According to a new scientific study, conflict between males and females is very frequent among primates, representing over half of all conflicts. The winning gender in confrontations varies considerably from one species to another 1 . Strict dominance (over 90% of confrontations won) for either gender was observed in less than 20% of the populations studied.

Fatty diets and obesity affect the structure and function of astrocytes 1 , the star-shaped brain cells located in the striatum, a brain region involved in the perception of pleasure generated by food consumption. What is even more surprising is that by manipulating these astrocytes in vivo in mice can influence metabolism and correct certain cognitive changes associated with obesity (ability to relearn a task, for example).

Fatty diets and obesity affect the structure and function of astrocytes 1 , star-shaped brain cells located in the striatum, a brain region involved in the perception of pleasure generated by food consumption. Even more astonishingly, manipulation of these astrocytes in vivo in mice not only makes it possible to influence their metabolism, but also to correct certain cognitive alterations associated with obesity (ability to relearn a task, for example).

O One of the main objectives of contemporary astronomy is the search for exoplanets, which provide a better understanding of how planetary systems form.

A team from the Institut Curie, Inserm and CNRS has uncovered a hitherto unknown molecular mechanism linking estrogens (female sex hormones) to the aggravation of certain cancers not traditionally considered hormone-dependent, such as melanoma, gastric cancer and thyroid cancer.minine sex hormones) to the aggravation of certain cancers not traditionally considered hormone-dependent, such as melanoma, gastric cancer and thyroid cancer.

The NODSSUM interdisciplinary mission, led by CNRS and in collaboration with a team from Ifremer, ASNR and several national and international partners 1 , will set sail for a month on June 15. Scientists are planning two campaigns to use modern tools to map the main dumping zone for the many drums of radioactive waste that have been deliberately dumped for 40 years in the abyssal plains of the North-East Atlantic.

Lyon's research stands out in the new post-quantum era. Two algorithms designed by Damien Stehlé are among the 3 standards published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2024.

A new class of molecules capable of killing the cancer cells that are refractory to standard treatments and responsible for recurrence has just been developed by scientists at Institut Curie, the CNRS, and Inserm. This crucial advance in the fight against metastatic cancer is based on identifying the cellular site for ferroptosis initiation, a natural process, catalysed by iron, that sparks the oxidative degradation of cell membranes.

Characteristic depressive episodes are the most common mental disorders worldwide. One in five people will suffer from depression in their lifetime, with suicidal risk responsible for several thousand deaths a year in France.

Human fibroblasts observed by fluorescence microscopy. Mitochondria are marked in red, fibroblast core DNA is marked in blue © Nivea Dias Amoedo/Inserm A deterioration in skin quality, its ability to heal, and its normal aging, is often observed in people with chronic hyperglycemia. A team of researchers from Inserm, the University of Bordeaux and LVMH Recherche has investigated how hyperglycemia alters the human dermis, and in particular the cells involved in its healing, the fibroblasts.

While glioblastoma is a highly aggressive brain tumor that currently offers little hope of cure, researchers at the CANTHER laboratory (CNRS / Inserm / University of Lille / Lille University Hospital / Pasteur Institute of Lille) and the Laboratoire de Bioimagerie et Pathologies (CNRS / University of Strasbourg) have succeeded in identifying different forms of this tumor and mapping them precisely by analyzing the activity of gene regulatory factors.

Food additive mixtures are an everyday feature of our diets, especially through ultra-processed foods. Until recently, safety evaluations of these additives have been conducted substance by substance due to a lack of data on the effect of them ingested together. In a new study, researchers from Inserm, INRAE, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Paris Cité University and Cnam, as part of the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (CRESS-EREN), examined the possible links between exposure to mixtures of commonly consumed food additives and the onset of type 2 diabetes.

A French team coordinated by a CNRS 1 scientist has highlighted the harmful impact of chronic exposure to tebuconazole, one of the fungicides most widely used in agriculture in Europe, on sparrow reproduction. The results of this research, published in the journal Environmental Research , reveal a direct link between exposure to this fungicide and abnormal growth in sparrow chicks, as well as higher mortality in these young birds, particularly females.

Many cases of sudden cardiac death could be avoided thanks to artificial intelligence. As part of a new study to be published in European Heart Journal, a network of artificial neurons imitating the human brain was developed by researchers from Inserm, Paris Cité University and the Paris public hospitals group (AP-HP), in collaboration with their colleagues in the USA.

The longest organic molecules identified to date on Mars have recently been detected by scientists from the CNRS 1 , together with their colleagues from France, the United States of America, Mexico and Spain. These long carbon chains, containing up to 12 consecutive carbon atoms, could exhibit features similar to the fatty acids produced on Earth by biological activity 2 .

Twenty-seven standardised bone tools dating back more than 1.5 million years were recently discovered in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by a team of scientists from the CNRS and l'université de Bordeaux 1 , in collaboration with international and Tanzanian researchers. This discovery challenges our understanding of early hominin technological evolution, as the oldest previously known standardised bone tools date back approximately 500,000 years.

The report on the interdisciplinary research carried out by researchers from Aix Marseille University and CNRS at the Laboratoire méditerranéen de préhistoire Europe (AMU/CNRS/Ministère de la Culture) and the Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Droit, Ethique et Santé laboratory (AMU/CNRS/Etablissement francais du sang), and froma laboratory at the University of Reading, UK (National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Department of Meteorology), has just been published on February 26, 2025 in the prestigious journal PLOS ONE .

Mouse macrophages visualized using confocal microscopy, showing the nuclei (blue) and the actin network (orange). Mónica Fernández Monreal, Bordeaux Imaging Center Macrophages, key cells of the immune system, play a central role in cleaning the body by ingesting and destroying pathogens (bacteria, viruses, etc.) and damaged cells.

Since 2000, the world's glaciers have lost 5% of their initial volume, and 273 billion tonnes of ice are disappearing every year - the equivalent of 3 Olympic swimming pools per second. These are the results of an in-depth study of the global evolution of glaciers (excluding the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets) between 2000 and 2023, based for the first time on a combination of field measurements and satellite observations.

An extraordinary event consistent with a neutrino with an estimated energy of about 220 PeV (220 x 1015 electron volts or 220 million billion electron volts), was detected on February 13, 2023, by the ARCA detector of the kilometre cubic neutrino telescope (KM3NeT) in the deep sea. This event, named KM3-230213A, is the most energetic neutrino ever observed and provides the first evidence that neutrinos of such high energies are produced in the Universe.