The author of The Hobbit was also a poet and a medieval philologist who, as part of the process of creating the realm of Middle Earth, also invented highly elaborate imaginary languages. Charles Delattre, a specialist in Greco-Roman languages, literature and mythology, and a contributor to a...
Article
05.22.2017
The first material of its kind, with a thickness of just one atom, graphene has opened the way to the development of other ultra-thin substances. Now being produced and studied in the laboratory, these new materials could find a wide range of applications in...
Article
05.17.2017
Neuroimmunology—or the study of interactions between the nervous and immune systems—is still in its infancy, but it already holds great therapeutic promise, Jean-Philippe Herbeuval and Nikaïa Smith explain.
Opinion
05.18.2017
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Article
05.25.2017
Geochemists and paleontologists have cracked the secrets sealed in the calcium isotopes of fossil teeth to reveal why many large marine reptiles vanished from the Earth’s oceans during the mass extinction event 66 million years ago.
05.15.2017
Scanning volcanoes to better identify their weaknesses: this groundbreaking work is made possible by muon telescopes, a new technology developed a mere ten years ago and now in operation on La Soufrière volcano in Guadeloupe.
Article
05.11.2017
On June 15, the CNRS Medal of Innovation will be awarded to Raphaèle Herbin, Jean-Pierre Nozières, Jean-Marie Tarascon and Jamal Tazi. The medal is given in recognition of outstanding research in fields related to technology, medicine or the social sciences.
05.09.2017
While we identify odors as being pleasant or unpleasant, we are seldom aware of the complexity of the sensations that they trigger. Researchers are set to fill the gap by investigating this “chemical sense,” whose characteristics and potential applications,...
Article
05.04.2017
He is the man who discovered that the record of Earth's past climate is locked up in the ice of Antarctica and who highlighted the role of greenhouse gases in global warming. CNRS News looks...
Article
05.03.2017
French glaciologist Claude Lorius received the prestigious American Bower Award & Prize this month in Philadelphia. We look back at his exceptional career with Jerôme Chappellaz, of the...
Article
05.01.2017
Ascidians are strange little marine invertebrates shaped like wineskins that can quickly grow new tissue after suffering serious injury. The biological mechanisms underlying this process have barely...
Article
04.25.2017
A researcher from Toulouse has proposed a novel approach that would rank the greatest chess masters more fairly than the ELO system.
04.23.2017
Algorithms are increasingly present in our daily lives and decision-making processes. Yet in the era of big data and artificial intelligence, the lack of transparency of some automated data...
Article
04.19.2017
The world’s first molecule-car race—the Nanocar Race—was held on 28-29 April at the CEMES in Toulouse and was broadcast live on YouTube. We met Christian Joachim, senior researcher at the CNRS and...
Opinion
04.18.2017
Chemists have revamped the traditional mortar and pestle technology by developing mechanochemical processes that make it possible to avoid solvents and their toxicity. Another step towards green...
Article
04.05.2017
What began as a short post on a popular online forum has now taken a life of its own. On April 22nd, citizens in Washington DC and around the world—in 514 cities across 54 countries—will be marching...
Article
04.04.2017
A world-renowned specialist in complex fluids, Philippe Coussot has been studying “semi-solid, semi-fluid” hybrid materials for the past 20 years. At a conference in Copenhagen in early April, the...
Video
03.29.2017
Sofia is a Boeing 747 like no other. Run by NASA and the DLR, the German space agency, this aircraft was specially modified to accommodate a telescope. Come on board with astrophysicist Olivier...
03.27.2017
A few weeks before the Seine burst its banks in June 2016, a large-scale crisis management exercise dubbed "EU Sequana" was held in the Paris region with the aim of preparing for the next...
Article
03.22.2017
The European Research Council (ERC) celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Acclaimed by the scientific community, the prestigious European research program can take pride in a nearly flawless...