National Institute of Biology

Slovenian researchers have carried out the first ever systematic census of the population of wild bee species in the country. Some of the results are surprising, including the discovery of one species previously not found on Slovenian territory.

Slovenian microbrewery Bevog and the National Institute of Biology have joined forces to raise awareness of endangered animal species. Bevog is rolling out a limited collection of beer in cans depicting animals at risk of extinction to support research of endangered grassland ecosystems with a donation to the institute.

Ljubljana – To highlight the problem of plastic pollution, over 1400 students in 100 Slovenian schools joined forces with scientists within the EU’s Plastic Pirates project. Over the course of one year, young people helped scientists to sample microplastics in rivers, which contaminated more than three-quarters of the rivers analysed.

Ljubljana – The first monitoring of wild bees in 2021 did not yield encouraging results, with the bumblebees count dropping five-fold compared to last year. “This is bad news for both agriculture and nature, as bumblebees are among the most important pollinators,” the National Institute of Biology (NIB) said on Monday.

Ljubljana – The first case of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), a highly infectious plant virus that is jeopardising tomato and pepper crops, has been confirmed in Slovenia after a close encounter with the virus in spring.

Železniki – Lotrič Meroslovje, a family business which is a Slovenian market leader in metrology testing, finished 2020 with 13% growth from 2019, as it acted on new opportunities brought about by the pandemic. The growing trend continues, so the 2021 plan is an 11% growth, director general Marko Lotrič told the press in Železniki on Wednesday.

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s curve of coronavirus transmissions keeps rising with another 981 people testing positive on Monday to drive the 7-day average up to 829. The growing trend is also reflected in Covid-19 hospitalisations, which rose back above 500. Nine patients with Covid-19 died, government data show.

Ljubljana – Slovenia currently has 2% of its population vaccinated against coronavirus and if the supply of vaccines continues at current pace, 5% of the population could be vaccinated by the end of the month, said Marta Grgič Vitek, the coordinator of the vaccination programme at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ).

Ljubljana – This year’s Zois Prizes for lifetime achievement in science and research have been bestowed on researcher Tamara Lah Turnšek of the National Institute of Biology and University of Ljubljana professor emeritus Radovan Stanislav Pejovnik. The recipients were presented in a documentary showed on TV Slovenija last evening.