magazine - cnrs.fr
TRANSCRIPT
MAGAZINEINTERNATIONAL
Quarterly n°37 SPRING 2015
When the PERMAFROST Thaws
Deep-Sea Robot for Archaeology
Life on the Margins of the World
SPECIAL REPORT
ON ANIMAL TESTING
EDITORIAL
Trimestriel-Printemps 2015
3, rue Michel Ange / F-75794 Paris cedex 16 +33 (0)1 44 96 53 88
[email protected] www.cnrs.fr
3, rue Michel Ange / F-75794 Paris cedex 16
Alain Fuchs
Brigitte Perucca
Fabrice Impériali
Saman Musacchio
Laurence Winter
Nicolas Baker, Laure Cailloce, Gabriel Chardin, Emmanuelle Crane, Marin Dacos,
Eddy Delcher, Léa Galanopoulo, Arby Gharibian, Valerie Herczeg,
Fabrice Impériali, Brett Kraabel, Fui Lee Luk, Saman Musacchio, Emma Walton
Valerie Herczeg
Saman Musacchio and Valerie Herczeg
Céline Hein
Anne-Emmanuelle Hery
and Marie Mabrouk
Scoop Communication / F- 45160 Olivet
Groupe Morault, Imprimerie de Compiègne – 2, avenue Berthelot – Zac de Mercières – BP 60524 – 60205 Compiègne Cedex
ISSN 1778-1442 AIP 0001308
CNRS Photos are available at: [email protected] ;
http://phototheque.cnrs.frAll rights reserved. Partial or full
reproduction of articles or illustrations is strictly prohibited without prior written
permission from the CNRS.
On this cover: Camp of Pétionville in Port-au-Prince
(Haiti), set up after the 2010 earthquake. © P. GORRIZ/UN PHOTO
T oday, the relationship between biological research and ani-
mal testing is being challenged by numerous groups and individuals, who claim such experiments are in breach of animal welfare. In fact,
must be conducted in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics. Today’s climate of propaganda and obscurantism calls for clari-
-gins, diversity and evolution, the organization of molecules, cells, organ-isms and populations, and the genetic, physiological, and environmental
to observe life forms of all types, and act upon them to determine how they work. Animal research is essential for under-standing the “rules” of living beings—even when
in vitro or . An outright ban on animal testing would
seriously hinder biomedical breakthroughs, responses to biodiversity and environmental chal-lenges, as well as the advancement of knowledge, all of which are scientific duties owed to the populations of enlightened countries. Research in human health is enriched by comparing data from animal experiments with results from the analysis of human pathologies. The discovery of “mirror” neurons in monkeys made it possible to understand how our brains can perceive the emotions of others, fundamentally altering our approach to
autism and schizophrenia. Experiments on monkeys have also led to the development of prostheses that, in the near future, will be
on certain mechanisms involved in human visual memory. In any event, we must take our fellow citizens’ reservations about
animal experimentation into consideration. Their objections arise from increasing awareness that animals are sentient beings that must not
issues are central to animal research, which complies with strict regula-tions to ensure animal welfare and integrity. At this stage, biology can-not do away with animal experimentation. Researchers must reassure the general public that animals used in laboratories are treated with
“Animal research is essential for understanding the ‘rules’ of living beings.”
3SPRING 2015 N° 37
INTERNATIONALMAGAZINE
By Catherine Jessus, Director of the CNRS Institute of Biological
Sciences (INSB)
© D
ÉLÉG
ATIO
N P
MA
IN THE SPOTLIGHT 5Cooperation with India, ESOF 2016, ERC Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
SCIENCE AT WORK 6FOCUS I A World within a World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6LAB WATCH I Stop the Screech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Gone with the Smell of Roses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Hippos Boast New Ancestor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Putting the LEDs back in Laser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Assessing Nanopollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Avoiding Unnecessary Chemotherapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Rising from the Ashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Karnak Yields more Treasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Mending Brittle Bones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14The Early Universe in Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Biopsy-free Skin Cancer Diagnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 OPINION I Fermi’s Paradox and the Missing Aliens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Science in the Age of Open Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
WORLDWIDE 38PARTNERSHIP I LIMMS: Going Small, Thinking Big . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38NEWSWIRE I Future Earth, a Program for the Planet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Tunisia: Forty Years and Going Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41International Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
CLOSE-UP 43A Good Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
© P
IXEL
DRO
NE
TECH
NO
LOG
IES
Forty Years and Going Strong 41
CONTENTS
This pictogram indicates that additional photographs can be accessed on the online version of the magazine
www.cnrs.fr/cnrsmagazine
© L
. CAI
LLO
CE/C
NRS
PH
OTO
THÈQ
UE
IN DEPTHFEATURE I Animal Testing under Scrutiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
PROFILE I Thomas Ebbesen: Shedding Light on Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
PORTFOLIO I Touching the Depths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
SPECIAL REPORT I Permafrost, a Ticking Time Bomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
18
14
The Early Universe in Focus
© E
SA/P
LAN
CK C
OLL
ABO
RATI
ON
13Karnak Yields More Treasures
© J.
MAU
COR/
CNRS
-CFE
ETK
5SPRING 2015 N° 37
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Calls for proposals are still open for the next ESOF meeting, to be held in July 2016 in Manchester (UK). Every two years for
representatives meet in one of Europe’s main cities to talk about science and technology. Interdisciplinary and international by nature, the ESOF is dedicated to research and innovation with an impact on society. “All conditions are met to foster exchanges and outline
explains Anne Cambon-Thomsen, CNRS senior researcher emeritus. Initiated by the Euroscience association in 2004, the event was inspired by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Copenhagen (Denmark) hosted the last ESOF meeting, where young researchers, students, and PhDs made up 40% of the 5000 attendees. “This type of forum gives tremendous international visibility to both young and established scientists and gives rise to new collaborations across
Thomsen. Each ESOF runs
several programs in parallel, focusing on
and business, science and the media, or science in the city.The theme in 2016 will be “science as
discoveries since the Renaissance have changed the world, and why it is important to foster an environment that encourages such innovations. The forum also gives
often organizes satellite conferences and events, and is named “European City of
time in 2018, Toulouse has been selected to host the event. II
The CNRS Tops ERC GrantsIn 2014, the CNRS strengthened its
EuroScience Open Forum
www.esof.eu
© E
SOF
2016
MAN
CHES
TER
II
Extending Cooperation with IndiaIndia
© A
MBA
SSAD
E D
E L’I
ND
E À
PARI
S
settlements is the Dadaab camp in Kenya, which has a population of 450,000. Moreover, at least 6 million people who have been displaced within their own countries also live in camps. In Haiti alone, some 400,000 who lost their homes in the 2010 earthquake are still sheltered across
their illegal nature are the small-size, self-established migrant camps, of which several thousand have been set up along borders and in urban wasteland, like the Afghan migrant camps in Calais (northern France) or Roma settlements in the Paris region.
Why such a proliferation?M.A.: The end of the Cold War marked the start of a mas-
-lage’ utopia gave the impression of greater freedom of movement. In parallel, advances in transportation encour-
In your latest book entitled A World of Camps,2 you point to the ‘encampment’ of the world. What do you mean by that?Michel Agier: Camps are becoming an important compo-
estimated 5 to 7 million individuals, displaced from their homelands by war, live in 460 refugee camps in the Middle East, Pakistan, and East Africa. The largest of these
Anthropology. Whether for refugees, displaced populations or migrants, camps are a new feature of global society, says researcher Michel Agier,1 who directed a book on the subject.
INTERVIEW BY LAURE CAILLOCE
1. Michel Agier is a senior researcher at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). 2. Michel Agier (ed. with the collaboration of Clara Lecadet), Un monde de camps (Paris: La découverte, 2014). 3.of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
A World within a World Some 400,000
Haitians still live in camps built after the 2010 earthquake. ©
P. G
ORR
IZ/U
N P
HO
TO
LAB WATCH
6CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
SCIENCE AT WORK
FOCUS
OPINION
international. Add to that the economic stagnation of countries in the southern hemisphere and all the condi-tions for mass displacement are there. Faced with this situation, a number of governments, especially in Europe, resorted to camps as a default policy, for lack of alterna-
-ment of these populations across borders. Camps are the last resort for people who have slipped through all the
prevent human migration.
You mention detention centers and work camps.M.A.: These camps are also proliferating, and they have a
conditions, temporary accommodation… More than a
illegal immigrants pending their hypothetical return to their country of origin, exist across the world. Of all the categories mentioned, these camps are the most sealed
the detention periods. Workers’ camps, which are mostly found in emerging countries like Brazil, China, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates, but also in the south of the US and Europe, are a purely economic setup. In some regions, the development of agribusiness, with sugarcane plantations for example, and the launch of colossal infra-structure projects such as roads and dams create a huge demand for labor, drawing large numbers of foreign work-ers. Camps make it possible to accommodate these people, who are economically useful but socially undesirable.
Some camps have been in existence for decades. Can they still be called ‘temporary’?M.A.: That is the other distinctive characteristic of
emergency, but they tend to last over time, while displaced individuals cling to the hope of an eventual return to their
governments that run these sites. Camps gradually become familiar to their inhabitants who see them as a home away from home. This is obvious from the material transformations brought by the residents as they settle in, turning the camps into a hybrid feature, halfway between a village and a shantytown. Some have even been rebuilt, which is no small paradox! One example is the Nahr al-Bared camp in Lebanon, destroyed in 2007 as a result
organization, and subsequently rebuilt at the refugees’ request. The new site was carefully laid out with the help of Palestinian and international architects and urban
urban recognition.
Camps also play an important economic role…M.A.: Yes, and in more than one way. Firstly, because many of the residents work, even though they are not supposed to, and therefore contribute to the local economy. Secondly, because these infrastructures involve complex logistics. Building a camp in the middle of the desert means erecting tents or barracks, providing a water supply, arranging food deliveries, laying down tracks… It’s a full-
France, some detention camps are set up and operated on the public-private partnership model, in cooperation with construction companies like Vinci and Bouygues.
Does this mean that certain parties would have a vested interest in keeping camps alive?M.A.:
studies show that gathering so many people in vast infra-structures is more expensive than it seems, and they ad-vocate alternative solutions. To this end, an interesting
thousands of people have crossed the Syrian-Lebanese
UNHCR3 -
own land for a fee. While some see this as an exploitation
integration of refugees in the host country. What if the UNHCR itself paid local residents for sheltering refugees?
has built hundreds of settlements, is beginning to consider II
By the same author
Managing the Undesirables Michel Agier, (Cambridge: Polity, 2010).
In a situation of permanent catastrophe and endless emergency, “undesirables” are kept apart and out of sight, while the care dispensed is
we interpret the disturbing symbiosis between the hand that cares and the hand that strikes? A radical critique of the foundations, contexts, and political
On the Margins of the World Michel Agier, (Cambridge: Polity, 2008)
Whole new countries are being created, occupied by Afghan refugees, displaced Columbians,
Iraqis, Chechens, Somalians, and Sudanese who have witnessed wars, massacres, aggression, and terror. These populations are the emblem of a new human condition that takes shape on the very margins of the world. Michel Agier sheds light on this dislocation and quarantine process
7SPRING 2015 N° 37
FOCUS
PROFILE
SPECIAL REPORT
PORTFOLIO
FOCUS
OPINION
8CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
SCIENCE AT WORK
LAB WATCH
tend to agree: roses seem
1 Like
2
Gone with the Smell of Roses BY LÉA GALANOPOULO
1. Laboratoire de biotechnologies végétales appliquées aux plantes aromatiques et médicinales (Université Jean Monnet). 2. Laboratoire dynamiques sociales et recomposition des espaces (CNRS / Université Paris Ouest).
The scent of roses is an extremely fragile
preserve from one
© J.
-C. C
AISS
ARD
There is no mistaking the screech of adhesive tape being removed from a substrate. This sound in fact indicates an instability in the peeling process that not
only damages the adhesive, but also produces unaccept-able noise levels in industry. In medical applications, this instability can cause pain or even additional injuries when removing bandages. To help the adhesive industry over-come this problem, researchers from three CNRS labora-tories1 have conducted an extensive study2 with the support of the French National Research Agency (ANR). They analyzed how the speed and angle at which tape is
The resulting instability is called “stick-slip instability,” where the speed at which the strip separates from the
substrate alternates rapidly between fast and slow. The precise characteristics of this instability, explains co-author of the study Marie-Julie Dalbe, “depend on factors such as the velocity applied to the free end of the ribbon, the prop-erties of the glue, the elasticity of the tape, its inertia, and the angle of separation.” By using a custom-made device
1. Laboratoire de physique (ENS de Lyon / CNRS / Université de Lyon); Institut lumière matière (CNRS / Université Claude Bernard Lyon-I); Laboratoire Fluides, automatique et systèmes thermiques (CNRS / Université Paris-Sud). 2. M.-J. Dalbe et al., “Peeling-angle dependence of the stick-slip instability
Soft Matter, 2014. 10 (48): 9637–43.
BY BRETT KRAABEL
showing how different peeling angles (top)
instability in the
Stop the Screech
9SPRING 2015 N° 37
LAB WATCH
to peel the adhesive at constant speed, constant angle, and with a cons- tant length of free tape, the research-ers found three ways in which the strip separates from its substrate: stable separation, whereby the tape peels at constant speed; stick-slip separation; and bistable state, where stick-slip and stable separations alternate. Each of these dynamics occurs only at certain angles and separation speeds. Of industrial interest is stable separation, which the study shows to happen not only at low speeds and
large angles, but also at high speeds and large angles. To elucidate the screech of peeling tape, Dalbe and
colleagues are already investigating the connection between the noise produced and the stick-slip instability. The results should be of great interest to the many industries that work with adhesive tape. II
[email protected]@univ-st-etienne.fr
II
Family ancestry is always somewhat of a mystery,
1 2
between hippos and the common ancestor they share with also shows
that the ancestors of hippos were among the most ancient mammals to colonize the African continent some 35 million
(“epiri” means
between hippos and a lineage of anthracotheres,
The interdisciplinary collaboration between geneticists and
paleontologists to determine precise dates and trace the
“New discoveries of fossils will be decisive to shed light on the common origin of hippos and cetaceans,” Boisserie
II
Hippos Boast New Ancestor BY EMMANUELLE CRANE
1. Institut des sciences de l’évolution de Montpellier (Université de Montpellier-II / CNRS / IRD). 2. Institut de paléoprimatologie et paléontologie humaine: évolution et paléoenvironnements (Université de Poitiers / CNRS). 3.
Nature, 2015. 6:6264.
Left to right:
molar of
and primitive
© J.
-R. B
OIS
SERI
E/LP
RP
© M
.-J. D
ALBE
/ILM
, UN
IV. L
YON
10CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
BY
1 2
4
-
II
A joint research team involving the LCF1 and the specialized company
EFFILUX has developed a solid-state
(LEDs), a cheaper and more reliable alternative to laser diodes.2
Solid-state lasers, which use a solid as gain medium (as opposed to gas or liquid in other laser types), are found notably in laser pointers and used for cutting and welding. They
into a crystalline rod to inject energy into it in the form of photons, a process known as “pumping.” As the atoms in the rod soak up these pho-tons, they get into an excited state, releasing the extra energy as a new photon. This new particle travels up and down the rod at the speed of light until it collides with another excited atom, causing it to release not one, but two photons. These continue to bounce up and down until they escape the rod through a tiny aperture, forming a concentrated light beam.
Since the 1980s, the pumping at the heart of the system was per-formed by laser diodes—the ones
BY
1. Laboratoire Charles Fabry (CNRS / Institut d’Optique Graduate School / Université Paris-XI). 2. A. Barbet et al., “Revisiting of LED 4 Optics Letters, 2014. 39(23): 6731-4.
1. Centre inter-universitaire de recherche et d’ingénierie des matériaux (CNRS / Université Toulouse-III / INP Toulouse). 2. Laboratoire d’analyse et d’architecture des systèmes (CNRS). 3. Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement (CNRS / Université Toulouse-III / INP-ENSAT). 4. E. Flahaut et al., “Quantitative
Carbon, 2015. 81: 535 –545.
Inside the
are the crystal
visible), cooled by water (red and
© A
. BAR
BET/
LCFI
O
11SPRING 2015 N° 37
LAB WATCH
found in barcode readers, CD/DVD players, and laser pointers, for exam-ple—which were much more powerful at the time than light emitting diodes (LEDs). However, recent advances allowed the researchers to develop a
wedging a crystal between two LED panels—a system powerful enough to create a laser. “While the beam is not as strong as with laser diodes, which are still ahead in terms of power, our intent was primarily to show that it is now possible to use LEDs,” explains Adrien Barbet, who conducted the research. Apart from being cheaper and more durable, LEDs are also far more powerful than laser diodes for pumping light in the visible part of the spectrum. “This means our system could soon f ind applications in industry, such as material processing and sensing, as well as in telemetry and remote sensing,” he adds. II
The histone chaperone HJURP helps differentiate between
and B breast
Avoiding Unnecessary
Chemotherapy BY EMMA WALTON
Researchers led by Geneviève Almouzni1 at the Institut Curie have discovered a new prognostic marker of breast cancer2 that
may help physicians determine which patients actually need chemo-therapy, while sparing others unnecessary treatment.
Following local surgery and/or radiotherapy, physicians must decide whether patients should receive chemotherapy to reduce the risk of recurrence. “This decision is based on criteria such as age, tumor size,
a lead author of the study. “Yet these factors, along with DNA mutations,
stresses. “Cancer is also driven by
how the DNA is ‘read’ without chang-ing its sequence, and that ultimately determine which genes are switched
Working with the Institut Curie hos-pital, Almouzni’s team analyzed gene expression in tumors from 1127 breast cancer patients, focusing on
certain epigenetic regulatory genes, -
ample, that were highly expressed in some breast cancer subtypes, includ-ing the ‘luminal B’ type, but not the
It is important to distinguish these two types of breast cancer as their
their responses to chemotherapy
independent cohort of 71 patients, now provide physicians with a new biomarker to identify these subtypes.
whether luminal A subtype patients have a good or poor prognosis. Clinical use of this epigenetic factor should help doctors predict the risk
chemotherapy is only administered to those who really need it. II
Luminal B
Luminal A
1. Director of the Laboratoire dynamique du noyau (CNRS / Institut Curie) and of the Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Curie. 2.
Molecular Oncology, 2015. 9(3): 657-74.
[email protected]@curie.fr
© E
. GU
RARD
-LEV
IN/C
NRS
/INST
ITU
T CU
RIE
12CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
PYROCLASTIC FLOW
Rising from the Ashes BY
New X-ray technique reads through rolled-up scrolls, bringing ancient literature to life.
highlight the letters. The researchers could therefore read words and characters buried under several layers of paper.
After years of research on the Herculaneum scrolls, papyrologist Daniel Delattre, CNRS senior researcher emeritus at the IRHT and co-author of the study,4 was
would lead to satisfactory results sooner or later.” So sat-isfactory, in fact, that the researchers were able to date one of the two papyri—from a collection of six presented as a gift to Napoleon in 1802 and kept at the Institut de France—
-losopher Philodemus as its likely author. “This was an emo-tional 2000-year leap back in time,” all the more so as there exist no copies of these texts, the scientist points out.
Looking to the futureThis discovery could eventually lead to deciphering the Herculaneum scrolls that remain intact, the others having been damaged by repeated attempts to unroll them over the past three centuries—often with disastrous results. Yet this is still some way away. “We must improve the legibility of letters, which is far from optimal at this stage, as well as try and automate the analysis and processing of thousands of images reconstructed from scans,” the papyrologist says.
In addition, the internal spiral structure of the scrolls—deformed, entangled, and sometimes stuck together by the pressure of the —makes the research-ers’ undertaking even more challenging. Enhanced Digital Unwrapping for Conservation and Exploration (EDUCE), a software developed in 2006 at the University of Kentucky
improved in the hope that it can be used successfully on the Herculaneum scrolls.
Meanwhile, the “Villa of the Papyri,” antiquity’s only sur-viving library, may keep its secrets a little longer. Yet “it is early days,” notes Delattre, who trusts the charred manu-scripts will eventually provide a better insight into ancient Greek literature and philosophy. Frozen in time for the past 2000 years, their message, it seems, is about to reach us. II
sing a new X-ray imaging technique, an international collaboration1 including researchers from the IRHT2 succeeded in revealing some of the contents of two
charred papyrus scrolls without unrolling them.Buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, the rolls
of parchment were part of a library uncovered in Herculaneum’s so-called “Villa of the Papyri” in the mid-18th century. Preserved by thick layers of volcanic material, hundreds of them have survived to this day, although their extreme brittleness prevents them from being opened unharmed.
Phase-contrast imagingWhile previous attempts to decipher rolled-up manuscripts using conventional X-rays proved unsuccessful, X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) enabled this break-through. The experiment was conducted at the Grenoble synchrotron (ESRF), the only such facility in Europe that can
image quality for that purpose. Based on refractive index variation, the XPCT technology makes it possible to distin-guish between the carbonized paper and the carbon- based ink obtained from smoke residues that was used in antiquity, notwithstanding their similar densities.
In addition, XPCT exploits the fact that the ink does not
relief (a few hundred microns) to amplify this contrast and
1. CNRS / Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche / Ludwig Maximilians Universität / ESRF. 2. Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes, Section de papyrologie (CNRS). 3. 4. V. Mocella
Nature Communications, 2015. 6(1): 5895.
rendition of the
highlights the
inside the scroll,
the carbonized
[email protected]@gmail.com
© E
. BRU
N
13SPRING 2015 N° 37
LAB WATCH
head, probably representing the
Two hundred years after excavations began, Karnak, near Luxor, has not revealed all its secrets. The recent search of a repository pit, or favissa, discovered
last December near the temple of Ptah, yielded 38 statues, statuettes, and precious artifacts. These objects were brought to light by archaeolo-gists from the French-Egyptian Center for the Study of Karnak Temples (CFEETK),1 as part of an interdisciplinary program2 aimed at studying the evolution of the temple and its surrounding area over the millennia.
“The size and optimal state of conservation of the collection make this find exceptional,” explains Christophe Thiers, co-director of the CFEETK. Made of limestone, copper alloy, greywacke, and Egyptian faience,4 the artifacts are thought to have belonged to the temple of Ptah, built under Thutmose III (ca. 1450 BC), even though ceramic and hieroglyphic inscriptions show they are more recent (8th-7th century BC). Dedicated to the god Ptah, patron of artisans, they may have been damaged or re-moved over time and stored outside the building.
No less outstanding is the recording technique used favissa containing
statues. By compiling hundreds of photographs taken during the dig, the team obtained a 3D reconstruc-tion of the excavation process, which they then linked, on the milli-meter scale, with topographical reference points. This enabled them to assemble videos and “keep a record of the layout of the objects before they were removed from the site,” says Guillaume Charloux, archaeologist at the CFEETK.
“This chance discovery sheds new light on worship practices at a given period in the history of the temple of Ptah,” says Thiers. “Meanwhile, we will pursue our
layouts since its origins.” II
1. Centre franco-égyptien d’étude des temples de Karnak (CNRS / Ministry for Egyptian Antiquities). 2. IA-ANR-11-LABX-0032-01 (CNRS / Université Montpellier-III / Université de Perpignan Via Domitia / INRAP / Ministère de la culture et de la communication). 3. Dark sandstone with a clay matrix. 4. Sintered material generally colored blue or green.
[email protected]@cnrs.fr
probasentin
head,repre
The Egyptian site of Karnak has
BY
14CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
A patch of the
based on observations performed by
satellite at microwave and
tomography
metatarsals treated with
C21 (left), and
© E
SA/P
LAN
CK C
OLL
ABO
RATI
ON
With population ageing, the preva-lence of osteoporosis, a progres-
sive bone disease, is on the rise. Yet current treatments are far from satis-factory. Now, CRBM1 researchers led by Anne Blangy have come up with a novel therapeutic strategy that shows great promise in animal models.2
Our skeleton is remodeled throughout life. Cells called osteo-clasts remove or “resorb” old bone, while osteoblasts deposit newly- formed bone. These processes are normally balanced but in osteoporo-sis, the scales tip in favor of osteo-clasts, leading to loss of bone density
and susceptibility to fractures. Post-menopausal women are most at risk because low estrogen levels increase osteoclast activity.
Most treatments for osteoporosis eliminate osteoclasts. Yet these cells also secrete proteins that stimulate osteoblast growth, so wiping them out completely impairs bone formation. Blangy’s team put forward a new strat-egy to tackle these rogue cells. During resorption, osteoclasts form a tight seal on bone, “much like a plunger over a blocked drain,” explains Blangy. They then secrete acid and proteases, which break down bone. “If we can
prevent the formation of this seal, then we may block bone resorption while preserving the other functions of osteoclasts,” she adds.
After years of research, Blangy’s -
nent of the osteoclast seal called Dock5. Finally, the researchers could test their theory in an animal model. Like humans, mice with low estrogen levels are prone to osteoporosis and those that have had their ovaries removed develop the condition within weeks. Blangy treated these mice with an inhibitor of Dock5 called C21 be-fore measuring bone density and markers of bone turnover. Remarkably,
protection against bone loss without limiting the formation of new bone.
Blangy hopes that investment from the pharmaceutical industry will help make C21 or C21-based molecules readily available in health institutions and allow patients with osteoporosis to put a spring back in their step. II
BY EMMA WALTON
1. Centre de recherche de biochimie macromoléculaire (CNRS / Université de Montpellier). 2. V. Vives et al.,
Nature Communications, 2015. 3(6): 6218.
© G
. CRE
S/CN
RS/C
RBM
15SPRING 2015 N° 37
LAB WATCH
Voting has come a long way since Ancient Greeks pioneered dem-ocratic elections. Today, elec-
tronic polling makes it possible, at the touch of a button, to cast or count millions of votes at a time. Yet this technology also poses new security hazards. Scientists at the LORIA1 are
-tographic algorithms and protocols to meet what CNRS senior researcher Véronique Cortier calls “a paradoxical dual need for voter privacy and result transparency.”
From public or private elections to voting contests,
such as automated vote tallying, reduced costs, and wider access for online voters. E-ballots, however, face new threats like computer viruses, hacking, power cuts, and server shutdowns. Remote Internet voting also increases the risk of fraud, where an individual illicitly votes for another.
The LORIA’s answer to these threats is called Belenios. Launched in 2014, this secure web-based ballot box system
voter’s computer encrypts the ballot to keep it secret. The second is trans-parency, enabling all voters to check that their ballots are in, and that each valid one is counted in the tally. Belenios builds on Helios, created by Harvard’s Ben Adida in 2009, and en-
i.e., the unauthorized casting of more than one vote. Having successfully tested Belenios, the LORIA is now
working to make it available to the general public.In December 2014, the laboratory also signed an agree-
covering election cycles from pre- to post-election are already used in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia-
potential of e-voting and improve existing solutions,” notes Cortier. By partnering with a company present in 38 coun-
boxes across the world. II
BY FUI LEE LUK
http://[email protected]
BY FUI LEE LUK
In September 2014, an inspired optical imaging specialist teamed up with two entrepreneurial-minded engineering graduates. Their collaboration led to the creation of DAMAE Medical, a CNRS start-up company currently developing a cutting-edge method for detecting skin cancer. Based on optical coherence tomography (OCT), which uses light waves to produce cross- sectional images of skin tissue, the innovation
when compared with the conventional biopsy-based approach.Today, most skin disorders are diagnosed by removing skin samples for laboratory analysis: a procedure that can leave scarring—unneces-sarily so when moles prove benign—and takes time for results to come back. The technology
devised by DAMAE Medical co-founder and
LCF1 could overcome these drawbacks. Patented in 2013, it uses an improved OCT technique to obtain high-resolution images of skin structure in real time. The new method not only provides similar resolution to histology images visible by traditional microscopic analysis of excised tissue samples, but it also gives feedback up to 1 mm deep—penetrating deeper than other high-resolution optical imaging methods. Moreover, as the process leaves the tumor intact, further testing is possible if necessary.By this summer, the team will have completed
Saint-Louis in Paris later this year prior to commercialization, scheduled for 2016. The team is now “working to create a portable, user-friendly system via software development
DAMAE Medical won the French government’s 2014 Worldwide Innovation Challenge and the Altran Foundation’s 2014 International Award. Dubois foresees “sales in Europe and the US, as well as in all countries with a high incidence
II
1. Laboratoire Charles Fabry (CNRS / Institut d’Optique Graduate School / Université Paris-Sud).
www.damaemedical.fr [email protected]
1. Laboratoire lorrain de recherche en informatique et ses applications (CNRS / INRIA / Université de Lorraine).
280,000 votes were cast online in the 2015 state elections in
© S
CYTL
SEC
URE
ELE
CTRO
NIC
VO
TIN
G
n the early 1950s, Nobel physicist Enrico Fermi pointed to an apparent paradox: considering that our gal-
axy, the Milky Way, is home to some 200 billion stars, and that there are most probably (as we now know with greater certainty) several hundred billion planets orbiting them, why have we not yet been visited by at least one extraterrestrial civilization?
Even in the hypothesis that life ex-ists on only a tiny fraction of those billions of planets, the shear size of our galaxy (about 100,000 light years across) means that a civilization like ours, which should soon be able to explore surrounding solar systems at
an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, could possibly investigate a
-tem in less than a million years. This time frame is only about 1/10,000th of the age of our galaxy, which dates back some 13 billion years, or of the Universe, which is approximately 14
have been highly likely for our planet to be visited by several hundred
far conspicuously absent.
A matter of time?Fermi, however, seems to have over-looked an important factor: the time
it will take to exhaust our available resources, be it of our planet or even of the observable Universe (say within a radius of 10 billion light years, or about 100 quintillion kilometers).
Based on the seemingly reason-able hypothesis of a 2% annual growth rate in the consumption and use of these resources, the Earth’s supplies should have run out in a few hundred years, with a wide margin of uncertain-ty. For the entire observable Universe, strangely, estimates are more accu-rate: roughly 5000 to 6000 years.
This time span is absurdly short, and seems paradoxical, as it would normally take several billion years to exhaust all resources within a radius of 10 billion light years, unless a very large number of expansionist civiliza-tions were at work simultaneously or had access to faster-than-light travel,
words, a 2% annual growth rate over a few millennia would almost certainly burn out any planetary system.
More life means less stability-
sponse to Fermi’s paradox: life acts as a sort of accelerator, inducing high instability. For lack of an extremely precise and rigorous strategy, it is most probable that, like ants burrow-ing in a mound of gunpowder, we would be doomed as soon as we
Astronomy. While our galaxy hosts billions of planets, it seems quite extraordinary that we have not had any contact with a single extraterrestrial civilization. Physicist Gabriel Chardin addresses this issue, commonly known as the Fermi paradox.
By Gabriel ChardinPhysicist Gabriel Chardin chairs the committee overseeing the very large research infrastructures (TGIR) of the CNRS. He received the 2007 CNRS Silver Medal for his research on dark
director at the CNRS’s National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics (IN2P3) and is the former director of the interdisciplinary CSNSM laboratory1 in Orsay (near Paris).
1. Centre de sciences nucléaires et de sciences de la matière (CNRS / Paris-Sud Université).
© J.
-F. D
ARS/
CNRS
PH
OTO
THÈQ
UE
Fermi’s Paradox and the Missing Aliens
PROFILE
SPECIAL REPORT
PORTFOLIO
LAB WATCH
FOCUS
16CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
SCIENCE AT WORK
OPINION
Next time your fellow commuters are absorbed in their smartphones, just think that—far from
catching up on the latest celebrity gossip—they might be reading a research paper. Sadly, this type
the content, the less comprehensible it is supposed to be. Hence the need for mediators in
a body of literature whose target readership essentially includes specialists. The question is: can such tedious read be of interest to anyone other than researchers in white coats? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. According to a UNESCO reference publication1 by Alma Swan, a specialist in scholarly communication and open access, academics only make up 27% of the readership of PubMed Central,2 the giant biomedical literature database. Other readers come from private companies,
The open access revolutionThis expanding readership is the result of a noteworthy, far-reaching change over the past 20 years. The World Wide Web, invented by academics, was immediately
leading the way (the Web was created at CERN). Scientists opted for a simple yet radical solution: open access. Starting in 1991, they began exchanging thousands of physics papers on the open access ArXiv platform.3 France then developed the HAL open archive,4 which registered 9 million unique visitors in 2014. Gradually, other disciplines followed suit, either through ArXiv where researchers can upload their own articles, or in the form of entire journals posted online in open access, like Scielo,5 Redalyc,6 and Revues.org.7 The evolution since 1991 is nothing less than a revolution. There is no doubt that researchers now have easier and faster access to their colleagues’ work, which is a boon for science. More interesting still is the
read. It is now possible to join research blogs, where scientists discuss their work, usually in a more concise, accessible form, with their colleagues or the general
they help bridge the link between the research community and society at large. When looking at the recent Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, insightful commentary can be found on Hypothèses,8 One such opinion, published in the wake of the tragedy was entitled “Charlie Hebdo attack: this is not a clash of civilisations.”9 In
social sciences, for the greater enlightenment and enjoyment of all. And all of it thanks to open access. II
invent matches, long before we have been able to develop interstellar
own history and its recurrent, virtually endless cycles of violence, if we objec-tively consider our eagerness to plunder the Earth’s natural resources, many of which will be depleted in only a few decades, the tremendous insta-bility caused by life itself seems to be the most likely explanation for the Fermi paradox.
But the Earth is not yet “burnt out” by human activity, as portrayed in the
. Will we be able to pull through and design, or at least outline, a strategy to maintain the consider-able expansion of knowledge that we have witnessed over the past few de-cades? There is one particularly strik-ing statistic on modern-day society, in which technological development has played a crucial role in improving living conditions for most of humanity: 6%
all the researchers in the history of mankind were alive in the 1990s.
decades during which we can hope to continue the current phase of techno-logical development, all countries, and especially the developed nations that already have reliable research infra-structures, should do everything in their power to prioritize research and development. This is our only option to meet tomorrow’s challenges.
And while this may seem increas-
strategy must be adopted to allow humanity to pursue a form of techno-logical development that is compati-ble with nature and its laws. Only then will we be able, within a few decades to a century, to explore other plane-
paradox at long last. The challenge is enormous, but all hope is not lost. II
Information Technology
1. http://www.unesco.org/new/fr/communication-and-information/resources/publications-and-communication-materials/publications/full-list/policy-guidelines-for-the-development-and-promotion-of-open-access/ 2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ 3. http://arxiv.org 4. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr 5. http://scielo.org/php/index.php 6. http://www.redalyc.org 7. http://www.revues.org 8. http://hypotheses.org 9. http://extremism.hypotheses.org/366 10. Centre pour l’édition électronique ouverte.
Science in the Age of
Open Access
By Marin Dacos A researcher and 2010 winner of the CNRS Crystal Prize, Marin Dacos serves as director of the Center for Open Electronic Publishing (CLÉO).10
© L
. DAC
OS/
CC B
Y
17SPRING 2015 N° 37
OPINION
Research. As animal activist action gains momentum in Europe, CNRS International Magazine surveys worldwide regulations that cover this much-debated and little-known aspect of research.
Studies on this African grass rat help elucidate biological rhythm disorders in humans.
Animal Testingunder Scrutiny
BY SAMAN MUSACCHIO
PORTFOLIO
SPECIAL REPORT
IN DEPTH
PROFILE
PORTFOLIO
PROFILE
SPECIAL REPORT
FEATURE
18CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
obody wants to do this research, let me be very clear,” insists Roger Lemon, a leading British neuro-scientist1
humans and non-human primate models. “Like most people, I would like to see the day when animal research is no longer necessary. But for anybody who understands the complexity of the killer diseases in our society, including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as global threats like Ebola, it’s very
in silico or in vitro.” Lemon is not new to the debate setting animal rights
UK was the hotbed of violent protests and intimidation tac-tics targeting all those involved in animal research, from the construction workers that built the facilities to the lab tech-
actions have spread to other European countries. In Italy in 2013, activists broke into the animal facility of the University of Milan, mixing up cage labels and freeing some 1600 ani-mals used for studying autism and schizophrenia, rendering
at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in
of a video showing monkeys undergoing experiments, and politicians were asked to shut down the research program. In France, insults and attacks on social networks have targeted researchers from the neuroscience institute at
2 in Marseille, which houses mice and non-human primates
psychiatric research.
In addition to all this, the research community is very concerned about the intense lobbying by animal rights groups to reform current EU legisla-tion regulating biomedical research involving animals. On March 4, Stop-Vivisection,3 a European Citizen’s
4 which attracted more than 1.2 million votes in 26 of the EU’s 28 member states, was submitted to
-porters of this ECI, whose objective is to prohibit all animal research in Europe, will now make their case in a
public hearing held by the European Parliament, giving the Commission three months to respond.
A history of debate“And yet there is not a single medical advance that has not required the use of animals in some way,” exclaims François
INSERM.5 And examples abound. In 1881, Louis Pasteur proved germ theory by inducing anthrax in sheep. Frederick
from dogs in 1922, paving the way for today’s diabetes treat-ments. Jonas Salk used rhesus monkeys to isolate the polio virus, leading to a vaccine by 1955. In fact, “of the 105 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine, 91 were dependent on animal research,” adds Lachapelle. Yet with increased un-derstanding of animal biology came the realization that these sentient beings experience pain and distress, raising
see box p. 21
Mass appealNumbers are compelling. In 2011 alone—the most recent data available—nearly 12 million vertebrates were used for
6 Worldwide estimates range from 75 to 100 million speci-mens a year, with China accounting for 35 million, but there
1. Institute of Neurology, University College London (UK). 2. Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (CNRS / Aix-Marseille Université). 3. www.stopvivisection.eu 4. To be accepted, an ECI must obtain more than one million signatures in more than seven member states within three
5. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale. 6. Source: Seventh Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the Statistics on the number of animals used for
In Paris on
a demonstration was held, calling for the ban
research on animals.
© H
. RAG
UET
/CN
RS P
HO
TOTH
ÈQU
E
…
© C
ITIZ
ENSI
DE/
B. M
ÉNIG
AULT
/AFP
FEATURE
19SPRING 2015 N° 37
using just under one million animals a year7—excluding the most prevalent research species: mice, rats, birds, and
-see chart for break-
downthey are common in research—the best known being the
Drosophila melanogaster C. elegans nema-tode—and are generally unprotected by the law, with some
seem, they are very small compared with the animals des-tined for human consumption as food,” explains Ivan
the CNRS. A recent study shows that in Europe, for every single research animal, 200-300 are slaughtered for human consumption. For each non-human primate in research, 500,000 animals are bred for food.8
of procedures apply to biomedical research, which includes anything from basic research to the development of drugs, behavioral studies, xenotransplantation, testing and safety see chart for breakdownrequires that a drug candidate be tested on a rodent and non-rodent model before it can make it to phase I human clinical trials,” says Balansard, who notes that a lot of the research also helps develop treatments for animal pathol-ogies. “And of course, there is strict control over all these procedures,” he points out.
A new DirectiveEuropean legislation on animal testing is embodied by Directive 2010/63/EU, which ensures that the 3Rs principle see box p.21
process. Each application to carry out animal research now
-ticular species can only be used when no “lower” animal
-cedures on great apes such as chimpanzees are prohibited. New standards on caging and housing have also been
-tions put considerable strain on biomedical research. But since they improve animal welfare, the research community
what makes the ECI’s stance regarding this legislation so surprising—we are approaching a level of animal welfare
Applications and beyond
already been adopted in most EU countries. France, which
ethics committee—which includes veterinarians, research-ers, technicians and members of the public—before being
In Germany, “EU legislation brought few large-scale changes, given the high level of regulation in place before the introduction of the new Directive,” explains Stefan
-try’s largest primate center in Göttingen.9 Regional govern-
a research project—which leaves room for local interpre-tation. One change is that each research institution must now have its own Institutional Animal Care and Use
before they are sent to the local authorities for approval. “Legislatively, it’s a rather calm situation.”
As for the UK, “there are a few instances where the
regulations—for example, as regards cage sizes,” says
system in place for anyone who does animal testing, which
8. R. Roelfsema and S. Treue, “Basic Neuroscience Research with Nonhuman Primates: A Small but Indispensable Component of Biomedical Research,” Neuron 9. Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (CNL) at the German Primate Center (DPZ) in Göttingen (Germany). Peter Singer is best known for his seminal book, Animal Liberation: a New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals (New York:
11. W.M.S. Russell and R.L. Burch, The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique (London: Methuen, 1959).
…
Percentages of animals used by classes in EU member states
Purposes of experiments
Mice 60.96%
Rats 13.96%
Biological studies of afundamental nature
46.1%
Research and develophuman +veterin+dentist
18.8%
Production and qualitycontrol of products for human medicine and
dentistry 10.97%
Production and quality control of products for
veterinary medicine2.94%
Toxicological and other safety
evaluation 8.75% Diagnosis of disease
1.61%
Education and training
1.56%
Other 9.27%
Guinea-pigs 1.49%
Other rodents 0.47%
Rabbits 3.12%
Cold-blooded animals 12.47%
Birds 5.88%
Artio+Perissodactyla1.28%
Carnivores 0.25 %
Prosimians+monkeys+apes 0.05%
Other mammals 0.07%
Source: Seventh Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the
states of the European Union.
20CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
IN DEPTH
© C
. HEI
N F
OR
CNRS
MAG
AZIN
E
is not easy as regulations controlling research have been under close reexamination since 2010, and the anti-vivisec-tion lobbies see this as a perfect opportunity to step up their
-tions by extremists have now spread to countries like Italy.”
Italy
Silvio Garattini, director of the Milan-based Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, where some 750 people are involved in basic and clinical research on can-cer, psychotropic drugs, or organ transplantation, which
-son for his pessimism is that the Italian Parliament restrict-ed the already tight regulations governing animal research by drafting legislation that goes above and beyond the
2 of the Directive and the Commission has already warned
outlawed the breeding of cats, dogs, and monkeys for research purposes, put a moratorium on addiction-related studies, and forbidden the use of animals for xenotrans-plantation. “We cannot transplant human tumors in mice that are immunologically incompetent, for example. Yet this is essential for our research, since it allows us to study the behavior of tumors in a living organism.” Although
Rise of the 3RsContemporary philosophers like Peter Singer,10 who continue to
this great shift in paradigm to eighteenth century England and the founder of modern utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham. No longer should animals be viewed as property, with no mind or reason: the ability to
experimentation: the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876. It ensured that “the proposed experiments are absolutely necessary for the due instruction of the persons to save or prolong human life.” Less than a century later, the 1959 seminal book The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique,11 would describe key guidelines that continue to structure animal testing legislation to this day, and across the world, hereafter referred to as the 3Rs: 1. REPLACE the use of animals with alternative techniques, or avoid the use of animals altogether. 2. REDUCE the number of animals used to a minimum, to obtain information from fewer animals or more information from the same number of animals. 3. REFINE the way experiments are carried
better housing and improvements to procedures that minimize pain
Although most countries in Europe operated under these ethical
Germany) had any enforceable legislation on animal testing until
The new EU Directive applies strict rules on caging and housing of animals, such as NHPs (pictured here).
…
21SPRING 2015 N° 37
FEATURE©
CN
RS
Italian researchers have secured a moratorium until the end of 2016, “new regulations are causing long delays in obtaining government authorizations when animal testing
-rations. It also means we must abandon certain types of research,” adds Garattini. “I see this as a warning to scientists that they will soon have to give up animal testing altogether.”
US prospects“Any ban on animal research would pose a serious problem for Europeans, especially when it comes to basic and trans-lational biomedical research,” says Alexander Ploss, a prominent virologist member of the Princeton University
up by the research organization. “Many institutions also try to get accreditation from the AAALAC,12 an independent body whose role is to ensure that regulations are enforced. It is not mandatory, but it helps when it comes to publica-tions and obtaining federal funding,” he adds. “In terms of animal protection, the US was more advanced than coun-tries like France in the 1960s—its Animal Welfare Act dates back to 1966,” says Balansard. “But requirements concerning animal cag-ing, for example, are more stringent in Europe,” he points out. Another signif-
-lows research on great apes, although
no longer funds studies on chimpan-
hepatitis, as there is no other suitable species,” says Ploss. “Public authori-
of this research cannot be done with-out these animal models, let alone without testing on vertebrates like rats
change,” he concludes.
Heading East “One of the risks of pushing for harsh-er legislation is delocalizing research,”
choice is China, which already sources the majority of primates for research in
Europe and the US. Some centers hold as many as 50,000
good, they have started applying international standards
For international pharmaceutical companies, the country’s legislative stability makes it particularly attractive. Yet “aca-
close my lab and move to China. But the outsourcing of certain aspects and individual procedures will increase.”
Erwan Bézard, a neuroscientist who runs a Bordeaux-based facility dedicated to Parkinson’s disease,13 was one of
in 1999, his 1500 m2 facility in Beijing now houses 150 rhesus macaques. “One of the problems with research on primates is small sample size, which can limit the statistical reach of
need to be statistically valid, so China was the logical desti-nation to achieve these numbers. In terms of legislation, it was very rudimentary at the time, but today, the Chinese abide by exactly the same rules as the US in terms of housing standards and animal welfare. My facility has obtained the
12. www.aaalac.org 13. Institut des maladies neurodégénératives (CNRS / Université Victor Segalen-Bordeaux-II). 14. P. Tabakow et al., “Functional regeneration of supraspinal connections in a patient with transected spinal cord following transplantation of bulbar olfactory ensheathing cells with peripheral nerve bridging,” Cell Transplantation 15. www.basel-declaration.org 16.communication sur la recherche (www.recherche-animale.org). The European Animal Research Association (EARA) http://eara.eu/home; http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk; Fédération européenne des neurosciences (http://www.fens.org).
…
22CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
IN DEPTH
© P
HO
TOS:
CN
RS
since we receive funding from the EU.” China is a real com-petitor, and hopes to dominate the market within 20 or 30
Alternatives
“R” in the “3Rs”—”replace”—has been interpreted by ani-mal rights groups as replacing live animals entirely by in vitro or in silico ‘alternative tests’ business is completely non-existent,” exclaims Garattini. “Cells cultivated in vitro are not living organisms. If you are investigating whether a drug allevi-
in vitro, but these are complimentary studies, not alternatives.” As for com-puter models, “they are great, but they are often based on data obtained from animal experiments,” adds Lemon.
cord injury, complex changes occur at the cellular and -
imal model system, particularly with regard to the actual
most promising treatments have required years of research14 involving many animals,” he says.
Another argument put forth by anti-vivisectionists is
everything,” adds Garattini. “For instance, we have per-formed studies on drugs that act on lipids—for treating cholesterol. Mice are not very useful, rats are somehow
sensitive, but rabbits display a very important parallel with humans for that kind of research. For Ebola, it is important to select certain types of monkeys, for others, it is dogs and so on,” he adds. “We are doing research. We are at the frontier of knowledge, so many times, we get it wrong. But if you look at history, we have been able to cure many ailments in humans by ex-perimenting on animals. Furthermore, the fact that there is some kind of transferability means that many drugs that have been developed for humans are also used to treat animals.”
A proactive approach
research is necessary, and the Italian situation is a warning -
munity now encourages greater communication on the subject. “We have had a long tradition of discretion about
creates the impression that animal testing does not exist,”
Basel Declaration, a public appeal for animal research signed by 3500 scientists.15 In France, Lachapelle presides the GIRCOR,16 a think-tank that provides information about animal research to the government and general public and
communication model is now ubiquitous in many countries and throughout Europe.17
“In my opinion, biomedical research is on the brink of extremely exciting developments,” says Lemon. “Unfortunately, the pressing demands of complex degen-erative diseases in humans will probably mean an increase in the use of animal models, but this should not be con-sidered as a problem as long as we continue to uphold the
concerned scientist, who in 1875 wrote to the president of the Royal Society—then also under attack from antivivi-
Charles Darwin. II
“Many drugs that have been developed for humans are also used to treat animals.”
23SPRING 2015 N° 37
FEATURE
Ongoing cognitive research on NHPs. To get its reward, the rhesus
A researcher measures its cerebral activity during each experiment.
Thomas Ebbesen Shedding Light on Light BY LOUISE MUSSAT
Award. Last September, the physical chemist Thomas Ebbesen saw his work honored when he received the 2014 Kavli Prize, the highest award in nanoscience.
24CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
IN DEPTH
PORTFOLIO
SPECIAL REPORT
PROFILE
FEATURE
rying to anticipate discoveries doesn’t make sense:
Unfailing perseverance
Five Key Dates
1954 Born on January 30 in Oslo (Norway)
1964 Moved to Paris with his family
1988 Joined NEC Corporation in Tokyo, where he discovered a new property of light the following year
2005 Director of the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS) until 2012
2014 Awarded the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience
© C
. SCH
RÖD
ER/U
NIS
TRA
25
PROFILE
N° 37
And the light dawned
His latest passion: hybrid states
II
“ I keep telling my students that many things we have no inkling about remain to be discovered.”
1
26CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
IN DEPTH
26CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
PORTFOLIO
PROFILE
SPECIAL REPORT
FEATURE
1. A tether cable links the vessel to the robot, to exchange data and supply power.
2. Archaeologists, 3D imaging and robotics experts, are all part of the Corsaire Concept Project, spearheaded by the DRASSM.**
Archaeology. When it comes to handling ancient pottery, nothing can replace a steady human hand. Or so archaeologists believed before they tested Corsaire 1 “Speedy,” a prototype developped by the LIRMM.*archaeologist explored the wreck of the Lune, a
November 1664.
BY NICOLAS BAKER PHOTOS BY
Touching the Depths
2
* Laboratoire d’informatique, de robotique et de microélectronique de Montpellier ** Département des recherches archéologiques
27SPRING 2015 N° 37
PORTFOLIO
3
IN DEPTH
28CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
3.with “adaptive grasp” adjusts to the shape of the object it handles without breaking it.
4. To mimic the precise and gentle touch of human archaeologists, the robotic hand is equipped with pressure sensors.
5. Corsaire 1 “Speedy” is controlled from the vessel, using live feeds from the on-board cameras. 4
5
PORTFOLIO
29SPRING 2015 N° 37
76
IN DEPTH
30CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
6. The samples are carefully placed in a case that is sent directly to the surface—letting “Speedy” get back to work immediately.
7. The team is also testing a 3D laser prototype that can scan objects under water.
8. Back on board,
immediately processed. Their long stay in salt water have made them extremely fragile.
9. Of the many items found is this green and yellow glazed bottle, from the workshops of the Huveaune valley
9
8
PORTFOLIO
31SPRING 2015 N° 37
PORTFOLIO
SPECIAL REPORT
FEATURE
IN DEPTH
PROFILE
PORTFOLIO
32CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
Thermokarst ponds (here seen covered in snow), caused by thawing permafrost. The Arctic is believed to contain millions of them. ©
L. C
AILL
OCE
/CN
RS P
HO
TOTH
ÈQU
E
Frozen for thousands of years, the Arctic’s permafrost soil is gradually thawing due to climate change—and releasing potent greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As Paris prepares to host the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21), CNRS International Magazine traveled to Kuujjuarapik in the Canadian Subarctic to investigate this phenomenon, which is vastly underestimated or neglected in climate models.
Permafrost, a Ticking Time Bomb
BY LAURE CAILLOCE, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN NUNAVIK
Ranging from dark to light blue, areas of continuous (90% of the surface) to sporadic (less than 10%) permafrost.
© N
ASA
EART
H O
BSER
VATI
ON
S
Kuujjuarapik
Permafrost areas
A photo gallery is available online: www.cnrs.fr/cnrsmagazine
SPECIAL REPORT
33SPRING 2015 N° 37
1. The APT project is funded by the Fondation BNP-Paribas, which has provided a €560,000 grant. 2. The IPCC reports, published every
34CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
IN DEPTH
In Kuujjuarapik in the winter months, snowmobiles have replaced traditional Inuit dog sleds.
T raveling in the Far North requires a great
deal of patience, as the Inuit, who are used to long delays in the region’s airports, know only too well. On this
this Inuit village on the southern shores of Hudson Bay, at the mouth of the Great Whale River, a blizzard is raging,
-tions for this time of year. “Because of climate change, the sea ice takes longer to form on the bay, creating highly unstable air masses,” we’re told.
The largest terrestrial carbon reservoirThis is only one of the many consequences of climate change in Nunavik, an Arctic region of Quebec where 90% of the population is Inuit. Here, not only is the sea ice shrinking every year, but the permafrost, soil that is permanently frozen and typical of the Arctic, is also thawing. And this is a serious issue not only for the infrastructure of the region’s fourteen municipalities—riddled with potholes and cracks on roads or airport runways, not to mention the ground gradually settling under house foundations—but also for
this unsettling phenomenon, we decided to take a trip with Florent Dominé. This researcher at the Franco-Canadian Takuvik joint laboratory has launched an ambitious research project on permafrost called APT (Acceleration of Permafrost Thaw by Snow-Vegetation Interactions), which brings together eight French and Canadian laboratories.1
Permafrost accounts for 25% of the landmass in the northern hemisphere, an area the size of Canada. It is the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir on the planet, exceeding all known global fossil fuel reserves (oil, gas, and coal). “Since the last glacial period, 1700 billion tons of carbon of plant origin have accumulated there,” Dominé explains. “That’s twice the carbon in our atmosphere!” The danger is that the rise in atmospheric temperatures causes the per-mafrost to warm up, and even thaw in places. “Between 1992 and 2010, Nunavik recorded a 2°C increase in ground tem-perature at a depth of 4 meters,” says Michel Allard, a researcher from Quebec at the Takuvik laboratory and a participant in the APT project. And when it thaws, perma-frost releases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, two potent greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere.
“If all the carbon trapped in the permafrost were re-
says Dominé. The scientist believes temperatures could rise by as much as 5 to 8°C by 2100, compared with the 4°C forecast by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)2 in its worst-case scenario, which does not take into account these complex, recently discovered processes.
Three sites under scrutiny“We must urgently include permafrost in climate models,” Dominé insists. “To do this, we need to know precisely how its temperature regime changes according to external con-ditions (such as air temperature, wind speed, and type of soil) as well as—and this is not so well known—the charac-teristics of the snow cover that lies above it and insulates it in winter.” A second crucial area of research involves
The Arctic’s southernmost villageLocated 1120 kilometers north of Montreal, Kuujjuarapik lies on the southern edge of Nunavik, Quebec’s Inuit region. This former fur trading post, formerly called Whale House since beluga whales were hunted there, at the mouth of the Great Whale River, enjoys a unique status in Nunavik. Unlike the other thirteen communities in the region, this village of 1500 people is shared by two ethnic groups, the Inuit and the Cree First Nation, a Native American people who are here at the northernmost point of their territory. Apart from a shared gymnasium and hockey arena, Kuujjuarapik (or Whapmagoostui, as the Cree call it) has two separate municipalities,
both communities are subject to the same ban. Kuujjuarapik-Whapmagoostui is what is known as a “dry” village, where the sale of wine, beer, and spirits is strictly controlled by the Inuit and Cree authorities. Along with obesity—due to a meat-rich diet incompatible with the consumption of the sodas and snacks brought by “modern civilization”—alcoholism is a challenging problem in northern communities.
35SPRING 2015 N° 37
SPECIAL REPORT
Permafrost mounds, also called palsas, are typical of the region.
Florent Dominé, a researcher at the Takuvik laboratory, measures snow cover a few kilometers from Kuujjuarapik.
© P
HO
TOS
: L. C
AILL
OCE
/CN
RS P
HO
TOTH
ÈQU
E
understanding and modeling the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. “All we know today is that we are up against a potentially powerful positive feedback loop,” adds Dominé. “The higher the air temperature, the more the permafrost thaws, and the greater the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which in turn causes a new rise in air temperature, and so on.” Three sites have been selected to carry out this three-year study: Bylot Island, the northernmost location (latitude 73°N), within an area of continuous permafrost and a landscape of grassy tundra; Umiujaq (56°N), a coastal village in a region of dis-continuous permafrost with alternating boreal forest and shrub tundra; and Kuujjuarapik, the southernmost site (55°N) and our destination, characterized by sporadic per-mafrost, largely covered by boreal forest with conifers.
The following day, the blizzard has given way to bright
sea ice are just becoming visible, and come in to land at Kuujjuarapik. No time to take a break in the village: we
immediately board a helicopter, which will take us to the permafrost mounds located a few kilometers away. And the helicopter is no luxury: there are simply no roads in the
mounds swollen by ice, and of thermokarst ponds, created by thawing permafrost, lined up in what looks like an array of pots of white paint. These mounds are the only remnants of the permafrost that once existed at Kuujjuarapik—of which 90% thawed over the past few decades. We land on one of them and unload the equipment. The thermometer reads -23°C. By the time we have prepared the instruments, the cameras and smartphones have stopped working. A “low battery temperature” message pops up on the screens, preventing any further action.
Wrapped up warm in his goose-down jacket, a woolen hat pulled down over his ears, Dominé is in his element.
In the last decades, 90% of the permafrost has disappeared in Kuujjuarapik.
…
polystyrene or a good quilted jacket,” he explains. “In
outside air, preventing the ground from cooling as much as the air. However, its insulating properties vary according to its thickness, density, and structure. A very thick layer of snow provides greater protection than a thinner layer, while low-density snow is a better shield against the cold than compact snow.” Dominé pulls out his snow probe: the layer is a mere 12 centimeters deep at the top of the palsa. He then sticks a temperature probe into the snow. At the in-terface with the permafrost, the temperature reaches -9°C, which is 15°C warmer than the air temperature. Using a small shovel of known capacity (100 cm3), he gathers some snow, weighs it on a scale, and works out its density. “It’s still fairly light,” he observes. The demonstration is repeat-ed at the foot of the palsa, where the snow is considerably thicker, reaching a depth of 80 centimeters. The tempera-ture of the permafrost where it comes into contact with the snow is -1°C. It is on the verge of melting.
There is a reason for his demonstration: with climate change, not only do air temperatures rise but precipitation (rain and snow) also increases as a result of greater evaporation. “It’s counter-intuitive: everyone in the Arctic can see that there are fewer days of snow,” Dominé points out. “Yet when snow does fall, it does so in much larger amounts than it used to and tends to become deeper, causing the permafrost to warm up.” Another factor to take
cover is vegetation. With rising air temperatures, plant cover expands while trees and bushes migrate northwards. And more vegetation means deeper snow. “Windblown snow tends to accumulate in the presence of vegetation, especially under trees,” Dominé explains. In addition,
snow (sending less heat and solar radiation back into space), and substantially alters its optical properties. All these parameters will be accurately measured as part of the APT project.
…
Thermokarst ponds (seen here in summer) release CO2 and methane, two potent greenhouse gases.
© C
EN/T
AKU
VIK
36CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
IN DEPTH
The key role of thermokarst ponds The helicopter is here, ready to take us back to the village. Night will be falling soon, and we sadly won’t have time to land by the thermokarst ponds. Already frozen over this time of the year, the ponds, which act just like bioreactors, are key to the release process of frozen carbon. When the per-
providing nutrients and carbon to the bacteria and plankton living in the pond. The latter break them down into CO2 in the water layers near the surface, and into methane (CH4) at the oxygen-deprived bottom of the pond. “Researchers have analyzed the methane released from these ponds in various places in the Arctic,” says Warwick Vincent, the
runs the research stations at Bylot Island, Umiujaq, and Kuujjuarapik. “In some of them, the carbon dates back to more than 40,000 years! This means that it is the old car-bon stored in the permafrost that is being released into the atmosphere. And it’s not good news for the planet.”
In any case, modeling gas emissions will be no mean feat. “There are millions of similar ponds in the Arctic, rep-resenting a total area of more than 200,000 km2,” Vincent reckons. Surprisingly, these thaw ponds have not always
millennia that followed the end of the last glacial period, they probably helped warm our still icy atmosphere before
Back in Kuujjuarapik, where we’re due to spend the night at the Centre for Northern Studies after a freezing afternoon out in the snow, a yet more chilling piece of news awaits: a polar bear was spotted the night before in the middle of the village, and the children are not allowed out until further notice. “When I was a kid, back in the 1950s, these things never used to happen,” says Alec Tuckatuck,
of climate change in the Arctic: as their natural habitat, the sea ice, shrinks and becomes weaker, polar bears have taken to moving along the shores and entering villages in search of food. The next day, Kuujjuarapik is again in the throes of a blizzard. It will be some time before we are able to leave for Montreal. Meanwhile, the polar bear has been shot by hunters. II
Thawing permafrostthreatens infrastructures For a long time, permafrost was considered as a permanent feature. So much so that thirteen out of Nunavik’s fourteen airports were built on it. No one at the time could have imagined that this ground, then as hard as concrete, could ever subside due to thawing. With the help of researchers, the airport at Salluit, whose runway was heavily damaged,
the permafrost and inserted monitoring sensors into the runway,” explains Michel Allard, a Quebec researcher at the Takuvik laboratory. The ongoing thawing is impacting building projects at a time when housing development is becoming crucial for Inuit communities. “With the population explosion, Nunavik and its 12,000 inhabitants are faced with a serious housing crisis,” Allard points out. Not to mention the impact on the Plan Nord, launched by the Quebec government with a view to fostering economic development in the region. New building techniques will have to be developed while undertaking detailed mapping of the area. “We need to characterize the state of the ground, square kilometer by square kilometer, in order to predict how it will behave as thawing takes place,” Allard reckons. A mammoth task lies ahead for the scientists.
“ It is the old carbon that is being released into the atmosphere. And it’s not good news for the planet.”
Damaged by thawing permafrost, the access road to the airport in Akulivik (northern Nunavik), had to be repaired.
Alec Tuckatuck, an Inuit hunter, has seen the climate change since the 1980s, with longer summers and shorter winters.
© L
. CAI
LLO
CE
© C
EN/T
AKU
VIK
37SPRING 2015 N° 37
SPECIAL REPORT
n January, the oldest and largest
1 celebrated two de-
-
2 the laboratory’s
-
-
A recipe for success
-
-
-
Beyond the frontiers of research
---
-
-
--
-
-
---
-
© A
. BAC
COU
CHE,
A. G
ENO
T, T
. FU
JII, Y
. RO
ND
ELEZ
38CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
WORLDWIDE
PARTNERSHIPNEWSWIRE
1. Laboratory for Integrated Micro Mechatronic Systems (CNRS / Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo). 2. Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo. 3. Yannick Rondelez was awarded the 2014 CNRS Bronze Medal for his research summarized in “Predator–Prey Molecular
4. 5.
Going Small, Thinking Big
Water-in-oil emulsions used to investigate the dynamics of complex molecular programs.
Nanosystems.
BY ARBY GHARIBIAN
-
3 researchers used syn--
-
--
---
-
-
A European future--
-
4
-5
-
---
-
faster, and the successful use of --
II
© L
. JAL
ABER
T
SPRING 2015 N° 37
PARTNERSHIP
Monitoring of a DNA bio- reaction with silicon nano- tweezers.
The researchers of the LIMMS are actuating a microsystem inside a transmission electron microscope.
What is Future Earth?Sandrine Paillard: Future Earth is a 10-year international research program that was launched in 2012 at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). Its goal is to pro-vide knowledge that can help societies meet the present and future challenges raised by global change.The program will address fundamental issues such as: how and why is the world environment changing? What fu-ture evolutions are we likely to see, and what consequences will they have on human development and biodiversity?
for reducing risk and vulnerability while exploring opportunities for mak-ing the transition to sustainable devel-opment. Its purpose is to innovate through solution-oriented research.
What were the bases for launching this program? Stéphane Blanc: Future Earth has a solid foundation. The International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the Belmont Forum (an interna-tional consortium of the main funding agencies for environmental research), the UN, and the World Meteorological Organization are in the process of merging research programs dedicated to global environmental change. These programs have provided the basis for most of the work carried out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Future Earth becomes the
main coordinating body for research on sustainable development and for informing policy-making.
Why was Future Earth founded?S.P.: To bolster international coopera-tion and interdisciplinarity by merging existing programs. Solution-oriented
-munity to make a greater contribution toward resolving environmental is-sues and fostering innovation for sus-
challenges of global change and the transition towards sustainability, while strengthening partnerships among researchers, funding bodies, and stakeholders.
Which disciplines will be involved?S.B.: The scope of disciplines is as broad as the program’s goals, but it focuses on
Earth’s system, including, for example, climate, carbon cycle, biodiversity, and ocean dynamics; secondly, social devel-opment and societies’ interaction with the environment, encompassing the reduction of poverty, capacity for resil-ience, sustainable cities, food safety, water, and health; and lastly, the trans-formations required to ensure the sus-tainable development of societies, again through the transition towards a green economy or renewable technologies, for example.
How will the program be structured?S.P.: The Secretariat, with members in
Canada, and the US), will help integrate and coordinate projects launched by existing international programs. It will also support initia-tives related to lateral communication, summary reports for decision- makers, capacity building, etc. The Science Committee and the Engagement Committee will ensure that these initiatives contribute to the overall consistency of the program
Synthesis and Foresight activities.
How will countries in the Southern Hemisphere be involved?S.B.: Environmental challenges are even more pressing in the Southern Hemisphere. To achieve its goals, Future Earth needs to involve these countries very closely. One of the Secretariat’s most important missions is to encourage the development of research capacities in emerging re-gions (through education, training,
Will Future Earth help shape public policies in response to environmental change?S.P.: That is the objective. And we will also inform the private sector, whether companies or consumers. In addition to helping the parties involved in key international negotiations, we wish to interact with all policy-makers at the international, regional, and local levels.
to global environmental change are mostly to be found locally. II
[email protected]@cnrs-dir.fr
40CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
Europe. Stéphane Blanc and Sandrine Paillard, members of the permanent Secretariat for Future Earth, introduce this new program.
INTERVIEW BY FABRICE IMPÉRIALI
WORLDWIDE
PARTNERSHIP
NEWSWIRE
DR
DR
Future Earth, a Program for the Planet
T cooperation agreement in 1975, initiating a long- lasting tradition of exchange. “Until very recently,
Tunisia had the largest contingent of foreign doctoral stu-dents in French laboratories, despite its relatively small population,” explains Arnaud Lalo, CNRS representative for
between our two countries accounts for the fact that
the Middle East.” This intense activity has paved the way -
appreciate the high quality of research in Tunisia.
Two International Associated Laboratories (LIA) have 1 was active
from 2006-2013, and conducted advanced molecular research, especially on plasmas. The second, LIRA-T,2 is still operational and its expertise in the chemical analysis of organic and molecular substances has important industrial and health applications.
-ence in Tunisia through the IRMC,3 which studies the Maghreb from a social science perspective including law, economics, geography, and urban studies.
Expanding joint research struc-tures can now include new disciplines, such as engineering and information technology, but also engage in a broad, interdisciplinary approach that studies the area from multiple angles. For example, the CNRS initiated MISTRALS,4 an international project in
which, together with Tunisia, it coordinates research with partners across the Mediterranean to grasp changing en-
satellites and airplanes for measurements, and the devel-opment of a network of environmental observatories. Disciplines such as anthropology and demography com-plement environmental science to provide a global insight into the impact of human activity on the environment.
Similar initiatives are also being taken by the CNRS and Tunisia at the European level thanks to the ERANETMED5 research program, launched by the European Commission.
avoid fragmentation among the dozens of participating countries, with the aim of tackling crucial issues such as renewable energy and water resource management. “Through cooperation and capacity development,” adds Lalo, “we are building on existing relationships to pursue
II
1. Laboratoire Orsay-Tunis sur les atomes, molécules, plasmas (CNRS / Université Paris-Sud / MESRS / LSAMA-Université de Tunis El Manar). 2. Laboratoire international de recherche analytique (CNRS / Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 / MESRS and INRAP in Tunisia). 3. Institut de recherche sur le Maghreb
4. Mediterranean Integrated Studies at Regional and Local Scales. 5. Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation through ERANET.
The Sousse Technology Park is home to mechanics, electronics, and related IT companies.
El Manar University (UTM), in Tunis, houses 11 faculties.
© P
IXEL
DRO
NE
TECH
NO
LOG
IES
41SPRING 2015 N° 37
NEWSWIRE
Forty Years
and Going Strong [email protected]
Tunisia. New collaborations strengthen the long-standing relationship between the CNRS and its main partner in the region. BY ARBY GHARIBIAN©
EL
MAN
AR U
NIV
ERSI
TY
42CNRS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
WORLDWIDE
On January 27, 2015, the CNRS and the National
II
CNRS-L, and
Lebanon
SINGAPORE
An international workshop on renewable energy was held on the NTU (Nanyang Technological University) campus in Singapore in early February. It brought together experts from NTU, the CNRS, CEA,1 and a number of French universities and industrial leaders including Alstom, GDF-Suez, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, Bouygues,
and marine energy, electrochemical energy systems and storage, smart grids and power systems, smart and green buildings, and basic science for energy. This
framework agreement to structure these collaborations.
EUROPE
A new International Research Network (GDRI) Zoomathia, for “Cultural transmission of the zoological knowledge (Antiquity-Middle Age)” coordinated by the CEPAM4 brings together a host of laboratories from France, Italy, Germany, and the UK, specialized in antique and medieval zoology. The objective of this GDRI is to compile a critical history of zoological knowledge during that time, using primarily a multidisciplinary approach. Another objective will be to create a thesaurus to help annotate ancient texts that characterize animals with the latest tools available, including the Semantic Web—an essential step towards the creation of a historical zoological database.
SLOVENIA
The “Push-Pull AlloyS And Complex CompoundS: from bulk properties to surface functions” (PACS 2) International Associated Laboratory (LIA) was recently formalized between the CNRS, the Institut Jean Lamour
Slovenia’s main center for multidisciplinary research. Bringing together some 20 French and Slovenian PhDs and post-docs, its goal is to create new push-pull alloys—some of which include rare earths—and characterize them to determine their electronic and magnetic properties.
In brief...
AUSTRALIA
The recently-launched International Associated Laboratory for Photonics between France and Australia (LIA ALPhFA) brings together the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, CUDOS,2 and a host of French laboratories associated with the CNRS,3 especially the Institut Fresnel, whose collaboration with the University of Sydney dates back to 1973. This new LIA will focus on modern photonics: metamaterials, plasmonics, and mid-infrared photonics.
1. Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives. 2. Center for Ultrahigh Bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (University of Sydney). 3. Aix-Marseille Université, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université Paris-Sud, ECM, ECL, INSA Lyon, CPE Lyon. 4. Laboratoire Cultures et environnements. Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen Age (CNRS).
French
© D
ÉLÉG
ATIO
N P
MA
© C
OU
RTES
Y O
F EN
ERG
Y RE
SEAR
CH
INST
ITU
TE/N
TU
CLOSE-UP
43SPRING 2015 N° 37
Brass instruments can be quite loud, and trombones are no exception. Musicians use various devices to dampen the emitted sound, the most common being the straight mute—like the one pictured below the table. Yet once muted, lower notes—known as pedal tones—become distorted, and the lowest two for this trombone are impossible to play. In this anechoic chamber, Thibaut Meurisse from the STMS,1 is measuring the acoustic impedance of a trombone to adjust the “active” mute settings to make these notes playable. “Much like noise-cancelling headphones, we have developed a prototype ‘active’ mute with a microphone to capture
a speaker producing a command signal that can control, and possibly suppress any distortion,” he explains. The researchers hope to eventually enclose all the electronic components inside the mute, making it a stand-alone equipment that would not only dampen the sound, but also allow the musician to create entirely new sounds.
1. Sciences et technologies de la musique et du son (IRCAM / CNRS / Université Pierre et Marie Curie / Ministère de la culture et de la communication).
[email protected] A photo gallery is available online: www.cnrs.fr/cnrsmagazine
A Good Pitch
PHOTO: C. FRÉSILLON/IRCAM/CNRS PHOTOTÈQUE
US, CANADA, MEXICO Washington DC Head: Xavier Morise Embassy of France
BRAZIL Rio de JaneiroHead: Olivier Fudym
EUROPEAN UNION BrusselsHead: Pascal Dayez-Burgeon
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA PretoriaHead: Jean Albergel
INDIA New DelhiHead: Srinivas KaveriEmbassy of France
SOUTH-EAST ASIA SingaporeHead: Luc le Calvez
CHINA BeijingHead: Antoine Mynard
Embassy of France
e
JAPAN, KOREA, TAIWAN TokyoHead: Philippe Codognet
PARIS Headquarters
Washington DC
New Delhi
Singapore
Tokyo
Beijing
Rio de Janeiro Pretoria
BrusselsParis