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"Words from Asia and the Pacific" is a series of interviews conducted by Jean-François Sabouret, Director of the Asie-Imasie Network (CNRS), with humanities researchers and experts on Asia and the Pacific. Christian Huetz de Lemps is a French geographer who was born on 12 May 1938 in Charenton-le-Pont (94). While being a top-level sportsman, he continued his geography studies. In 1961, he was a member of the French volleyball team and that same year raked second at the "agrégation"…

In this short film, Georges Massion from the “Laboratory for Medicinal chemistry of the Epigenetic Targeting of Cancer” presents some examples of molecules from the sea which have furthered the clinical research.

Animal and vegetal species find ways to adapt to climatic or environmental changes, through migration or acclimatization. Wilfried Thuiller, a researcher in ecology and biostatistics from the Laboratory for Alpine Ecology located in Grenoble (France), presents in this short film the last researches concerning this topic.

Palaeontologists are also interested in biodiversity. Through the study of the species morphological diversity, they allow us to improve our understanding of the consequences due to the climatic and environmental changes. Interviewed in the Claude Bernard University located in Lyon (France), Gildas Merceron explains in this short film this approach.

Nicole Limondin-Lozouet, malacologist, presents her profession during the shooting of the film"Néandertal, l'homme de tous climats" (Neanderthal a human of all climes), on the archaeological site of Caours in the Somme, France. She examines the remains of terrestrial and fluvial snails in order to reconstruct the succession of landscapes and climatic environments of the Quaternary period.

In 2004, 11 African countries have gathered to challenge a major ecological issue: the Sahel desertification. That ' s how the Great Green Wall was born. The purpose of this project is to create a vast area crossing Africa, ecologically and economically viable.

Richard Maire, researcher at the CNRS, describes his career as a geographer and speleologist by looking back on his various explorations, always carried out in a team. He talks about his great expedition of the year 2000 when a team of researchers, speleologists, archaeologists and biologists thoroughly explored Madre de Dios Island, located off the Pacific coast of Patagonia. This scientific expedition was the subject of a 52-minute film entitled "The Ultima PatagoniaExpedition".

Wilfried Thuiller, a researcher in ecology and biostatistics, is interested in the impact of the climatic changes on species. After a presentation of the laboratory and of the botanical garden of the Alpine resort Joseph Fourier (France), he evokes one of his work devices: the mathematical modelizations or statistics.

There is a gigantic greenhouse effect on Venus which brings its surface temperature to as high as 470°C. The inferno on the second planet of the Solar System would be all the more fiery if clouds of concentrated sulfuric acid did not reflect some of the solar energy. How about if we take inspiration of this model to fight the greenhouse effect on Earth? Interview de Eric Gourgoulhon (CNRS), astrophysicien au Laboratoire de l'univers et de ses théories (LUTH - Observatoire de Paris /…

The film is a presentation by Xavier Piolle, geographer, of the activities of the SET (Society, environment, territory), a laboratory where the complex relationships that humans establish with their environment and territory are studied. Francis Jaureguiberry, sociologist, works on the notion of localisation in space through the use of mobile phones. He thus studies the impossibility for individuals to get lost and the notion of connection/disconnection between individuals according to the…

Antoine Spire interviews Danièle Hauser, an environmental physics researcher and director of the CNRS laboratory LATMOS. She studies the surface of the oceans and its influence on climate.

More than 4 billion years ago, our planet was very different from what it is today. What exactly did it look like? How did the Moon form? How do scientists go back so far in time? Francis Albarède, a geochemist at the Earth Sciences Laboratory in Lyon, explains.

The geologist Jacques Malavieille of the Geosciences Laboratory in Montpellier describes the processes that lead to the total disappearance of mountain ranges. A little over 300 million years ago, in the heart of what was to become France, stood an impressive mountain range with reliefs similar to those of the Himalayas. This has now completely disappeared. Scientists know dozens of ancient mountains that have been wiped out. This film is part of a series of 22 films entitled "Planet…

The seismologist Annie Souriau of the laboratory Dynamique terrestre et planétaire (Earth and planet dynamics) in Toulouse answers questions about earthquake prevention. For as long as men have watched earthquakes, have they learned to anticipate these jolts? In some seismic regions, scientists have observed that the chemical composition of spring water changes before an earthquake occurs. Why not use this phenomenon to predict earthquakes? Are there any other warning signs? This film is…

The historian Gabriel Gohau of the REHSEIS laboratory in Paris recounts the history of modern geology. The word geology appeared in the late 18th century. The pioneers of this discipline strove to understand the rises and retreats of the oceans or the formation of mountains. Gohau relates how the scientists of the time explained the appearance of relief on the surface of the globe. He also explains what were the clues that would lead a German meteorologist, Alfred Wegener, to conjecture…

Jacques Malavieille, a geologist at the Geosciences Laboratory in Montpellier, explains the processes that lead to the formation of mountains. The Alps or the Himalayas have not always existed. How did these mountain ranges appear? How did they rise up? On Mars, some mountains exceed 20 kilometers in height while on Earth the mountain ranges do not extend beyond 9000 meters in altitude. Why is that so? This film is part of a series of 22 films entitled "Planet Earth Below the…

Annie Souriau, a seismologist at the Earth and planetary dynamics laboratory in Toulouse, tells how scientists managed to know so precisely what is in the bowels of our planet. Event though we are in a time when human beings plan to set foot on Mars, they are not going to make a journey to the centre of the Earth for a while.

Annie Souriau, a seismologist at the Earth and planetary dynamics laboratory in Toulouse, explains why it is still impossible to send a probe down to the centre of the Earth. What would it encounter on its way down?

Jean-Pierre Valet, a paleomagnetician at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (Paris geophysical institute - IPGP), explains how pole inversion works. In the past, the Earth's magnetic field has reversed many times and, one day or another, the North Magnetic Pole will return to the geographic South Pole. During these transition phases, would there be cause for concern about the weakening of the magnetic shield that protects the planet from cosmic radiation? Should we also be…

Jean-Pierre Valet who is a paleomagnetician at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (Paris geophysical institute - IPGP) explains how the magnetic field surrounding the Earth protects us. Where did it come from? How does it change? If compasses had existed 800,000 years ago, their needles would have pointed... south! Since the Earth's magnetic field has existed, it has reversed many times. How did scientists discover our planet's stunning magnetic past? Should we expect the Earth to…

If we observe the Earth's magnetic field, everything happens as if there were a gigantic magnetic bar at the heart of our planet running approximately along its axis of rotation, with at its ends the south pole and the magnetic north pole. But one has to look below the surface, as shown by Jean-Pierre Valet, a paleomagnetician at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (Paris geophysical institute - IPGP), who tells us what is really going on under our feet.

In the time scientists have been studying volcanoes, have they learned to detect the warning signs of an eruption? To what extent is it possible to anticipate these natural disasters? And today, what is the most monitored volcano in the world? Those are the questions answered by Sylvie Vergniolle, a volcanologist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (Paris geophysical institute - IPGP).

Volcanic eruptions are always spectacular with their huge flows of incandescent lava and fragments of magma projected several tens of kilometres away into the atmosphere. Still one may wonder what they are caused by. From the pressure cooker to a glass of beer and the honey pot, Sylvie Vergniolle, a volcanologist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (Paris geophysical institute - IPGP), has put together a small selection of cooking metaphors to help us understand how volcanoes work…

In the large family of volcanoes, there are grey and red volcanoes. There are those that explode and those that produce fluid lava flows. But are these differences significant for scientists? Sylvie Vergniolle, a volcanologist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (Paris geophysical institute - IPGP), discusses the similarities between the Fuji-Yama in Japan, the Soufrière in Guadeloupe and the Montagne Pelée in Martinique. In addition, she explains how the Piton of la Fournaise of…

Today the oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface. But this was not always so! At the beginning of its history, the Earth was probably a dry planet. So, where did all this water come from? Francis Albarède, a geochemist at the Earth Sciences Laboratory in Lyon, gives us his hypothesis.

While large, relatively young volcanoes can be found on Venus, those on Mars are very old. The Earth also has many volcanoes on its surface but its great originality, compared to its two direct neighbours, lies in plate tectonics. Why are Mars and Venus so geologically different? How can we explain why the red planet's magnetic field quickly went out? What were the consequences on its evolution? Francis Albarède, a geochemist at the Earth Sciences Laboratory in Lyon, explains.

For the first edition of the Cinémascience festival in Bordeaux, a laboratory in Aquitaine is in the limelight with Franck Selsis, astronomer at the Bordeaux Astrophysics Laboratory, and Sean Raymond, astronomer at the University of Colorado, presenting their activities. They study exoplanets, which are outside our solar system. Despite the far distance involved, we can learn many things about them, including the composition of their atmospheres. It is then possible to reconstruct their…

This Franco-Italian station has been built in the heart of the Antarctic plateau, on the Dôme C site, at an altitude of 3233 metres, of which 3200 metres is ice. It a unique place, entirely dedicated to science. The 3270 metre drilling called Epica, has enabled climates from up to 800 000 years ago to be decoded. As well as glaciology, other activities are also developed on the site. The CNRS Image team also follows astronomers and seismologists in their work. The beginning of February…

The Pavin Lake is the youngest French crater lake (6000 years). Its volcanic origins give it a very concave shape, which is responsible of a unique phenomenon in France: the lake deep waters never mix with the superficial waters. In this film, a multidisciplinary team of scientists presents the results of several years of research.

During the second half of the twentieth century, the dramatic decrease of rainfall over the whole of West Africa has been a real cause for alarm…AMMA, the scientific programme for Multidisciplinary Analysis of the African Monsoon, seeks to improve meteorological and climate forecasts on different time scales and in different places in west Africa. Its originality is that it also focuses on impacts linked to climatic fluctuations, and the repercussions on agriculture, health, and on the…

Ancient societies gave a benefic role to swelling rivers. Nowadays, they are considered as devastating. Men have forgotten that they are dynamical environments, changing and mobile. This film shows the different characteristics of the streams and their evolution, in time and in space.

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. A Memory preserved in Ice? by Claude Lorius, glaciologist at the CNRS - Module 1: How to become a polar researcher?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. A Memory preserved in Ice? by Claude Lorius, glaciologist at the CNRS -Module 2: Is Ice the Archive of Planet Earth?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. A Memory preserved in Ice? by Claude Lorius, glaciologist at the CNRS - Module 3: How can you read the past in ice?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. A Memory preserved in Ice? by Claude Lorius, glaciologist at the CNRS -Module 4: What climate in the future?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. A Memory preserved in Ice? by Claude Lorius, glaciologist at the CNRS -Module 5: What about Scientists and the Nobel Peace Prize (Al Gore)?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. A Memory preserved in Ice? by Claude Lorius, glaciologist at the CNRS -Module 6 : What to expect when arriving at the Poles?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Any Ice left? by Madeleine Griselin, geographer at the CNRS -Module 1: What landscape now in the Arctic?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Any Ice left? by Madeleine Griselin, geographer at the CNRS -Module 3: Why carry out field work?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Any Ice left? by Madeleine Griselin, geographer at the CNRS -Module 3: Why carry out field work?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Any Ice left? by Madeleine Griselin, geographer at the CNRS -Module 4: How to monitor a glacier?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Any Ice left? by Madeleine Griselin, geographer at the CNRS -Module 5: How to study a glacier?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Any Ice left? by Madeleine Griselin, geographer at the CNRS -Module 6: Are glaciers melting?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Is Wildlife endangered? by Pierre Jouventin, ecologist at the CNRS -Module 4: Antarctica in danger?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Is Wildlife endangered? by Pierre Jouventin, ecologist at the CNRS -Module 6: What dangers for Researchers in Antarctica?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Is Wildlife endangered? by Pierre Jouventin, ecologist at the CNRS -Module 7: What is the secret of the albatross?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. Extreme Expeditions? by Yves Frenot, ecologist at the CNRS Module 3: Is there Life beneath the Ice?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. An endangered population? by Joëlle Robert-Lamblin, anthropologist at the CNRS -Module 1: Who lives around the North Pole?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. An endangered population? by Joëlle Robert-Lamblin, anthropologist at the CNRS Module 4: How are local populations adapting to global warming?

For the International Polar Year, the CNRS and the French Polar Institute, Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) have joined forces to produce podcasts on polar research. A Farewell to the Ice Pack? by Marie-Noëlle Houssais, oceanographer at the CNRS Module 1: North Pole by pedal boat? (The)