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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…

Sailing ships, fishing boats and lighters sailed along the banks of the Tiber between the 2nd and 5th centuries, when Rome had one of the largest harbours to help supply it. In the late 1950s the remains of these ships were discovered during excavations near Fiumicino International Airport. Giulia Boetto, a naval archaeologist, in collaboration with other researchers and engineers, was able to reconstruct them using 3D modelling.

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, CNRS News brought together Françoise Combes, astrophysicist and 2020 CNRS Gold Medalist, and Barbara Mazzilli-Ciraulo, a PhD student finishing her thesis at the Paris Observatory-PSL, to discuss their backgrounds and views of the evolution of the status and careers of women researchers over the generations.

Flexible solar cells that are a thousand times thinner than commercial silicon cells, and have the same efficiency: this is the accomplishment of two CNRS researchers who have developed a trap to "capture" light. Applying this technology to mobile objects could change our daily lives, as explained in this report.

The first part of this series on the most important research of 2020 is devoted to black holes. Astrophysicist, Nelson Christensen talks about the discovery from the ARTEMIS laboratory where he is working on the detection of gravitational waves and the observation of two stellar black holes merging into an intermediate black hole. Astrophysicist and 2020 CNRS Gold Medalist, Françoise Combes explains why it is essential to study large black holes, particularly "supermassive" black holes, to…

Contrary to popular belief, what if water had always been present on Earth? This is the theory of Laurette Piani and Yves Marrocchi, two CNRS cosmochemists who caused a sensation with their article published in the Science journal in August 2020. By studying enstatite chondrites, minerals very similar to the meteorites that made up the Earth, they realised that from its creation, our planet would have contained all of the elements necessary to create water. This discovery could significantly…