When unity creates life

Community living doesn't just have perks! A team of international researchers is studying a tight nit colony of terrestrial squirrels in Canada. They are trying to understand the dynamics of their social group and its impact on the health of individuals.

Over the years, they have not only lost their gray color, but also their eyes. A subpopulation of Mexican cave-dwelling fish has seen its morphology profoundly changed over generations. A team of researchers went on location in Mexico to study these fish in their natural environment.

The decline of coral reefs around the world seems irreversible. However, scientists have not yet spoken their last word! In this report from French Polynesia, a team of researchers attempt to reverse this trend by helping coral adapt to climate change.

How much longer will marine life be able to withstand rising temperatures? Find out more about how scientists are trying to determine the impact of global warming on the physiology and behaviour of the gilthead sea bream.

Birds are an increasingly rare sight in our cities. In this report, researchers from the Centre for Biological Studies of Chizé (CEBC) investigate the problems – noise, light, lack of food – that affect various species of birds in urban areas, and seek solutions to save them from extinction.

Waterproofing, fire-proofing and non-stick coating. These technologies bring safety and comfort to our daily lives, but are based on chemicals called per and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. Nicknamed “forever chemicals”, these molecules are volatile - they can be emitted by the materials they are applied on and get released into the air. There, they can linger in the environment for decades and travel vast distances, accumulating in regions far from their initial site of emission. In the…

In recent years parasites such as the tiger mosquito or the tick have continued to conquer new territory, especially in Europe and the United States. What causes this proliferation? How to protect from it? The scientific community is trying to shed light on the phenomenon, which is responsible in particular for the transmission of certain animal diseases to humans.

Through the properties of oxalogen trees, which convert CO2 into limestone, it is possible to capture CO2 while implementing sustainable agroforestry in developing countries.

A new scientific project launched by the Tara Oceans Foundation has embarked on the schooner TARA to sail the nine largest European rivers, in order to follow the route plastic takes before it transforms into microplastic. The scientists are using a manta net, which allows them to take samples from the surface of the water due to the small mesh size, and capture microplastics in the open sea, on the coast or in rivers. The aim is to determine the types of plastic contained in European rivers…

An Ecotron is a device that enables scientists to simulate several climate parameters and control them to study miniature versions of given ecosystems. A team in France decided to study Arizona savannahs. Locked in hermetic climate chambers, they analyse different plants from the savannah after accurately calibrating the surrounding light, the irrigation system, and the composition of the atmosphere. Thanks to the collected data, the team will be able to forecast the ecosystem's reaction to any…

At the Institut de Recherche de Biologie de l'Insecte (Insect Biology Research Institute), under the direction of Jérôme Casas, biologists, ecologists and mathematicians work on physical ecology. They ' re interested in the solid and fluid mechanics of insect life (12 min). Bonus : - The antlion, wave propagation in sand (7 min.) - The wood-cricket : wave propagation in the air (7 min.)

To grow, plants need nutrients that they draw from soil, especially nitrogen. Pulse crops (the UN declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses (IYP)) have developed a cunning strategy: they partner up with bacteria able to metabolize nitrogen directly from the atmosphere. Researchers are very interested in this phenomenon, and hope to apply it to develop therapeutic applications or use atmospheric nitrogen in agriculture.

The queen termite can lay some 40,000 eggs every day for 40 years. So what is her secret? A team of researchers from France and South Africa is trying to recreate a termite's nest in the lab to understand this incredible longevity.

Grâce à l'étude des comportements de macaques japonais, deux chercheurs en primatologie ont pu mettre au jour l'existence d'un réseau de relations sociales complexes. A travers des expériences de terrain, ils ont étudié la diffusion et l'appropriation d'informations au sein de ce réseau. L'apprentissage et la transmission de savoir-être et de savoir-faire spécifiques par cette espèce du monde animal, prouve notamment que l'acquisition d'attitudes relevant du domaine de la culture ne saurait…

Episode 3: It is definitely good to stop polluting more. But even better is cleaning up our planet! Researchers have developed technologies to create synthetic products that not only do not generate more pollution, but also remove existing pollution! Through phyto-restoration using plants, researchers are able to 'naturally' depollute waste water and soil, producing reusable compost with very little impact on the environment.

Les arbres sont comme nous : depuis quelques années, ils prennent un gros coup de chaud, et ça ne devrait pas s'arranger tout de suite... Alors pour comprendre quel impact le réchauffement climatique aura sur nos forêts et leurs écosystèmes, on vous emmène sur un site exceptionnel où des chercheurs et chercheuses soumettent des chênes méditerranéens à un petit coup de stress en simulant l'avenir de notre climat... Pour la bonne cause bien sûr !

Episode 35: How an Australian ant optimises its journey time with visual indicators to minimise risk when leaving the nest. Let's go on an obstacle course full of surprises!

Metatron is a unique experimental instrument in the world. Located at the CNRS Experimental Ecology Station in Moulis in the Ariège department, France, it is used to investigate the evolution of species in response to climate change. Jean Clobert, the station's director, and several of its researchers explain the experiments currently carried out in this research centre. Established in an estate of some 10 acres, it includes 48 cages of about 120 sq. yards each, which are…

Metatron is a unique experimental instrument in the world. Located at the CNRS Experimental Ecology Station in Moulis in the Ariège department, France, it is used to investigate the evolution of species in response to climate change. Jean Clobert, the station's director, and several of its researchers explain the experiments currently carried out in this research centre. Established in an estate of some 10 acres, it includes 48 cages of about 120 sq. yards each, which are interconnected by…

The Tonga mission takes you on board the Atalante, a French oceanographic vessel searching for shallow submarine volcanoes in order to understand and predict the effects of fluid emissions on marine life and the climate. The expedition, led by two researchers, Sophie Bonnet (oceanographer, IRD) and Cécile Guieu (oceanographer, CNRS), is analysing and studying the effects of the addition of trace elements from shallow hydrothermal springs to determine the potential impact on marine productivity…

While nearly 40 billion tonnes of CO₂ are released into the atmosphere by the combustion of fossil fuels, it has now been established that this gas is partly responsible for global warming. An important proportion of this carbon dioxide is captured naturally by the oceans, vegetation and the soil.

Established in 2009, the Haut-Vicdessos valley Human and Environment Observatory (OHM, Observatoires Hommes-Milieux) in one of those entities created in France and in the world by the CNRS's INEE (Institut Ecologie et Environnement/ Institute of Ecology and Environment) and pooled together as part of the DRIIHM excellence laboratory, or Labex. Its director, Didier Galop, makes a presentation of this cross-disciplinary observatory whose mission is to observe, document and investigate into…

In the Aveiro district of Northern Portugal, Estarreja is a town with a lagoon area where its rich ecosystem has been suffering from intense pollution since the 1950s. It is also the place of the second most important chemical compound in the country. Cross disciplinary research has been conducted by the International Human and Environment Observatory (OHMI) since 2010 to assess the impact of chemical pollutants in this densely populated area where there is still much traditional agriculture. …

In Aveiro district in Northern Portugal, Estarreja is a town with a lagoon area where its rich ecosystem has been suffering from intense pollution since the 1950s. It is also the place of the second most important chemical compound in the country. Cross-disciplinary research has been conducted by the International Human and Environment Observatory (OHMI) since 2010 to assess the impact of chemical pollutants in this densely populated area where there is still much traditional agriculture.

Cultivating microalgae on the walls of our cities, in particular to capture carbon dioxide, is the concept developed by Olivier Scheffer of XTU Architects and Jérémy Pruvost, a process engineering researcher at the University of Nantes. The first achievements will soon see the light of day. As a result, our bio-facades will come in all shades of red, brown and green!

Can human development continue at this pace without causing a loss of biodiversity? A group of researchers at the French Institute of Pondicherry believes so. By studying the impact of human activities on a biological hotspot in the South of India, they hope to find the key to a harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife.

Nanoplastics with a size of less than a thousandth of a millimetre are the finest form of plastic pollution. The Pepsea research project focusses on a type of nanowaste that is still poorly understood. Researchers chose Guadeloupe to study its impact on the environment. The island is exposed to the ocean and the North Atlantic Gyre making it an area of plastic accumulation. It is the perfect field of study for researchers who are going to explore its beaches and mangroves. They investigate the…