The 700th birth anniversary of King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV has been designated as one of UNESCO´s important world anniversaries for 2016-2017. The Czech Academy of Sciences recreates the period of Charles IV at the exhibiton entitled Seven Towers. Charles IV through the eyes of academics (1316-2016) at the Science and Art Gallery. The visitors have an oppportunity to see the unique gold ducats with a picture of Charles IV. For this first time the most valuable archaeological discoveries of glass goblets are exhibited. Everyday items used by residents of the medieval city are also on display. The exhibition also shows a rare treasure of coins, which was hidden in the Emmaus monastery about 1370, as well as copies of the Constitutive Act of the Charles University, Charles´s Code Maiestas Carolina or late-medieval transcript of Charles´ Golden Bull. Personality of Charles IV is documented by commemorative coins, medals and seals bearing his image. Part of the exhibition is also a faithful copy of the statue of Charles IV from the Old Town Bridge Tower, the last sculptural portrait of the monarch before his death. and Marina Hužvárová.
Článek shrnuje současné názory na vnitrodruhové genetické rozrůznění a taxonomii zmije obecné (Vipera berus). Zvláštní pozornost je věnována genetické příslušnosti populací českých zmijí., This article summarizes contemporary knowledge of the intraspecific genetic differentiation and taxonomy of the Common Adder (Vipera berus). Special attention is paid to the genetic status of the Czech adders., and Jiří Moravec, Jiří Šmíd.
Husa tundrová (Anser serrirostris) byla původně poddruhem husy polní (A. fabalis), od níž byla oddělena na základě studia morfologie (velikost, zbarvení), chování (vokalizace, vzorce aktivity) a tahových poměrů. Obě jsou severské druhy, které k nám přilétají zimovat většinou v říjnu, někdy i ve společných hejnech. Právě husa tundrová se u nás vyskytuje v překvapivě vysokých počtech, husa polní je mnohem vzácnější. Popsány jsou znaky obou druhů, které poslouží k jejich odlišení v přírodě., The Tundra Bean Goose was originally a subspecies of the Bean Goose. It was divided on the base of morphological studies (size, coloration), behaviour (vocalization, activity patterns) and migratory rates under the new name Taiga Bean Goose. Both of these geese are northern species which winter in the Czech Republic mostly from October, sometimes in common flocks. The Tundra Bean Goose occurs in our country in surprisingly high numbers, while the Taiga Bean Goose is much rarer. Its characteristic features are described for their identification in the wild., and Karel Šťastný.
Od poloviny 70. let 20. stol. se již počtvrté obracíme prostřednictvím časopisu Živa na seriózní pozorovatele přírody s žádostí o pomoc při mapování hnízdního rozšíření ptáků v ČR. Výsledkem předcházejících tří mapování byly publikované Atlasy hnízdního rozšíření ptáků v ČR v letech 1973-77, 1985-89 a 2001-03. Současné mapování avifauny probíhá v ČR v letech 2014-17 a výsledkem bude nový atlas, který přinese další konfrontaci s daty získanými stejně exaktním způsobem jako v předcházejících třech obdobích. V prvním roce mapování se zapojilo 271 spolupracovníků, kteří obsadili 61 % mapovacích kvadrátů na území ČR. K prvním zajímavým výsledkům patří zaznamenání 8 případů průkazného zahnízdění nepůvodního invazního druhu - husice nilské (Alopochen aegyptiaca)., The current breeding mapping in 2014-17 is the fourth mapping organized in the Czech Republic since the 1970s. Results of previous mapping attempts are summarized in three Atlases of breeding birds. This article is a call for the cooperation of Živa readers. It also presents pilot results from the first year (2014) of field work, based on records from 271 contributors who covered 61 % of the whole territory of the Czech Republic. One of the interesting results is the map of breeding distribution of the invasive Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), with 8 confirmed breedings., and Karel Šťastný, Vladimír Bejček.
Plant virology department of the Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, is successful in description and sequencing of mycoviruses and plant viruses, recently. Most of the newly described viruses have unique genome organization and did not induce disease symptoms in their plant of fungal hosts, respectively. By contrast, some mycoviruses debilitate their hosts and are promising as tools for biological control of harmful fungi. and Karel Petrzik, Ondřej Lenz.
V roce 2015 se na internetu v České republice zvedla vlna nenávistných projevů proti migrantům, zejména muslimského původu. Tento článek prezentuje výsledky výzkumu nenávistných projevů vůči migrantům a uprchlíkům na Facebooku v České republice v létě 2015. Za pomoci kombinované metody analýzy využívající automatický sběr dat a následnou manuální triangulaci výsledků bylo možné odpovědět na některé základní otázky o procesu vytváření a šíření nenávistných projevů na Facebooku. Je zřejmé, že vlna nenávistných projevů proti migrantům v roce 2015 byla cíleně i nezamýšleně podpořena společnými aktivitami různých uživatelů Facebooku (především mužů ve středním věku příslušejících ke střední střídě), propagandistickými aktivitami extremistických skupin, zpravodajstvím masmédií a také designem samotné komunikační platformy., The increased influx of refugees and migrants to the EU in 2015 has been followed by a noticeable presence of online hate speech against migrants in many countries across Europe. The article presents the results of a study of hate speech proliferation on Facebook in the Czech Republic during the summer of 2015. Its goal is to identify the producers of hate speech and determine their social background, explore the main channels of hate speech proliferation, determine the specific groups of migrants targeted by hate speech, put the hate speech in the context of online political communication, and discuss the role of media and politicians in the process of hate speech proliferation. With regard to the works of Castells, Skocpol or Bennett and Segerberg, online hate speech can be perceived as an extreme variety of new, rapidly evolving modes of political communication as such. Social and political activism has been shifting from membership-based organizations and parties towards flexible movements and initiatives with strong emphasis on the logic of identity politics. People may or may not engage in hate speech production as lone independent actors, but they still perceive their actions as part of larger collective efforts. When we focus on hate speech as a form of civic activism or networking, new interesting patterns can emerge. The study is based on a mixed-method analysis; computer-assisted data collection via the Social Insider software tool was further triangulated by random sampling and subsequent manual coding and analysis of selected Facebook posts, comments and other content. The question of reception and influence of hate speech was largely omitted from the analysis, due both to the research methods chosen and to the inherently cyclical nature of social network communication. Hate speech itself was identified according to a custom-made definition based on various existing legal definitions and scholarly perspectives of legal and media science. The results of the analysis indicate that the wave of hate speech against migrants was aggravated both intentionally and coincidentally by the combined forces of disparate Facebook users, extremist groups´ propaganda, news media and the design of the social network itself. As for the social background of frequent producers of hate speech, there was a strong prevalence of middle-aged and middle-class males, and a significant under-representation of both elderly and young Facebook users. The majority of the hate speech content was produced and spread in small-scale communication exchanges, i.e. under articles posted on individual user profiles etc. The communication activities of larger, well-organized populist groups, political parties or communities were visibly present, but they did not play a significant part in the hate speech production itself - although their possible involvement in agenda setting cannot be underestimated. All the datasets indicated that a vast majority of the hate speech in the given time period was aimed either against migrants in general or Muslims, while these two groups often overlapped. The role of mass media and of the design of the Facebook platform in the entire process should be discussed further. It became apparent that the producers of hate speech themselves seldom created any substantial shared content such as articles or videos. To the contrary, many hateful comments occurred through sharing and subsequent discussion of articles produced by online news outlets. As the Czech mass media are defined by transformation, uncertainty, layoffs and disintegration of professional routines, this creates a dangerous mix that could lead to further proliferation of hate speech., Matouš Hrdina., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Epifytické lišejníky jakožto citlivé bioindikátory rychle reagují na změny v životním prostředí, zvláště na znečištění ovzduší. V období kyselých dešťů došlo v ČR k zásadní proměně epifytických společenstev. Existují však místa, která byla ovlivněna jen v menší míře a doposud zde přežívají vzácné druhy. Takové lokality můžeme považovat za novodobá refugia., Epiphytic lichens as sensitive bioindicators reflect changes in the environment (e.g. air pollution) very quickly. Acid rains occurring in the second half of the 20th century have considerably affected the epiphytic biota of the Czech Republic. However, there are several places, which have been less influenced and where rare lichens still survive. We consider such places to serve as recent refugia., and Jiří Malíček, Lada Syrovátková.