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.
In the Middle Ages, sugar was praised for its therapeutic benefits, whereas melon was long considered harmful! The mediaevalist and food specialist Bruno Laurioux recounts the history of the eternal...
Imagining and preparing for the future in order to guide research and public policy is the very purpose of foresight. A perilous exercise, scientists point out. And one that requires dialogue between...
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...
The myth of Africa as a wild, enchanting continent conceals a reality of nature under glass orchestrated by Western experts, to the detriment of local populations. The historian Guillaume Blanc...
A previously unpublished sonnet by Cervantes, recently discovered in an account of Neapolitan festivals, reveals the exceptional socio-professional status of the author of "Don Quixote" in...
The concept of an “energy transition” is misleading, states the CNRS science historian Jean-Baptiste Fressoz. He explains why coal and oil never replaced wood, and that the fight against climate...
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...
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"?
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,...
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...
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...
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...