Science in Film is a series of film screenings accompanied by an educational lecture. In cooperation with the UP Crowd, we are popularizing various scientific disciplines through film.
Scientists at an American research station in Antarctica are frightened by a helicopter raid by their Norwegian colleagues, who are trying in vain to kill an escaping dog. The hunt is unsuccessful and the Norwegians disappear without explaining the situation to the Americans. However, the Americans gradually discover that something is wrong with the dog. It is infected with an alien virus that uses the body shells of (not only) humans for self-improvement and it is not at all against its mind to "test" its hosts. And so the scientists have no choice but to pick up a flamethrower, trust only themselves, and remain constantly on guard – because the "thing" could be hiding in any one of them...
"What do we know about the threat of new infections? And how accurate the "THING" was?"
I studied zoology at Charles University in Prague and then did my PhD at the Veterinary University in Brno. In scientific activities my main specialization is animal diseases in nature and molecular methods of their detection. I did my PhD under the supervision of an external supervisor from the Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London.
Since 2009 I am employed at VETUNI Brno, where I conduct research on diseases of amphibians and reptiles. Since 2022 I am also active at the Department of Zoology, UPOL, where I teach parasitology and I am a part of a team studying population genetics and diseases of our largest snake - the tree snake. I am very interested in the topic of biological invasions.
I was an invited expert at the European Food Safety Authority - EFSA in the framework of the assessment of the importance of the newt plague for the EU. Occasionally, I am delegated by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic to represent the Czech Republic at meetings of the Expert Group on Amphibian and Reptile Conservation of the Bern Convention.
I am co-author of 36 scientific papers, many study texts, two popularization books and dozens of conference papers at national and international conferences. In addition to my studies and work, I have in the past been involved in popularizing biology and working with gifted youth as a member of the Biology Olympiad author collective.
Czech subtitles
The Thing
Sci-Fi / Horror / Thriller / Mystery
USA, 1982, 109 min
Directed by John Carpenter
Programme subject to change.
