Catégorie : CNRS

How can one study a criminal organisation that, as one of its most basic principles, denies its own existence? To this end, the political anthropologist Deborah Puccio-Den has developed a new paradigm: the anthropology of silence.

Superconductivity is the property of certain materials that can conduct electric currents with no resistance. This quantum phenomenon is still shrouded in mystery, and until now has been limited to very low temperatures. Yet all this could soon change.

The third most common reason for consulting a doctor, vertigo and its causes are increasingly well understood. Numerous options are being explored to relieve patients.

The third most common reason for consulting a doctor, vertigo and its causes are increasingly well understood. Numerous options are being explored to relieve patients.

After decades of repressive legislation, the way in which societies regulate the use of psychoactive substances is evolving but remains decidedly ambiguous.

Essential links in the global economic system, the number and size of warehouses has increased sharply across the planet. The sociologist Delphine Mercier explains why she is interested in this “warehouse economy”.

Glycobiology, or study of the biological functions of saccharides, is a fully fledged research field that could one day lead to novel treatments for infections.

European hamsters, declared critically endangered since 2020, have seen three quarters of their global population disappear in the past 50 years. Intensive cereal monoculture has been identified as one of the reasons for this decline. In the northeaste…

Behind its easy-going, accessible appearance, Silicon Valley is a black box that is difficult to grasp. The sociologist Olivier Alexandre provides some keys for doing so, after spending several years there.

The Natufian culture developed between 13,000 and 9,650 years ago in northern Israel, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Recent discoveries suggest that these hunter-gatherers used red pigments of organic origin for the first time.

How do planets form? How did life emerge from lifeless matter? Does it exist elsewhere? These are just some of the questions that the multidisciplinary Origins programme will attempt to answer.

Launched on 26 September, the ATLASea research programme will investigate marine biodiversity in mainland France and its overseas territories over a period of eight years. The aim is to collect as many organisms as possible in order to set up the world…

As this month saw the celebration of World Animal Day, more and more studies demonstrate the existence of animal cultures and social transmission within a given species. Discover another instalment from our series devoted to animal intelligence.

How do our ideas, perceptions and emotions take form to produce a thought? To answer this question, researchers and philosophers are investigating the hypothesis of a specific language of thought. The psycholinguist Isabelle Dautriche offers a few expl…

How does a baby’s mind work? They may be small, but from their very first moments, human beings are always absorbing information. And while they may not learn to stand up until they’re roughly a year old, they start to learn language much sooner. But h…

How does a baby’s mind work? They may be small, but from their very first moments, human beings are always absorbing information. And while they may not learn to stand up until they’re roughly a year old, they start to learn language much sooner. But h…

As the volume of digital data increases at dizzying speed, the Genesis project is exploring new avenues for reducing its energy impact.

Following the disappointing results from other candidates for explaining dark matter, a particle hypothesised over 40 years ago, the axion, has come back to the forefront.

The CNRS Gold Medal has been awarded to Sandra Lavorel for her pioneering work in functional ecology. Her research focuses on the functions of ecosystems and their benefits for human societies. She carries it out in the Alps, where she models the effec…

It was thought for a long time that the visually-impaired had no mental representation of space. Luckily, this is wrong. Yet this capacity must be developed from the youngest age. In Toulouse (southwestern France), researchers are working in collaborat…

A team of researchers focused on the benefits of drafting for a marathon runner preceded by a “pacer”.

Patricia Rousselle, Marc Antonini, Jacques Gierak, and Claire Hellio are this year’s recipients of the CNRS Innovation Medal. On 14 November, they will be presented with this distinction, which rewards scientists whose research work has enabled outstan…

Marie-Paule Cani sculpts 3D forms and creates animated virtual worlds. Her intelligent systems for visual creation can be used for research, as well as for producing video games, animated films, and special effects. CNRS News puts the spotlight on this…

Over the last century, ethology has transformed our understanding of the cognitive abilities of animals. CNRS News takes a look at this conceptual revolution in the first part of our series featuring animal intelligence.

“We’re a gang, but not like you think: we’re revolutionaries.” The kind of statement that sparked the curiosity of the anthropologist Martin Lamotte, who has spent four years investigating the international gang Los Ñetas, its rules and metamorphoses, …

According to quantum theory, a vacuum is actually packed full of energy. Scientists are currently working on an experiment designed to show that it can even slow light down and deflect it.

Researchers have discovered a potential natural hydrogen deposit under the coalfields of the northeastern French Lorraine region – possibly the world’s largest reserve of this gas!

In the southwestern French town of Toulouse, a team of experts in computer science and oncology is developing software to improve the management of patients and accelerate research.

Blind since her teenage years, Wanda Diaz-Merced has developed a technique called “sonification” to convert astrophysical signals into sounds. Building on the success of this impressive tool for research and inclusion, she is an eloquent advocate for m…

In the quest for a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, hydrogen is a serious contender. But it still has to be tamed… In this report, a number of researchers and industrialists retrace the long scientific and technical history of hydrogen, a pro…

An amazing invention or a public danger? In their soon-to-be fifteen years of existence, cryptoassets have shown that they are a source of opportunity as well as risk, and pose challenges for regulators. These issues have drawn the attention of researc…

Conditions remain conducive to the emergence of new pathogens capable of triggering pandemics. Environmental degradation and the ever-faster movement of people and goods are compounded by the extraordinary adaptability of bacteria, viruses and fungi.

The expansion of the Universe is accelerating as a result of an enigmatic phenomenon called dark energy. To try to discover what this really is, the Euclid space telescope has been launched on a six-year observation mission that could totally change th…

Exploring disused sites such as factories, barracks, and former sanatoriums – regardless of danger or whether it is permitted – has become a social phenomenon. The historian Nicolas Offenstadt, an urbex specialist and enthusiast, has delved into this g…

How do wealthy industrialised societies dispose of their excrement? Research led by the anthropologist Marine Legrand on contemporary management methods for human urine and faecal matter provides an overview. A subject that is both surprising and fasci…

Until 3 July, a major oceanographic campaign is being conducted off the coast of Brazil. Among other things, the researchers are coring marine sediments, collecting atmospheric dust, and sampling water, all with the aim of elucidating the role of the …