In March 2020, France was one of the countries that adopted the strictest lockdown measures in an attempt to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. The historian and sociologist Nicolas Mariot looks back at this experiment in mass obedience.
On our planet, everything is interconnected, from terrestrial and marine ecosystems and biodiversity to ice sheets, rivers and oceans. But a recent report reveals that the dynamics of these different systems is being destabilised by human activities to such...
Could the power of the dollar be in decline? As BRICS countries openly toy with the idea of creating a common currency, is the global system ready to adopt a new international money? Physicists, who analysed the mathematical structure of trade, investigated.
Building the petroleum society that is now the basis of our prosperity has come at a cost. Gwenola Le Naour and Renaud Bécot, co-editors of a book on the topic, bring to light the destruction caused by the “petrolisation” of our planet, in France and around...
The exceptional discovery of a settlement dating from 3,000 BC, in the Marais de Saint-Gond region in northeastern France, sheds light on the still largely unknown way of life of Neolithic societies.
In the context of the 2024 edition of Brain Awareness Week currently being held in France, CNRS News highlights the advances made in the field of autism. Once considered the result of a rare,...
In 1729, the Natchez tribe of Native Americans suddenly massacred French settlers living near them in the area around New Orleans. The retaliation was fierce, nearly wiping out the entire clan. In a...
A series of remarkable linear urban settlements have been uncovered in Ecuador's Upano Valley. The size, organisation, age, longevity and location of these sites has caused considerable surprise...
Nepalese shepherds breed yaks for their milk, meat and wool. In this report published in collaboration with LeMonde, anthropologists and ethologists study their strategies to protect their...
As a result of climate change, a third of the world's population is likely to be affected by dwindling water reserves. This will inevitably lead to growing tensions, both internationally and...
European hamsters, declared critically endangered since 2020, have seen three quarters of their global population disappear in the past 50 years. Intensive cereal monoculture has been identified as...
The Natufian culture developed between 13,000 and 9,650 years ago in northern Israel, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Recent discoveries suggest that these hunter-gatherers used red...
Behind its easy-going, accessible appearance, Silicon Valley is a black box that is difficult to grasp. The sociologist Olivier Alexandre provides some keys for doing so, after spending several years...