2015: A Year in Science

On January 11, nearly 4 million people rally across France days after terrorist attacks in Paris. Following these events, and those that struck the capital again on November 13, the scientific community is renewing its efforts to provide key insight to the major societal issues linked to secularism, the place for religion, the radicalization process, and terrorism.

In February, the European collaboration Planck releases new data on the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation of the Big Bang. These crucial measurements help us better understand the early universe.

In March, one hundred researchers publish in Nature the findings of a 30-year project on the Amazon rainforest. While the latter captured nearly 2 billion tons of CO2 a year in the 1990s, its uptake has fallen by half today. The Amazon carbon sink is stalling.

On April 25, the Pont d’Arc Cavern, a replica of the Chauvet Cave discovered in 1994 and dating back 36,000 years, opens its doors. Experts from a number of scientific disciplines worked on this project, making it a replica of exceptional quality.

In May, researchers organize the first French conference on lupus, an autoimmune disease that affects more than 5 million people worldwide. In Strasbourg, the team of Sylviane Muller is working on a promising drug candidate: Lupuzor™, which entered Phase III in December 2015.

In June, a French-Belgian team makes a major advance in the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, showing that the same deficient protein may be responsible—depending on its configuration—for Parkinson's disease or another disorder, multiple system atrophy.

In July, only weeks after restarting the LHC, scientists working on the LHCb experiment announce the discovery of a new class of particles: pentaquarks. Studying their properties may help us better understand the composition of ordinary matter.

August 10 marks the first day of the International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics. In Spring, a study had released new data on the significant socio-economic impact of this science, whose added value is 15% of French GDP. (Pictured here, a project on physical exercise led by mathematicians from the Maimosine center.)

On September 23, Eric Karsenti is awarded the CNRS Gold Medal for his pioneering research on cell division. He is also the instigator of the Tara Oceans expedition which had released in May its first findings on ocean biodiversity.

On October 6, astronomers celebrate the 20th anniversary of the identification of the very first exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star, 51 Pegasi b. After two decades of observations, nearly 2000 extrasolar planets have been detected to date.

In November, the French RS2E network, which brings together researchers and industry, unveils the first prototype of a sodium-ion battery. Inexpensive and available in large quantities, sodium is the most serious alternative to lithium, used today in practically all our electronic devices.