Pierre DE PARSCAU

Connaissez-vous les synapses, ces zones de contact qui permettent aux neurones de communiquer entre eux ? Le cerveau humain en dénombre un million de milliards ! Afin d'étudier en détail ce réseau très dense et complexe, les scientifiques plongent dans l'infiniment petit grâce à des techniques d'imagerie toujours plus performantes. Leur objectif : mieux appréhender le cerveau et les pathologies qui peuvent le toucher, telle la maladie d'Alzheimer.

Les sportifs de hauts niveaux ne travaillent pas uniquement leurs muscles, ils entraînent également leurs cerveaux. C'est le cas avec la visualisation mentale. Une équipe de scientifiques du CNRS étudient l'activité cérébrale des athlètes lorsqu'ils s'imaginent réaliser des gestes techniques. Ils ont aussi mis au point un outil à disposition des sportifs pour intégrer l'imagerie motrice dans leur préparation.

Could it be that water contains an almost inexhaustible source of energy, and above all, that it is within everyone's reach? And what if hydrogen would redefine the contours of our future? Faced with global climate change, the quantities of CO2 from industry and transportation that are released into the atmosphere are widely blamed. In order for humanity and the planet to imagine a viable future by 2100, it is urgent to find a sustainable alternative to our fossil fuels. And in this quest for…

Nous le savons tous instinctivement : la température est en général plus fraîche au coeur d'une forêt. Mais peut-on aller plus loin et mesurer ce microclimat de manière plus précise, à l'échelle de quelques mètres ? Les scientifiques du projet IMPRINT se sont lancés dans l'aventure en équipant notamment trois forêts françaises de centaines de capteurs de température. Au fil de leur étude, les forêts révèlent peu à peu leur fonction de climatiseurs naturels.

Au printemps dernier, la France s'est couverte d'un fin voile orange, charrié par les vents sahariens : des poussières de sable. Le phénomène est donc banal sous les latitudes européennes. Ce qui l'est moins, c'est l'effet de ces poussières sur le climat. Un effet pas facile à mesurer, vu l'étendue du phénomène - des voyages sur des milliers de kilomètres - et la taille des particules - millimétrique, voire moins ! À Créteil, une équipe de physiciens a recours à un outil original : Cesam, une «…

Né en 1953 à Marmande dans le Lot-et-Garonne, Jean-Marie Tarascon est un spécialiste de la chimie du solide et d'électrochimie. Membre de l'Académie des sciences depuis 2004, il intègre le Collège de France en 2014. Tout au long de sa carrière, il a su mener de front recherches fondamentales et applications de ses travaux, sans jamais faire de concession à l'excellence scientifique. Directeur du laboratoire Chimie du solide et de l'énergie (CNRS/Collège de France/Sorbonne Université), à…

La hausse des températures et la répartition des sécheresses menacent la production viticole de la France – la deuxième au monde après celle de l'Italie. Comment la vigne supporte-t-elle ce climat plus aride ? Quels cépages privilégier ? Pour répondre à ces questions et identifier les variétés de demain, une équipe de l'Inrae conduit à Montpellier une étude très ambitieuse, grâce à une collection de vignes unique au monde et une serre géante high-tech.

Mieux comprendre la physique, la chimie et la biologie des océans, et ainsi mieux prévoir leurs effets sur l'évolution du climat, c'est l'objet du réseau scientifique mondial de flotteurs profileurs Argo. Des plateformes autonomes qui parcourent les profondeurs aquatiques à la rencontre des courants et du petit peuple océanique. Dernier-né de cette flotte, un petit bijou de technologie, le flotteur profileur BGC-Argo (nKe), spécialement équipé pour étudier le plancton. Découverte avec l'équipe…

What did matter consist of less than a millionth of a second after the Big Bang? An international team of scientists has devised a large-scale experiment to look into... a neutron. This particle may indeed hold important clues about the emergence of matter.

Les océans absorbent 90% de la chaleur dégagée par nos émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Résultat : ils se réchauffent, se dilatent et grignotent les côtes – au rythme de 3,5 mm par an. Comment mesurer ce discret phénomène et donc prévoir son évolution ? À La Rochelle, une équipe du laboratoire LIENSs (CNRS/La Rochelle Université) multiplie les mesures, grâce au marégraphe de l'île d'Aix, au drone Pameli et aux données satellitaires.

This fourth episode is devoted to the sets of equations that represent the physical mechanisms that affect our planet, such as the circulation of water and carbon. How are these models developed? What are they used for? Meet the scientists who are sounding the alarm with the help of these models.

There is a branch of mathematics capable of modelling epidemics: finding the point of origin, studying the spread according to the characteristics of the virus, but also thinking of ways to limit the spread in very specific situations. For instance, mathematicians are working on models to adapt a school's timetable, optimise the layout of hospital beds and even study the places most affected by contamination. More importantly, the study of epidemics could create new ways for mathematicians to…

As a passionate researcher and teacher, Jean Dalibard has never stopped playing with light and matter, which for him, are "the fundamentals of the physical world". He contributed to the emergence and influence of a new discipline, cold atoms. Throughout his career, including thirty years at the CNRS, this eminent researcher has distinguished himself by the originality of his approach. His theory and experiments are at the heart of atomic physics and radiation research. …

In this third episode, we find out how to simulate the climate of 2050 and how droughts will be more frequent and last longer. In Lusignan, near Poitiers, agronomy researchers have designed a high-tech mobile greenhouse with drone tracking and 3D images. This may be where the future varieties of European grasslands will germinate...

Masks are now part of our daily lives. But do they really work? What is the most effective material for stopping infectious droplets? At the Ecole Polytechnique in Saclay, the research team led by Christophe Josserand, specialised in flow physics on surfaces, is currently conducting experiments to better define the effectiveness of different types of masks used as barriers against Covid-19. Using the strioscopy technique, a high-speed camera records the flow of droplets produced by…

This sixth episode traces the current development of the Amazon's climate through the involvement of local inhabitants and the analysis of satellite images. The findings are clear, there is more drought in the south, more humidity in the north. With cascading consequences for the global climate...

In order to sculpt their materials on the nanometric scale, when each speck of dust or infinitesimal vibration can compromise their work, physicists need cleanrooms that are insulated from all types of disturbances. An insight into the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (C2N), where scientists have access to one of the largest such rooms in Europe, allowing them to produce materials with innovative properties.

In this fifth episode, we discover the importance of wetlands. They cover only 3% of the world's surface but capture a third of the carbon trapped in the soil. How do they react to changing temperatures? To find out, researchers have installed a range of instruments at a site near Counozouls in the Pyrenees.

Two years after the fire of 15 April 2019, Notre-Dame will be the venue of a huge scientific investigation to uncover the cathedral's secrets and to help restore it. In this film, discover how researchers are drawing information from stone and iron to understand how the original builders constructed a cathedral that was much taller than its contemporaries. The ""iron"" team is focused on the remains of the upper part of the cathedral and the nails of the roof frame, using…

This second episode looks at the work of scientists at the Grenoble Institute of Geosciences who are studying the climate change effect on glacier behaviour. In mountainous and polar regions, glaciologists such as Fanny Brun measure the melting glaciers and collect ice samples, sometimes under extreme conditions, as evidence of climate change over time. Laboratory analyses are used to understand the climate change effect on glacier behaviour. Gerhard Krinner, a…

Discover the studies behind the statistics of 6th IPCC report and the research work of scientists who aim to gain a better understanding of climate change and its impact. This first episode presents the work carried out by members of the LSCE (Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement) at the Traînou site in France. These scientists collect air samples using stratospheric balloons that reach altitudes of over 30 km. The analysis results of these samples are then used…

Welcome to Cybathlon, a competition for people with disabilities equipped with active and robotic technology. In this report, follow the preparations of former Paralympic athlete Christophe Huchet, leader of the French delegation, who will be fitted with a specially-designed motorised prosthetic arm.

How do babies learn languages? A team of psycholinguists at Babylab is focused on how the structure of sentences is learned, how sounds in language are organised, and the effect on the cognitive development of children based on their social environment. In this film, discover the astonishing experimental protocols used to probe the brains of infants.

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.

Does the dialogue that emerges between two musicians improvising together follow patterns similar to language? A team of scientists is trying to find the answer in the STMS laboratory, with an ingenious experiment.

Plasma which is not a solid, liquid or gas, represents a highly reactive state of matter. Scientists at the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Institute in Paris are studying new chemical reactions produced by plasmas reacting inside mini-reactors embedded on microchips. At the crossroads of plasma physics and microfluidics, the team is trying to develop a more environmentally friendly chemistry.