Research

I would love to fall inside a large black hole

Abstract

Professor Veronika E. Hubeny, a leading expert on string theory and quantum gravity, says that rushing is not good for science, and might make us miss tremendous opportunities.  We interviewed the theoretical physicist from the University of California on the occasion of GRAVITY@PRAGUE 2022.

 

A revolution in fire protection

Abstract

A multidisciplinary team of physicists and chemists from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences managed to create a graphene aerogel resistant to flames at a temperature of 1500 °C. A mere millimetre of the material is sufficient to shield such high temperatures. The new porous graphene aerogel temporarily resists various types of high-temperature flames, including an extremely reactive hydrogen flame

Thanks to Czech scientists, ecological production of photovoltaic systems in Europe is within striking distance

Abstract

Thanks to the PILATUS project, there will be three pilot lines built in Europe by 2025, covering the entire production cycle of innovative silicon solar panels. Special technologies with contacts on the bottom side will allow solar cells to convert energy with efficiency higher than 26%. In the production of this photovoltaic "Ferrari", the experts also want to minimize its CO2 footprint. In the project, a team from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Martin Ledinský will be involved as well.

DNA nanotechnology on the rise

Abstract

Scientists from the Laboratory of Biophysics contributed to the field of DNA nanotechnology with a recent systematic analysis. The authors, led by Oleg Lunov, have summarized the current state of knowledge about the interactions of DNA nanostructures (DN) with cells and identified the key challenges.