark the official launch, the consortium members gathered for a Kick-Off Meeting at the HiLASE Centre in Dolni Brezany, where they outlined the project’s strategic direction, key objectives, and collaborative framework for the coming years.

In the northern lowlands of Mars, there are thousands of small cones that scientists believe were formed tens to hundreds of millions of years ago by mud flowing from underground. Mud on the surface of Mars behaves very differently to what we see on Earth due to the extremely low atmospheric pressure, which makes liquid water unstable. Until now, it has been unclear how the presence of various salts and their amounts change the properties of mud in the Martian environment. An international team of scientists led by Ondřej Krýza from the Geophysical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences focused on investigating these processes in experiments — now published in the journal, Communications: Earth & Environment.

Astronomers have discovered a planetary system that exhibits the most intense gravitational interaction between two gas giant planets ever observed. This remarkable interaction is so strong that it causes apparent variations in the orbital periods of each planet on the order of days! The system, referred to as TOI-4504, also hosts a small sub-Neptune-sized planet, making it an essential piece of the puzzle for understanding the formation and evolution of planetary systems.

At least eleven distinct species have been identified within what was previously classified as the spring fungus Sarcosphaera coronaria. The discovery was made by researchers from the Nuclear Physics Institute, the Institute of Geology, and the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with other research institutions and amateur mycologists from the Czech Republic and the USA. Their findings, which include the description of two entirely new species, was made possible by measuring the arsenic content using neutron activation analysis. The breakthrough study on the rare fungus was published in Mycological Progress.

Researchers from the Faculty of Science at Charles University, three institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IMG, IBT and IOCB), BIOCEV and CEITEC have made a remarkable advancement in understanding how cells regulate their inner framework. In a study recently published in Nature Communications, the team has uncovered the precise molecular mechanisms behind the protein MICAL1, which plays a crucial role in maintaining cell shape and movement. Their findings offer a detailed insight into MICAL1’s function in controlling actin filaments—the cell's flexible “skeleton”—and open up new possibilities for developing treatments to address diseases linked to MICAL dysfunction.