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Sandra Lavorel, winner of the 2023 CNRS Gold Medal, surrounded by the equipment in the Warm project, which is studying the effect of climate change on alpine grasslands.

Sandra Lavorel, winner of the 2023 CNRS Gold Medal, surrounded by the equipment in the Warm project, which is studying the effect of climate change on alpine grasslands.

© Hubert Raguet / LECA / CNRS Images

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Certains objets sont très difficiles à recycler parce qu'ils sont faits de nombreuses couches de différents matériaux : baskets, panneaux photovoltaïques ou batteries. Au laboratoire ICMCB à Bordeaux, une équipe de chercheurs utilise les fluides supercritiques pour séparer les éléments. C'est un domaine entre le solide et le gazeux où les propriétés des matériaux sont étonnantes et promettent de belles avancées dans le recyclage des déchets...

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Pour contribuer aux transitions écologiques et sociétales, le CNRS développe des technologies et des procédés innovants permettant d'utiliser les ressources tout en préservant l'environnement et les ressources naturelles.

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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…

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Un bon bain moussant pour votre téléphone et votre ordinateur… Promis, ce n'est pas une grosse bêtise irréparable, mais un moyen novateur de réduire les déchets électroniques et la pollution. Et même pas besoin de les faire sécher dans du riz ! Promis, on vous explique tout dans cet épisode.

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Aujourd'hui, 90 % des médicaments, dont près de 40 % des anticancéreux, se dissolvent de manière non-satisfaisante, ce qui gêne leur absorption et impose des doses élevées. Face à ce défi, Denis Spitzer a inventé au laboratoire Nanomatériaux pour les systèmes sous sollicitations extrêmes (CNRS/Institut franco-allemand de recherches Saint Louis/Université de Strasbourg) deux procédés qui facilitent l'étude, la formulation et la production de particules d'une taille en-dessous du micron qu'aucun…

Le 200ème laboratoire commun du CNRS, lancé fin novembre 2021, est le CR2ME : Centre de résonance magnétique électronique pour les matériaux et l'énergie. Ce nouveau Labcom est développé avec le groupe TotalEnergies et le laboratoire de spectroscopie pour les interactions, la réactivité et l'environnement (Lasire - CNRS/Université de Lille) pour développer des énergies nouvelles dans une optique de développement durable. C'est pour aller au coeur de la…

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.

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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.

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Episode 40 : Les momies ? Des pharaons, des reines mythiques... mais aussi des animaux ! Et en particulier des oiseaux, que des chercheurs ont étudiés de près pour percer les secrets d'un étonnant business. Alors embarquez avec nous pour un petit voyage le long du Nil, à travers le temps !

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François Jérôme, directeur de recherche CNRS à l'Institut de chimie des milieux et matériaux de Poitiers (IC2MP)1, est un scientifique internationalement reconnu dans le domaine de la chimie durable. Il est spécialiste de la catalyse et des nouvelles technologies pour la conversion et la valorisation de produits issus de la biomasse comme substitut au pétrole. Cette prouesse est réalisable grâce à la transformation par catalyse des réactions avec des agents physiques (champs électriques, ondes…

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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…

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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.

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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…

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Episode 1: In the future, what if toilets separated our organic waste directly into a reusable product, and our urine was used to fertilise the fields with minimal pollution? We take you on a journey to discover the toilets of the future!

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The Youtube channel Zeste de science explores all aspects of scientific research, proving that even the most complicated scientific facts can be explained in less than 5 minutes, and that even the most seemingly trivial events of everyday life, if thoroughly studied, can contribute to the biggest technological advances. Episode 24: What happens when two planets collide? The smaller one desintegrates but the bigger one survives, even though some…

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Some 90% of the digital information that exists today was created in the past two years! Data is generated at an increasingly fast rate and finding new materials able to capture this expanding digital world while using less energy has become a priority for many research laboratories around the world. The Jean Lamour Institute, in eastern France, has a state of the art nanotechnology equipment to take on this challenge...

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What if we could power our vehicles with powdered metals? Aluminum and magnesium have the same energy density as fossil fuels and the waste - metal oxydes - can be recycled with concentrated solar energy.

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Bio Inspir' studies the depolluting qualities of certain land and aquatic plants. This start-up is especially interested in water mint, a small plant native to the southern French Occitanie region that has exceptional capacities for purifying water containing metallic and organic elements. Used in the form of a powder or alive, this plant can purify contaminated water directly at industrial sites. #BioInspir' finds industrial applications for the research conducted by the laboratoire de Chimie…

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Tiamat designs, develops, and produces sodium-ion batteries in a standard industrial format. These batteries could mitigate some of the limitations of the lithium-ion batteries that currently prevail, such as charging speed, lifespan, and the cost of production. Located in Amiens (northern France), this young company emerged from the French Research Network on Electrochemical Energy Storage (RS2E) led by the CNRS, and now has a few dozen functional prototypes available. Some of them, including…

In 2019, the CNRS gold medal, one of the most prestigious French scientific awards, is awarded to the French-Norwegian physical chemist Thomas Ebbesen. His interdisciplinary work in nanoscience covers areas as diverse as carbon materials science, optics, nanophotonics and molecular chemistry. His discoveries have led to technological breakthroughs in optoelectronics, optical communications and biosensors. This professor from the University of Strasbourg was director of the…

In this report, scientists introduce 2019 CNRS Gold Medalist, Thomas Ebbesen and his research. This prestigious French scientific award is awarded to the Franco-Norwegian physical chemist for his highly interdisciplinary work in nanoscience, which covers fields as diverse as carbon materials science, optics, nanophotonics and molecular chemistry. His discoveries have led to technological breakthroughs in optoelectronics, optical communications and biosensors.

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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…

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The Youtube channel Zeste de science explores all aspects of scientific research, proving that even the most complicated scientific facts can be explained in less than 5 minutes, and that even the most seemingly trivial events of everyday life, if thoroughly studied, can contribute to the biggest technological advances. Episode 9: Scientists in Bordeaux have proven that it is possible to move a conductive polymer without touching it. To that end, they resorted to bipolar…

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The Youtube channel Zeste de science explores all aspects of scientific research, proving that even the most complicated scientific facts can be explained in less than 5 minutes, and that even the most seemingly trivial events of everyday life, if thoroughly studied, can contribute to the biggest technological advances. Episode 16: Thanks to confocal microscopy, researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research studied the freezing of emulsion. They observed the…

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The Youtube channel Zeste de science explores all aspects of scientific research, proving that even the most complicated scientific facts can be explained in less than 5 minutes, and that even the most seemingly trivial events of everyday life, if thoroughly studied, can contribute to the biggest technological advances. Episode 19: Zeste de science presents a new episode of Ecorce de recherche, an immersion into archives of last century's scientific research. In 1964, the brand new…

A l'occasion de la remise de la médaille de l'innovation 2018 du CNRS, Thierry Chartier, chercheur en matériaux et procédés céramiques, revient sur son parcours. Pionnier dans le développement des procédés additifs pour l'élaboration de pièces céramiques complexes, il développe la stéréolithographie une technologie révolutionnaire qui donnera naissance à la start-up 3dCeram (2001). Ce procédé permet une première mondiale en 2006 avec la réalisation d'un implant crânien biocompatible. Thierry…

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The Youtube channel Zeste de science explores all aspects of scientific research, proving that even the most complicated scientific facts can be explained in less than 5 minutes, and that even the most seemingly trivial events of everyday life, if thoroughly studied, can contribute to the biggest technological advances. Episode 6: What is this strange blue cloud escaping from a bottle of Champagne? This phenomenon, that lasts 2 milliseconds after the opening, only occurs when…

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The Youtube channel Zeste de science explores all aspects of scientific research, proving that even the most complicated scientific facts can be explained in less than 5 minutes, and that even the most seemingly trivial events of everyday life, if thoroughly studied, can contribute to the biggest technological advances. Episode 1: When a latex balloon bursts, two scenarios may happen: either it divides into two fragments (meaning the balloon is moderately inflated), or in multiple…

Upon being awarded the 2017 CNRS Innovation Medal, Jean-Marie talks about his career and his taste for transmission and collaboration with younger generation researchers. Being a professor at the Collège de France and a specialist of solid-state electrochemistry, he is also the director of the solid-state and energy laboratory (laboratoire Chimie du solide et de l'énergie, a CNRS/Collège de France/Pierre and Marie-Curie University joint research unit). He first started to draw attention to…

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Discovered in Pakistan in 1985, the Mehrgarh wheel amulet, 6000 years old, has long remained an enigma. Using new analytical techniques, a team of researchers has managed to unravel the secrets of the manufacturing process of this copper amulet, the first known object to have been made using lost-wax casting-a technique at the origin foundry arts.

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Electronic waste contains numerous precious metals, woven together. However, recent technical advances do not allow them to be efficiently recovered and processed. In Orléans, a group of ICAR, CEMHTI and BRMG researchers have developed a solution to this problem with the use of water, in what is known as a "supercritical" state. When this water is heated in a reactor it reaches extreme temperatures and has a powerful corrosive effect. The device was tested on circuit boards, with the aim of…

As a 2016 CNRS Innovation Medal laureate, Cathie Vix-Guterl takes a look back on her career. As a chemist, she heads the Material Science Institute in Mulhouse and the Mica Carnot Institute she contributed to both create and successfully establish in the Alsace region. A peerless research director and innovation manager, she is also an expert in carbon materials, ceramics and hybrid materials. Her basic and applied research work is dedicated to the controlled synthesis of new materials, their…

In 2010, André Geim and Konstantin Novoselo won the Nobel prize in Physics for their discovery of graphene, a two-dimensional material as flexible, light and sturdy as steel. This animation film is a presentation of the various possible applications of graphene, such as in mechanics and electronics.

This video is an interview with Patrick Maestro, as a winner of the 2015 CNRS Innovation Medal. The 62 year-old chemist and a freshly appointed member of the French academy for technologies is a forerunning authority in material science. He has worked during his research on rare-earth based oxide compounds which are to be found now in low-consumption lamps (LEDs), that he had a major part in their making, in automotive post combustion catalysers or as dyes in plastics. With his 60 publications…

LIMMS, Laboratory for Integrated Micro Mechatronic Systems, is a joint laboratory between French CNRS and The University of Tokyo.

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How can we fight the increasing levels of pollution plaguing our cities? A surprising solution could come from luminous textiles. Indeed, a group of researchers has just combined fiber optics with a powerful photocatalyst in a device that cleans both air and water.

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Microalgae can produce food, fuel and capture carbon dioxide in the process. These tiny organisms seem to meet many of humanity's development challenges. Yet scaling up the technology from a lab environment to industrial capacity is no easy task. The AlgoSolis research platform, inaugurated this year on the West coast of France, will provide scientists the tools they need to develop and test the next generation of technologies for a mass production of microalgae.

This 3D animation documents the progression that led to the discovery of graphene, a material with exceptional properties, and many hoped for applications.

While the most beautiful crystals are found in nature, they are also common in our everyday life. And they can be produced by living organims. Crystal is a state of matter : it is solid whose regular faces reveal a well ordered internal structure.

Crystallography includes all scientific methods allowing to reveal the structure of crystalline materials, and their associated properties. Each crystal is made of constituents invisible to the human eye or under a simple microscope. Using an electron microscope and its electron beam, crystallographers can obtain an image of a given sample magnified up to nearly five thousand times.

Valentina Lazarova, 58, is a senior expert and project manager at Suez Environnement and a specialist in the field of wastewater treatment and recycling. "Being able to reuse these effluents is a major geopolitical, socio-economic and ecological challenge on a global scale,"she points out. Viewed as one of the world's leading experts in this strategic area, this process engineer has filed seven patents and published some 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. As a winner of the 2014 innovation…

Aged 53, Claude Grison directs the bioinspired chemistry laboratory for environmental innovation (laboratoire Chimie bio-inspirée et innovations écologiques - CNRS/UM2/Stratoz) and is a professor at the University of Montpellier-II. She successfully filed twelve CNRS patent applications which make it possible not only to use plants to progressively clean up mining sites, but also to exploit the metals that these plants absorb. There are many applications available, from an anti cancer agent…

As a laureate of the 2014 Innovation Medal granted by the CNRS, Didier Roux, 59, head of research and innovation at Saint-Gobain, talks about his career path and his main research activities. He first worked as a physicochemist at the CNRS by getting involved in fundamental research while interfacing with the industrial world through the creation of two companies (Capsulis and Rheocontrol). He held scientific management positions at Rhône-Poulenc, then Rhodia, before "switching 100% to industry…

Clouds are not just made of water. They also contain quantities of bacteria whose activity affects the cloud, and may even have an impact on the greenhouse effect. We travel to Clermont-Ferrand to meet these cloud ecosystem specialists.

Ludwik Leibler is the director of the Soft Matter and Chemistry laboratory and associate professor at ESPCI ParisTech. A theoretical physicist by training, he developed fundamental work in the field of polymer physics and chemistry. As a laureate of the 2013 CNRS innovation medal, he takes a look back on his research. Ludwik Leibler is known worldwide for his essential contributions in the field of nano-structuring and dynamic polymers. He drew inspiration from his fundamental scientific…

A revolution is underway in the field of lighting. Several researchers and engineers explain how light-emitting diodes, better known as LEDs, work. They demonstrate how this new electronic lighting will gradually replace existing bulbs because it reduces energy consumption and therefore pollution. LEDs are increasingly used in light boards, home and street lighting, monuments and transportation. Research is also focusing on tomorrow's lighting, with OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes)…

On Pompeii and diverse sites located in Italia, some archaeological discovers will, in their different ways, allow to improve the knowledge concerning the produced and used perfumes during the Antiquity. Jean-Pierre Brun, an archaeologist from the Jean Bérard Centre, and Xavier Fernandez, a chemist from the LCMBA, gather their competences and work together to reconstitute the fragrances of a millenary perfume, the rose from Italia.

To face the last of the fossil fuels stocks, Franck Dumeignil, a chemist, coordinates the Eurobioref project. It gathers research centers and manufacturers from fourteen countries. Its concept is based on the principle of an integrated and flexible biorefinery, which allows to link the preoccupations of agriculture and chemical industry.

The team of Ludwik Leibler, a CNRS researcher from the Laboratory for Soft Matter and Chemistry, conceived a new class of compounds which will revolutionize knowledges concerning materials. This material is repairable, recyclable, shapeable in a reversible way and unlimitedly at high temperature.

Some plants could clean up the dirty soils and the wastewaters. Alain Manceau, a CNRS biomineralogist explains in this film what is the principle of phytoremediation and talks about its collaboration the Phytorestore company.

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