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Nodules (pink) formed by nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria on a leguminous plant's roots (white).
Bacteria have formed nodules (in pink) on the roots (in white) of a legume. The bacteria provide the plant with nitrogen, and the plant provides the bacteria with carbohydrates.
Thierry Berrod, Mona Lisa Production / Science Photo Library
Life
Ecology
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The super powers of the plant microbiota
01.28.2026, by
Kheira Bettayeb
Albeit little-known, plant microbiota or holobionts are essential for plant health and sustainable agriculture. The work of Philippe Vandenkoornhuyse in discovering their role has earned this CNRS ecologist international recognition.
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Earth
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Scooping out oceanic CO₂ to make room for more
01.08.2026
In the face of the climate emergency, techniques for removing CO₂ dissolved in seawater have raised some hopes and much concern. How to proceed? What rules should be established? Who should be in...
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Society
Earth
Article
Ten years on, mixed results for the Paris Agreement
11.09.2025
adoption of a historic global warming pact at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015
In 2015, the historic Paris Agreement, signed by 195 countries, sought to limit global warming to 2 °C. Ten years later, the results have yet to materialise, raising questions regarding the...
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Earth
Article
North American fires contaminate Europe
10.22.2025
aerial handout photo from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, taken in July/August 2025, shows billowing smoke and flames from the Muskeg, Trail, and Knee fires in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
The huge fires that burn down millions of hectares of forest in North America every year have an impact on the other side of the Atlantic. Plumes of smoke and various other pollutants have been...
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Life
Society
Article
Sharks fall prey to "Jaws"
07.24.2025
Image du film montrant le requin attaquant le bateau et le héros Martin Brody (Jaws, de S. Spielberg, 1975) © Universal - Zanuck-Brown / Collection ChristopheL
Steven Spielberg’s "Jaws" is back in cinemas worldwide 50 years after its original release. The specialist Éric Clua talks about the negative image of sharks conveyed by the film and a new...
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Society
Digital
Article
Dying with the times
07.22.2025
Les Linceuls de David Cronenberg 2024 © Prospero Pictures / SBS Productions / Saint Laurent / Collection ChristopheL
Digital cemeteries, deadbots… Is the development of digital tools changing the way we cope with death and mourning, as depicted in David Cronenberg’s latest film "The Shrouds"?
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Earth
Article
A pioneer wiped off the map
07.16.2025
Marie Tharp in July 2001 at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
A name frequently associated with plate tectonics is that of the German meteorologist Alfred Wegener. However, another one would deserve recognition: that of the American cartographer Marie Tharp,...
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Space
Article
1905: Einstein initiates the quantum age
07.09.2025
During his “miraculous year” 120 years ago, Albert Einstein explained the photoelectric effect, laying the foundations of quantum mechanics. The historian of science Christian Bracco provides an...
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Matter
Earth
Article
The secret of sand patches
07.07.2025
Sand ripples, Maspalomas, Grande Canarie, Spain. © Sopotnicki/Shutterstock
Sand patches dot beaches and deserts, but their origin remains an enigma. Using measurements taken in the desert, physicists have created a model that explains how they form, with a few surprises...
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Life
Society
Article
The tribulations of the chihuahua in America
07.05.2025
Un husky fait face à un chihuahua © cynoclub / iStock.com by Getty Images
Researchers have shown that dogs had a place in the first agricultural societies of Central and South America more than 5,000 years ago. But the arrival of European settlers brought about a drastic...
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