She’s the boss—but why? A large-scale study of one-on-one conflicts between members of Tanzanian spotted-hyena communities, commonly dominated by female individuals, now presents empirical evidence that she-hyena authority comes down to family and social ties.
Article
11.19.2018
Contrary to belief, it only takes a few seconds for a memory to form. Once recorded, it can be modified or made inaccessible, but it does not vanish. Pascale Gisquet-Verrier and David Riccio talk about their recent work, which revisits the dogma of memory...
Opinion
11.20.2018
Ever since the concept of prehistory was invented, scientists have made a clear distinction between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, between modern and non-modern humans. Yet according to the prehistoric archaeologist Nicolas Teyssandier, it is this notion of “...
Opinion
11.15.2018
Our topics
11.14.2018
After having received the Gruber Prize in Cosmology last May, the astrophysicist Jean-Loup Puget, emeritus senior researcher at the CNRS, was awarded the Shaw Prize in Astronomy on September 26 in Hong Kong. These major prizes are in recognition of the...
Article
11.13.2018
The town of Angeac, near Angoulême in southwestern France, is hardly a household name. Yet it has a claim to fame, as this is where the bones of one of the world's largest dinosaurs were discovered. In fact, palaeontologists have already identified the...
Opinion
11.09.2018
Nearly 2 million Asians came to the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East during the First World War. From soldiers to factory workers and labourers—some tasked with cleaning the trenches from the horrors of war—their lives were forever changed and would...
Article
11.07.2018
By analysing the manuscripts of literary works, specialists in 'genetic criticism' can better understand an author's creative process. A closer look at this discipline born from the manuscripts of the German poet Heinrich Heine, and whose...
10.25.2018
After two and a half years sailing across the Pacific to draw up the first-ever global inventory of coral reefs, the schooner Tara has now returned to Lorient (Brittany), her home port in...
10.22.2018
By explicitly connecting all base units to fundamental constants, the future reform of the International System of Units (SI) will complete the objectives of universality and stability sought by the...
Article
10.18.2018
On the occasion of Cosmetic-360, an international trade fair for innovation in the cosmetics industry held in Paris every year, a quick overview of ongoing research in CNRS laboratories, which are...
Article
10.18.2018
Vincent Lafforgue, a senior researcher at the Institut Fourier, has won the Breakthrough Prize 2019 in Mathematics. This distinction rewards his career as a mathematician and especially his research...
Article
10.17.2018
Known since antiquity, Mercury has not yet delivered all its secrets. The international mission BepiColombo will study the planet's surface and compare its magnetic field with that of the Earth.
10.15.2018
On November 13-16, 2018 in Versailles, the base units of the International System were set to be redefined in reference to seven physical constants. A look back at the reasons and issues involved in...
10.10.2018
The Medal of Innovation was awarded on October 10 to Valérie Castellani, Thierry Chartier and Daniel Le Berre. Awarded by the CNRS since 2011, this prize rewards researchers for their outstanding...
10.09.2018
Whether it’s developing smart materials for safer roads or connected medical instruments to help doctors make the best-informed decisions, CNRS research is at the heart of a number of start-ups. We...
Article
10.08.2018
Upon the publication of the IPCC’s Special Report on the Impact of Global Warming of 1.5 °C, three experts who contributed to its drafting—the ecologist Wolgang Cramer, the paleoclimatologist Joël...
Article
10.02.2018
With its sizeable capacity to absorb atmospheric CO2 from greenhouse emissions, the ocean is a key weapon in our fight against global warming, employed in a growing number of climate-regulation and...
10.01.2018
If we are to one day communicate naturally with robots, they will need to master not only speech, but also the subtle yet essential rules of non-verbal communication such as posture and eye...
Article
09.27.2018
The 2018 CNRS Gold Medal, France's highest scientific prize, is awarded to the philosopher and Hellenist Barbara Cassin for her work on the world’s languages, the challenges of translation, and...