: The actress Hedy Lamarr died 25 years ago. A brilliant inventor, she devised a system for encoding data transmissions that became widely used in telecommunications. But for decades, history has remembered her only as a Hollywood movie star. As the world celebrates International Women’s Day this month, two women scientists provide an insight into her inventions and their impact in later
: Over the past few months, our planet has been ìmpacted by intense solar flare activity on the Sun. This phenomenon, which caused the polar auroras that recently lit up European skies, could also disrupt a number of industries. To better predict such solar storms, scientists are hard at work developing the emerging discipline of space
: How to measure the dislocation of ice floes, the immense expanses of ice floating in polar seas? Easy! Create a model of the ice pack, find the best way to shake it, and watch as it breaks under the effect of
: The metabolism of astronauts, the behaviour of plants, the reactions of living beings to radiation and of foams to weightlessness... The International Space Station does not only observe Space, as evidenced by the following four
: At the Musée de l’Homme anthropology museum in Paris, an exhibition traces the movements of Homo sapiens across the long history of humanity. To address this complex topic, often the subject of fanciful representations, the scientific curators approached it from multiple points of view, including research and art, but also purely
: Alaska is hit hard by climate change. The subsequent rise in temperatures causes permafrost to degrade. Without this underground layer of ice that acts as a cement, mountain slopes become fragile. This video takes you to the field to study the Alaskan soil with
: Mycoses resistant to antifungal drugs are on the increase. Not least because treatments against pathogenic fungi are used in agriculture as well as in human and animal
: In "Mickey 17", the latest film by the South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, the main character is recruited as an “Expendable” as part of a mission to colonise an exoplanet. Each time he dies, his memories are reloaded into a new body. Can this technique actually become a
: Arthur is a new submersible ROV (remotely-operated vehicle) designed for underwater archaeology. Offering unprecedented performance and versatility, it is able to explore shipwrecks for treasure and the marine life they harbour, at depths as great as 2500 metres. CNRS News talks to roboticist Vincent Creuze about this innovative deep-sea
: Navigation tools, sales optimisation software, higher education platforms...Algorithms are not immune to ethical bias. Well before the tsunami of generative artificial intelligence, specialists on decision support systems were pondering the
: Prehistoric sites across France, such as the famous Chauvet Cave or L’Ile d’Yeu, are being closely monitored so as to understand how they are being endangered by climate change, and avoid the disappearance of rock
: Why does a rose smell like a rose? Scientists have analysed the chemical composition of floral odours, whose volatile compounds serve not only to attract but also to
: The early 20th-century artist Robert Delaunay began painting at a pivotal moment in art history, namely during the chemical industry revolution, when the number of pigments available on the market increased. Today scientists are trying to solve the mystery of the painter’s colours, his purples in particular. One of the objectives of this research is to generate knowledge essential to conserving the
: 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
: 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 strategy for preventing
: The disappearance of non-avian dinosaurs didn’t mark the end of giant organisms in the living world. From enormous mammals to oversized insects and plants, CNRS News takes a closer look at some of the mammoth creatures that have inhabited our planet, and whose huge size often masked numerous
: Few weapons are available to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which continue to cause millions of deaths. However, scientists are currently resuscitating a century-old solution, bacteriophages, which are viruses that only attack
: By combining theoretical abstraction with practical impact, Stéphane Mallat has left a lasting mark on mathematics and computer science. From the JPEG 2000 image compression standard to the mathematical foundations of artificial intelligence, he has shaped tools that have become essential. He is the 2025 recipient of the CNRS Gold
: With large-scale observation campaigns, innovative data analysis methods and theoretical advances on all fronts, astrophysics and cosmology are entering a high-precision era with the potential to unravel many of the unsolved mysteries of the Universe. Including that of its
: Forty-four years after the earliest cases of AIDS were identified, the historian Marion Aballéa retraces the social, economic, cultural, scientific and public health history of the first pandemic linked to
: Due to global warming and ever greater human activity, phytoplankton blooms are becoming increasingly frequent in lakes and oceans. Their impact on health, the economy and the environment is already being felt right across the entire living
: Oil isn't the only treasure hidden in the Arabian desert. French-Saudi archaeological teams are gradually unearthing a hitherto unsuspected heritage, including urban development, languages, hunting techniques, agriculture and architecture. CNRS News takes a look at this wealth of
: The first mapping of mitochondria in the brain has just been revealed. This is yet another step towards understanding these structures which supply their energy to brain cells and are involved in a variety of illnesses, including mitochondrial diseases whose diagnosis has been possible for the past ten years or
: Since 1928, the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris has been home to more than 600 mathematical models. Designed in the late 19th century for teaching purposes, they also inspired the Surrealists. Now digitised, the collection, one of the world’s largest, is partly on exhibit at the Institute’s Maison Poincaré
: In the contaminated area around Fukushima, Japan, scientists are studying the impact of radioactivity on the cognitive abilities of pollinating insects such as honeybees and giant
: On 14 May, 2025, the Musée de la Musique in Paris unveiled a completely new presentation of the 9,000 items in its collections, highlighting the connections among the musical traditions of different cultures. After all, from the violin to the piano to the oud, no instrument has ever evolved in a
: Half a billion years ago, plants, until then exclusively aquatic, set out to colonise the land. This transition transformed the Earth and its atmosphere, paving the way for terrestrial vertebrates. Researchers have been hard at work piecing together the scenario of this
: What is consciousness? When does it begin? How can it be measured? Does AI have it? An update on an intimate, universal yet mysterious phenomenon that the neurosciences are only just starting to
: Half a billion years ago, plants, until then exclusively aquatic, set out to colonise the land. This transition transformed the Earth and its atmosphere, paving the way for terrestrial vertebrates. Researchers have been hard at work piecing together the scenario of this
: Millions of people fear the onset of spring, because of the pollens that irritate their respiratory pathways and can trigger allergic reactions that cause sneezing, runny eyes and even asthma. The immunologist and CNRS research professor Sophie Laffont looks into the
: Treatments such as chemotherapy tend only to be effective against the most proliferative cancer cells. At the Institut Curie, Raphaël Rodriguez and his team have opted for a unique approach. They target cells with high metastatic potential using a molecule that can induce a specific type of cell death that is mediated by iron:
: Sign languages are languages like any other. A new platform called Sign-Hub documents their diversity around the world and shows the importance of learning them at an early age, as with any oral
: A recognised physicist for her work on quantum boxes, Pascale Senellart conducts her research at the joint research laboratory between the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and the start-up that she co-founded. Her sights are set on photon-based quantum
: 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 change. The only native American dogs remaining today are...
: 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 into the
: 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
: In the aftermath of the fire, the French Ministry of Culture and the CNRS implemented a vast scientific effort to support the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. One of the projects was creating a virtual twin of the monument. A discussion with Livio De Luca, the coordinator of the digital working
: Alexandre Grothendieck, who is considered one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry, left a considerable mark on mathematics through his genius and his reflections on his time. Ten years after his death, the mathematician Leila Schneps revisits his
: While very useful in ecosystems, mosquitos tend to ruin the lives of humans. A CNRS team has even recently calculated how much these dipterans cost society, primarily due to the diseases they
: A genuine technological gem, the James Webb Space Telescope has been exploring the smallest nooks of the Universe over the last two years. From the birth of planets and the first galaxies to the atmospheric composition of exoplanets, the space observatory’s initial discoveries have been scientifically
: Over 5 million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea dried up, giving way to a salt flat stretching as far as the eye could see. A look back at the Mediterranean basin’s last great hydrological
: At a ceremony to be held in Paris tonight, the biologist Edith Heard will be handed the CNRS Gold Medal, one of the most prestigious French scientific distinctions, for her outstanding research on epigenetics and X-chromosome
: As indicators of the degradation of permafrost – permanently frozen soil – in mountainous areas, molards are receiving special focus from researchers. In his laboratory in Caen (northwestern France), Calvin Beck is attempting to recreate these cones of debris from
: While very useful in ecosystems, mosquitoes tend to ruin the lives of humans. A CNRS team has even recently calculated how much these dipterans cost society, primarily due to the diseases they
: Light, soft, resistant, deformable, and sometimes tacky, knitted fabric is not just an everyday object, it is also a metamaterial whose extraordinary properties are of great interest to
: As a remake of the 1922 film Nosferatu was recently released, the sociologist Arnaud Esquerre takes a new look at the vampire – a figure that, from its emergence in the 18th century to the present day, has questioned the organisation between the dead and the
: Astronomical observatories can yield exceptional discoveries, but they are sometimes built with little regard for the environment and local people, sparking public opposition. The sociologist and historian Pascal Marichalar takes a closer look at these issues, drawing on his research in
: Ten years after the terrorist attack against Charlie Hebdo, the legal expert Thomas Hochmann points out the difficulty of regulating freedom of expression without veering into censorship, especially in the
: Are the dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park” realistic? How does the film franchise explore the impact and applications of science? These are some of the topics addressed in a book published last autumn, as explained by two of its authors, Jean-Sébastien Steyer and Jean-Philippe
: Researchers have developed the world’s first index evaluating prison conditions, attesting to the enforcement – or more often the violation – of the fundamental rights of inmates. The results for twelve countries or nations, including France, are available
: Based in Namibia, the H.E.S.S. telescope array monitors the showers of particles produced when the highest-energy cosmic rays ever observed in the Universe impact the Earth's
: White dwarfs are the extremely dense, compact remnants of stars that have ended their lives, and are at the origin of tremendous explosions known as novae. This phenomenon (not to be confused with supernovae, which destroy the star) is thought to be the source of the excess lithium in the
: 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 materialize, raising questions regarding the effectiveness of COP meetings, major climate gatherings whose thirtieth edition kicks off Monday in
: Given that animals are sentient, as established by recent research, what is their attitude towards death? In a recently-published book, the biologist Emmanuelle Pouydebat sheds light on the complex emotions and behaviours of various species in this
: 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 disciplines, along with solid models accounting for multiple
: Why is the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, so much hotter than its surface? Ten years after formulating a hypothesis based on a numerical model, CNRS researchers have now used direct observations of the star's surface to confirm their
: Why is the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, so much hotter than its surface? Ten years after formulating a hypothesis based on a numerical model, CNRS researchers have now used direct observations of the star's surface to confirm their
: 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
: 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 recounts this little-known
: 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 detected in the skies over France and beyond, explains the atmospheric scientist Stéphane
: In August 2025, the Geneva Summit on plastic pollution once again failed to reach agreement on an international treaty, due in particular to a lack of consensus over recycling and its limits. This issue was the subject of a recent collective scientific assessment led by the CNRS and the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment
: In the French-Belgian film "The Residence", recently released in a number of European countries and Brazil, a novelist interacts with an artificial intelligence system. The robotics researcher Catherine Pélachaud explains how a seemingly personal but actually one-way relationship can arise between humans and