Fritzie Zivic never asked why. He never asked if his opponent hit hard, if his opponent deserved the shot, if the opponent would be tough. He just said “yes” and signed the contract. Perhaps this fearlessness is the reason why Zivic may have fought a better array of boxers than any fighter in history. 23,190 people filled the Madison Square Garden in New York to the rafters when Armstrong met Zivic again on January 17, 1941. This remains the all-time highest Garden record for attendance! After this match, great inventor Nikola Tesla invited his compatriot and his four brothers to celebrate this win in his hotel. See Tesla and Zivic on the photo.
Category: Science
Major discovery by Croatian scientist could lead to new anti-cancer anibiotics
An international team of scientists led by prof. Nenad Ban (left) recently published the detailed structure of the so-called Mitochondrial ribosomes in the online edition of the prestigious journal Science. This discovery…
Nenad Ban makes a major discovery that could lead to new and effective antibiotics against cancer
An international team of scientists led by prof. Nenad Ban (left) recently published the detailed structure of the so-called Mitochondrial ribosomes in the online edition of the prestigious journal Science. This discovery is important for the development of more effective antibiotics and new drugs against cancer. “The study of mitochondrial ribosomes will enable us to develop better antibiotics. Namely, in order to develop better antibiotics is important to know what bacterial ribosomes and mitochondrial ribosomes look like, so as to prevent undesirable side effects of various antibiotics used clinically.” said Ban.
Nikola Tesla distinguished Croatian-American inventor and his high-school education in Croatia
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) attended the high-school (High Real School) in Rakovac, Croatia, in the period of 1870-73, where the subjects were taught in German language. One of the compulsorly subjects that young Tesla had, was Croatian language (Kroatische Sprache), which was his mother tongue. Martin Sekulić, high school professor of Mathematics and Physics, was probably the most important among Tesla’s professors during his entire education, since he enthused him for electricity, magnetism and polar light. Sekulić was an active researcher and a member of the Academy of Sciences in Croatia’s capital Zagreb, in the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
Nenad Hancic created new font inspired by the Vinodol Code written in Croatian Glagolitic Script in 1288
Nenad Hančić, living in Duesseldorf, Germany, has created a superb new computer font representing the famous Vinodol Code, a very old and important legal document written in Croatian Glagolitic Script, dating from the 13th century, more precisely, from 1288. This is the first font representing the most important Croatian Middle Age legal document. The Vinodol Code was written more than two hundred years before the discovery of America. Congratulations to Nenad Hančić for great job!
Botanical Garden in Zagreb founded in 1889, through the lens of Nikola Piasevoli
Nikola Piasevoli amateur photograper fell in love with the Botanical Garden in Zagreb and regularly pays visit on every season, from spring to automn. The Garden was set in 1889 as a gift from the City of Zagreb to the University. The only compensation for it was (and still is) an agreement to open the doors of the Garden to the visitors, free of charge. About 5500 taxa of higher plants grow in Croatia, which is more than in Spain (5050), France (4630) and Germany (3200).
Franjo Dugan playing organs in Zagreb during the first public registration of a gramophone record in Europe
The first remote public registration of a gramophone record in continental Europe was successfully organized in Croatia’s capital Zagreb, 1927. It was the third such registration in the world, after the USA, New York in 1925 and GB, London in 1926. The concert of Croatian Christmas carols with Franjo Dugan as the organist in the Zagreb Cathedral (stuffed with 2000 worshippers who were singing), had been registered for the Edison – Bell – Penkala Co. in Zagreb. We mention in passing that Penkala was a famous Croatian inventor, known among others for his “chemical pen”, named as penkala in his honor.
Petar Guberina and his Verbotonal method described by Dr. Carl Asp in Zagreb
Verbotonal method is an auditory-based strategy that maximizes the listening skills of children and adults with hearing impairment and possibly other communications disorders, while simultaneously developing intelligible spoken language through binaural listening. Originally developed by Professor Petar Guberina of Zagreb University (on the photo) for teaching normal hearing people to speak before reading a foreign language, it has been more popularly used in Europe. However, Dr. Carl W. Asp, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) has developed both academic and research programs for its applications through the acquisition of a Federal grant since 1967.
Professor Ivan Gutman distinguished Croatian expert in mathematical chemistry
Professor Ivan Gutman (b. in 1947) is holder of two PhDs: in Chemistry and in Mathematics, and is a leading international expert in mathematical chemistry in the world today. He has published 1260 professional scientific articles and is author of several research monographs published by Springer, North Holland and Nova Publishers. Professor Gutman has enormous international cooperation with numerous scientists throughout the world in his field of research.
PhotoMath smart camera calculator and PhotoPay created by Jurica Cerovec and his colleagues in Croatia
It’s really stunning: the PhotoMath video on Vimeo has very quickly reached 2 million views. Their web page has over 9000 page views each minute, and the iOS app alone was downloaded more than 1.6M times in less than three days in the Automn 2014, becoming the top free app in most countries around the world. It has been created by Jurica Cerovec and his colleagues at MicroBLINK in Croatia. Their products have recently been shown with great success in London, and they have created enormous interest throughout the world. They open completely new perspectives in education and other areas.
Darko Sertic's Applied Ceramics company in California, Croatia, Taiwan, Japan and Israel
Darko “Matt” Sertic is a well respected entrepreneur who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Applied Ceramics headquartered in Fremont, California. Applied Ceramics, Inc., is a worldwide leading fabricator and supplier of custom-made ceramics, quartz, silicon and sapphire components for the semiconductor processing equipment industry. The company has facilities in California, Croatia, Taiwan, Japan and Israel. He also founded the culinary academy in Sisak, Croatia, called Kul In.
Faust Vrancic 1551-1617 Memorial Center on the island of Prvic near the town of Sibenik in Croatia
Faust Vrančić was a distinguished Croatian inventor and encyclopaedist during Renaissance 16/17th centuries. Among his most important inventions we mention the parachute as we use today (very different from Leonardo da Vinci’c), suspension bridge and wind turbine. He wrote an important five language dictionary of the most noble Eureopan languages, which included Latin, Italian, German, Croatian and Hungarian. Faust Vrančić, born in the town of Šibenik, now has a superb Memorial Center on the nearby island of Prvić, where he was burried according his last wish.
Professor Tefko Saracevic distinguished Croatian-American expert in Information Sciences
Professor Tefko Saračević studied electrical engineering at the University of Zagreb, Croatia and completed Ph.D. (1970) studies in information science at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. As principal investigator or co-principal he has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes for Health, Department of Education, Council for Library Resources, the Rockefeller Foundation, UNESCO, and several other national and international organizations. His results are widely reported, distributed, and cited. He is recipient of honorary doctorate from the University of Zadar, which is the oldest Croatian university, founded in 1396.
Drazen Prelec distinguished Croatian expert for Neuroeconomics and professor at MIT, USA
Professor Drazen Prelec, born in Croatia’s capital Zagreb in 1955, completed his studies of Applied Mathematics at Harvard University in 1978, and earned Ph.D in 1983 in Experimental Psychology. He is one of the leading experts in Neuroeconomics, where pscychology and neuroscience intersect. Professor Prelec investigates both the development of normative decision theory and the exploration of the empirical failures of that theory. He is professor at MIT, holding three appointments: at the Department of Economics, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and at the Sloan School of Management.
Mladen Bestvina Croatian mathematician delivered a lecture at the Institut Henri Poincare in Paris
Professor Mladen Bestvina is distinguished Croatian mathematician working at the University of Utah in the USA. Trained in mathematical sciences at the University of Zagreb, he is a corresponding member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 2014 he had the honor to deliver the invited lecture at the Insitut Henry Poincare in Paris, one of the most prestigious mathematical institutions in the world. The title of his talk was “On the asymptotic dimension of a curve complex”. On the photo Professor Bestvina with his wife Mrs. Cynthia.
Ivan Hrvoic Croatian scientist, inventor, entrepreneur and benefactor in Canada
Ivan Hrvoić completed his studies in Electrical Engineering at the University of Zagreb, and earned his PhD in the field of Experimental Physics from the same university. In 1972 he immigrated to Canada, where in 1982 he founded Geo Systems, Inc., which is today the leading producer of magnetometers in the world, exporting its product to numerous countries, including Israel. In the late 1980’s he participated in founding the Alumni Society of former students of Croatian Universities (AMCA Toronto), and from 1990-1995 was the president of this organization. His humanitarian and media activities in Canada were extremely important during the 1990-1995 aggression on Croatia.
Professor Suncica Canic Croatian-American mathematician uses math to build better stents
University of Houston mathematician Sunica Canic and her colleagues build computer models to study stents. Their simulations could lead to better designs and also help doctors select the right stents for specific procedures. Computer scientists usually model stents in three dimensions, keeping track of about 200,000 mesh points points Together with her collaborator Josip Tambaca of the University of Zagreb in Croatia, and her Ph. D. student Mate Kosor, Canic wrote a much simpler program that approximates stents with only 400 mesh points.
Dr. Svyetlana Vyalova Russian expert in Croatian Glagolitic Script writes about the Bercic Collection
Svyetlana Olegovna Vyalova is distinguished expert in Croatian Glagolitic Script, working in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, which the Russians claim to be the largest in the world. The library is in possession of the Berčić Collection, which is the largest collection of Croatian Glagolitic manuscripts and books kept outside of Croatia, purchased by the Russian Imperial Academz already in 1865. It contains 228 items, and among them is extremely rare 1483 Croatian Glagolitic incunabulum, which is considered as one of the greatest valuables of the Library. According to her own words, Dr. Vyalova dedicated her best scientific years to the research of the Croatian Glagolitic heritage.
Development and production of electric vehicles in Croatia
The development and production of vehicles in Croatia started in 1951 by a tram prototype. This was followed by several key mile-stones: trolley bus, diode type locomotive, thyristor type locomotive, thyristorisation of diode type locomotives, chopper trams, transistor tram, all the way to the transistor electric multiple unit (EMU) in 2009. The development and production of electrical equipment for submarines started in 1970 by developing and producing the main and auxiliary propulsion for a large submarine. This was followed by the development and production of the auxiliary and main propulsion for a small submarine. Written by Professor Zvonko Benčić, University of Zagreb.
Marin Soljacic Croatian physicist and inventor founder of WiTricity Corp. announces "GOODBY WIRES…"
The story starts one late night a few years ago, with professor Marin Soljačić, standing in his pajamas, staring at his cell-phone on the kitchen counter. “It was probably the sixth time that month that I was awakened by my cell-phone beeping to let me know that I had forgotten to charge it. It occurred to me that it would be so great if the thing took care of its own charging.” To make this possible, one would have to have a way to transmit power wirelessly, so Soljačić started thinking which physical phenomena could help make this wish a reality. In October 2013 Intel was involved in a $25 million Series E funding round for WiTricity, founded by Marin Soljačić.