http://www.cnrs.fr Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique fr CNRS Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:20:42 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3190.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3190.htm Researchers, intellectuals and spiritual leaders jointly call for swift and just climate action. Together, they formulate the Katowice Memorandum at a symposium co-organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) during the 24th UN Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland. Mon, 10 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3184.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3184.htm Researchers from the CNRS and université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier (UT3) show that fruit flies possess all of the cognitive capacities needed to culturally transmit their sexual preferences across generations. The study, published on November 30, 2018 in Science, provides the first experimental toolbox for studying the existence of animal cultures, thereby opening up an entire field of research. Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3175.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3175.htm After two and a half years navigating the Pacific, where over 40% of our planet's coral reefs are found, the schooner Tara returned to Lorient, its home port in Brittany, on October 27. Led by the Tara Expeditions Foundation, the Tara Pacific expedition deserves a round of applause: it has allowed scientists to study the impact of anthropogenic pressures on Pacific coral reefs using a novel approach on an unprecedented scale. Initial observations reveal very diverse reef states due to a varying mix of global and local stress factors. At certain sites, like the Chesterfield Islands, reefs were intact, but global warming has marred those at many other sites, like the Samoan Islands and some islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. With the 36,000+ samples collected, scientists are now carrying out analyses for a precise understanding of corals and their capacity for adaptation to climatic and other environmental changes. Tara Pacific has received support from the CNRS, Paris Sciences et Lettres, the CEA, the Scientific Centre of Monaco, and many other public and private sponsors, including agnès b., the Veolia Foundation, and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, to name but a few. Fri, 26 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3157.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3157.htm Over a dozen international researchers from the Ocean Solutions Initiative¹—including scientists from the CNRS, IDDRI², and Sorbonne University—have evaluated the potential of thirteen ocean-based measures to counter climate change. Their findings are published in Frontiers in Marine Science. They hope their analysis will inform decision-makers gathering in Katowice, Poland, for the COP24 conference in early December. Thu, 04 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3159.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3159.htm A research team including the CNRS and l'Université des Antilles has just launched an 18-month interdisciplinary research project, largely financed by Ademe, on the brown seaweed known as Sargassum that has periodically invaded the coasts of the West Indies since 2011. The central objective is to find a way to repurpose this seaweed, which is a cause of public health problems in the Caribbean region. The project will be presented on October 3 during the 15th Regional Cooperation Conference in the Antilles-French Guiana. Mon, 01 Oct 2018 15:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3152.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3152.htm The oldest known abstract drawing, made with ocher, has been found in South Africa's Blombos Cave—on the face of a flake of siliceous rock retrieved from archaeological strata dated to 73,000 years before the present. It is a crosshatch of nine lines purposefully traced with a piece of ocher having a fine point and used as a pencil. The work is at least 30,000 years older than the earliest previously known abstract and figurative drawings executed using the same technique. This discovery is reported in Nature (September 12, 2018) by an international team that includes scientists from the PACEA (CNRS / University of Bordeaux / French Ministry of Culture) and TRACES (CNRS / University of Toulouse–Jean Jaurès / French Ministry of Culture) research units. Wed, 12 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3151.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3151.htm Over 15 years, almost 13,000 scientific papers have been published in the leading conservation science journals. Yet biodiversity remains threatened at a global scale. Two CNRS researchers have focused on this worrisome paradox by taking a deeper look at this large volume of literature. They found that one of the major problems is that decisions are usually more favorable to human activities than to nature protection. Their study appears in Trends in Ecology and Evolution (September 10). Mon, 10 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3149.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3149.htm What if social behavior affected the progression of even noncontagious diseases? This is precisely what has been demonstrated by French CNRS teams,¹ with support from the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Paris-Sud University, the University of Montpellier, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and colleagues from Spain and Australia. Using a fly model of intestinal cancer, the researchers have shown that disease progression is impacted both by social isolation—which has a negative effect—and the composition of the social group with which individuals associate. Their findings are published in Nature Communications (September 3, 2018). Mon, 03 Sep 2018 11:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3146.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3146.htm What forces enable trees to stand upright? To grow straight, plants need a motor system that controls their posture by generating forces to offset gravity. Scientists have long thought that this motor force was controlled only by the internal forces induced in wood. In a study published on 4 August 2018 in New Phytologist, researchers from the CNRS and Cirad show that bark is also involved in the generation of mechanical stresses in several tree species. Mon, 06 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3143.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3143.htm The world's biggest colony of king penguins is found in the National Nature Reserve of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF). Using high-resolution satellite images, researchers from the Chizé Centre for Biological Studies (CNRS / University of La Rochelle)¹ have detected a massive 88% reduction in the size of the penguin colony, located on Île aux Cochons, in the Îles Crozet archipelago. The causes of the colony's collapse remain a mystery but may be environmental. These findings are published in Antarctic Science (July 25). Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3138.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3138.htm Toulouse is to host the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), Europe's largest interdisciplinary gathering on science and innovation, from 9 to 14 July 2018. In parallel with this event for researchers, the city is organising the 'Science in the City' festival from 7 to 15 July, with over 120 events aimed at sharing science with the public. For around ten days, the pulse of Toulouse, European City of Science 2018, will beat to the rhythm of science. CNRS and its laboratories will be playing a major role in both the forum and the festival, two unprecedented events for Toulouse and France. Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3121.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3121.htm How do ticks live solely on blood? A study presented in Current Biology (May 31, 2018) has elucidated the crucial role played by symbiotic bacteria that synthesize B vitamins. These nutrients are scarcely found in the blood ticks ingest but are essential to their life cycle. Thus ticks cannot survive to adulthood or reproduce without their bacterial symbionts. The study conducted by CNRS and CIRAD researchers has also shown that the bacteria inherited their B vitamin synthesis pathways from a pathogenic ancestor whose genome underwent gradual degradation. Thu, 31 May 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3119.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3119.htm Some butterflies rely mainly on colorful wing patterns for their survival. CNRS researchers from the Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (CNRS / University of Montpellier / Paul-Valéry University / EPHE-PSL / IRD), together with British and American teams, studied the genomes of dozens of tropical Heliconius numata butterflies to understand how such diversity in color motifs has come about. And they believe they have found the key to this variety: a supergene that arose two million years ago by hybridization and has been passed down through the generations. Their findings are published in Current Biology (May 24, 2018). Thu, 24 May 2018 15:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3115.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3115.htm In a general context of climate change, researchers at the Centre d'écologie fonctionnelle et évolutive (CNRS/Université de Montpellier/Université Paul Valery/EPHE-PSL) and their international partners revealed the impact of ocean cycles, such as the Pacific decadal oscillation and El Niño, on the survival of the Nazca booby, a species found on the Galapagos Islands. Their research, which shows for the first time that long cycles (spanning several decades) directly affect the survival of adult populations, appears in the May edition of Ecology, and may later be expanded to other sea birds. Wed, 16 May 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3103.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3103.htm Upolu, one of the nine islands of Samoa, in the Pacific Ocean. Well-known among fans of diving, this isolated coral reef promised to be a site of rich biodiversity for the scientists on the Tara Pacific expedition, principally from the CNRS, the CEA¹ and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. Although some signs of bleaching had been observed on their route, the reefs of Upolu proved to be in a far more degraded state: coral cover is below 10% in over 80% of the 124 sites considered. According to the scientists, this situation can be explained by a combination of global and local factors. Their study is published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin. Thu, 26 Apr 2018 11:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3101.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3101.htm By studying calcium in fossil remains in deposits in Morocco and Niger, researchers have been able to reconstruct the food chains of the past, thus explaining how so many predators could coexist in the dinosaurs' time. This study, conducted by the Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon : Terre, planètes et environnement (CNRS/ENS de Lyon/Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University), in partnership with the Centre for Research on Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (CNRS/French National Museum of Natural History/Sorbonne University), is published on April 11, 2018 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. Wed, 11 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3095.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3095.htm The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the recipients of its 2017 Advanced Grants, awarded to experienced male and female researchers well known in their fields. In total, across all disciplines, 269 projects were selected, including 34 hosted in France. With its 15 winners, the CNRS leads the pack: 15% of the candidates it hosts were accepted, while the success rate for all European candidates combined was 12%. Mon, 09 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3087.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3087.htm Chronic caloric restriction strongly increases the lifespan of a small primate, the grey mouse lemur. This is one of the results of a ten-year experiment conducted by researchers at the CNRS and the French National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), in partnership with other French teams.¹ Chronic caloric restriction consists in eating a reduced but balanced diet from the outset of early adulthood. Its beneficial effect on lifespan had been established for many short-lived species (worms, flies, mice), but remained controversial for primates, including humans. Another observation is that the aging process is delayed among animals on a reduced diet. This research is published on April 5, 2018 in the journal Communications Biology. Thu, 05 Apr 2018 11:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3093.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3093.htm The CNRS is issuing its second Momentum call for proposals from young male and female researchers around the world, to support their projects in emerging and innovative areas. Researchers in all fields may apply. Winners will receive funding for three years. Thu, 05 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3091.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3091.htm An international team of researchers¹, including a CNRS researcher at the department of Écologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés (CNRS / Université de Picardie Jules Verne) has observed an acceleration in the increase of biodiversity on mountain peaks in Europe. This is a new indicator of the “great acceleration”: an increasingly rapid inflation of different parameters around the world (glacier retreat, coral bleaching, etc.) seen in recent years as a result of climate change. Mountain ecosystems could be seriously disturbed as a result. Their findings appear in the 4th April 2018 edition of Nature. Wed, 04 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3063.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3063.htm Botai horses were tamed in Kazakhstan 5,500 years ago and thought to be the ancestors of today's domesticated horses . . . until a team led by researchers from the CNRS and Université Toulouse III–Paul Sabatier sequenced their genome. Their findings published on 22 February 2018 in Science are startling: these equids are the progenitors not of the modern domesticated horse, but rather of Przewalski's horses—previously presumed wild! Thu, 22 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3057.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3057.htm The Tara Oceans expedition (2009-2013) has enabled the collection of plankton samples in all of the world's oceans on board the schooner Tara, and the creation of catalogues of species and genes on a scale never before undertaken. Continuing the analysis and exploitation of the biggest database compiled on the planktonic ecosystem, the teams from the CEA, CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research), EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) and the French graduate school ENS, among others¹, have just reached a new milestone by analysing the expression of over 100 million genes belonging to complex organisms, from microscopic algae to small planktonic animals. These teams have demonstrated that very different genes express themselves depending on the water temperature or the concentration in nutrients of the oceanic areas studied. Half of these genes are unknown, indicating that the ocean - which is already a marvellous breeding ground of biodiversity - harbours, at the same time, an enormous potential of genetic functions awaiting discovery. By using isolation and characterisation methods of isolated cells, the researchers have, more specifically, been able to explore the role of the genes present in a little-studied, uncultivated but very abundant compartment of the plankton - the first link in a long food chain. These results are the subject of two articles published in the journal Nature Communications on 22 and 25 January 2018. Thu, 25 Jan 2018 11:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3055.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3055.htm Antoine Petit has been named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CNRS. His appointment was confirmed on January 24, 2018, by French president Emmanuel Macron upon the recommendation of Frédérique Vidal, Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation. An exceptional grade professor, Antoine Petit was president of the French National Institute for Computer Science and Applied Mathematics (Inria) since October 2014. He acts as non-executive president of the IHEST (Institut des Hautes Etudes pour la Science et la Technologie) since April 2017. Wed, 24 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3041.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3041.htm While dinosaurs reigned on dry land and in the sky, other reptiles populated the seas and oceans. Of the latter, plesiosaurs, whose means of locomotion may be described as “underwater flight,” formed the most diverse group. But when did they first appear? The discovery of the oldest of these reptiles provides evidence that they had diversified by the start of the Mesozoic Era, during the Triassic Period. What's more, analysis of their bones demonstrates they were warm-blooded and grew rapidly, which enabled their population to spread around the world and live past the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. These findings by scientists from the University of Bonn (Germany); Osaka University and the University of Tokyo (Japan); and the MECADEV laboratory (CNRS / Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle) have been published in Science Advances (December 13, 2017). Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0100 http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3013.htm http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3013.htm Asian elephant populations in Laos, which are under a process of commodification, have dropped by half in the last 30 years. According to researchers¹ from CNRS and the French Beauval Nature association for conservation and research, the dynamics of elephant populations depend heavily on the socio-economic practices of the country and elephant owners. The setting-up of a “maternity-leave” system to compensate owners for their losses of income during breeding period would contribute to the species' long-term survival. The findings of this research are published in Scientific Reports on November 1st 2017. Wed, 01 Nov 2017 11:00:00 +0100