Sciences | ARTE

Wissenschaft | ARTE

Ciencias | ARTE

Nauka | ARTE

Scienze | ARTE

The universe could be heading towards different scenarios, including the "Big Freeze" as it expands, cools, and disintegrates. Other possibilities include a collapsing universe (Big Crunch) or an accelerating expansion that eventually tears the universe apart (Big Rip). While many scenarios will take an unimaginably long time to occur, a sudden end cannot be ruled out.

How It All Ends

Could the universe one day cease to exist? Scientists have multiple theories as to how the end will come.

42: The Answer to (Almost) Everything

Current Highlights

Collections

Playlists

Incorrect diagnoses, inappropriate treatments and persistent shortcomings in care. The medical field, whose benchmark remains the male body, seems to neglect the physiological particularities of women. Focus on the alarming gender gap in healthcare.

The medical field, whose benchmark remains the male body, seems to neglect the physiological particularities of women.

Are Women Ill Differently?

Humans are social animals and we need physical contact. We cultivate the language of touch from birth and it is essential for the development of our body and minds. How do different types of touch, and the absence of touch, affect us?

Humans are social animals and we need physical contact. How do different types of touch, and the absence of touch, affect us?

The Power of Touch

Life without colour wouldn't be possible. Colours have had a significant impact on our evolution and influence almost all life on earth. Where does the power of colour come from, and how can we harness it?

A Rainbow of Emotions

Whether you're tickled pink or feeling blue, colours could be influencing your emotions more than you think.

42: The Answer to Almost Everything

Paleogeneticist Alexander Hübner explains how the faecal samples of our ancestors gives us vital insights we wouldn't have found any other way. 
Environmental engineers like Susanne Lackner use our wastewater to track coronavirus infection rates. Our waste doesn't just have scientific value - it could also have economic potential. It turns out, you can polish a turd after all.

The Treasure in Our Sewers

It turns out, you can polish a turd after all.

Tiny man shorts, long flowing hair, custumes and the exchange of perfectly timed insults... is wrestling pure performance or is it a legitimate sport?

Gymnastics

Is wrestling pure performance or is it a legitimate sport?

Wrestling: All Sport or All Show?

More

Medicine and health

Science can be much easier to understand than you might think.

Eureka!

Fire in the Sky reveals how researchers have gained new insight into the impact of the Northern Lights on infrastructure and animal behavior. The documentary explains why solar storms can be a danger to humanity with the power to damage satellites, stop air traffic, and paralyze power grids and telecommunications networks.

The Northern Lights

Northern Lights have fascinated and disturbed our ancestors for centuries. But they could also endanger our future.

Fire in the Sky

Journalist Pierre Girard takes us to meet farmers from all over Europe who offer surprising, new or very old methods to take care of the earth, and tackle environmental problems... at the root.

How to Save the Earth

A tour of Europe in five episodes, meeting farmers who take care of the land.

Roots

More than 80% of the salmon consumed in Europe comes from fish farms. Salmon farming is a speciality of northern countries, with Norway being the main producer. These farms are promoted as a sustainable alternative to wild-caught salmon, but in reality, they are fed with fishmeal and fish oil that require tonnes of other fish species to be caught, depleting the ocean's fish stocks. This overfishing occurs far away from Europe, in Mauritania.

The Dark Underbelly of European Salmon

Fish stocks in Mauritania are being plundered to feed farmed salmon.

Sources

The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is in a war zone, and the area has been bombed. Damage to the plant, or cutting off its electricity, could mean a major radioactive leak at Europe's largest nuclear power plant. We take stock of nuclear power generation around the world.

Nuclear Energy - Past or Future?

We take stock of nuclear power generation around the world.

Mapping the World

Lithium is crucial for use in batteries, and as Europe tried to go green and switch to electric cars, demand for this white gold is skyrocketing. The EU imports most of its lithium, but its demand keeps increasing. Mining companies are tempted by the possibility of finding and exploiting reserves right here in Europe. But that would mean sacificing small rural  communities, for 'the greater good'.

ARTE Reportage

Rural mountains in Portugal have vital reserves of lithium. But villagers vow they'll stop any development

The Dirty Truth Behind Green Cars

Saype is a graffiti artist with a difference. He doesn't spray his works on walls but in fields and on grass, using his own biodegradable paint. His huge works of art are best appreciated by drone, where the true scale is revealed. 

Saype, Green-Fingered Graffitti Artist

For hundreds of years, local farmers have been growing tomatoes on the lake's surface, on well-kept floating gardens nourished by the river mud. The locals live life to the rhythm set by the harvests. But modern pesticides and fertilisers are killing the lake, and killing the locals. But they continue to use the chemicals out of necessity. It's a lethal catch 22.

Myanmar: The Dying Lake

Environment

Category Banner (SCI)

Technology and innovation

Why is it that a comparatively rare disorder such as coeliac disease seems to have become widespread within a few years? With more and more people complaining about digestive problems after eating cereals, is gluten really responsible? An in-depth focus on gluten, gluten-free diets and the food industry.

With more and more people complaining about digestive problems after eating cereals, is gluten really responsible?

Gluten: Public Enemy Number One

In only one year of operation, the James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionised the way the universe is observed. Images of protostars, the birth of galaxies, unprecedented information about exoplanets... the data collected will fuel astronomical research for many years to come. 

In only one year of operation, the James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionised the way the universe is observed.

James Webb: In Search of Life in Space

Making chocolate for one euro, eco-friendly jeans at rock-bottom prices, fair-trade, organic, and cheap coffee - discounters and fashion chains are suddenly offering customers the opportunity to save the world. Is it all just greenwashing and deception?

The Privilege of Sustainable Shopping

Sustainable consumption: is it all just greenwashing and deception?

Agree to Disagree!

Humans lie, deceive, and wage merciless wars. Sometimes it seems as if evil is typically human. On the other hand, humans can also be good, love, and even make peace with enemies. Which side within us is stronger? The good or the evil?

Humanity's True Nature

Humans lie, deceive, and wage merciless wars. Sometimes it seems as if evil is typically human.

The fact that we have a breathable atmosphere on Earth is largely down to algae. Could these aquatic plants be the secret of solving climate change and saving ourselves and the planet?

Could Algae Save the Planet?

The Answer to Almost Everything

Our most powerful weapon against the covid-19 pandemic has been the little known messenger RNA technology. But researchers have been developing it for the last 20 years with the initial goal of creating a cancer vaccine.

Can mRNA Vaccines Cure Cancer?

Over the last 20 years, researchers have been developing mRNA technology with the aim of vaccinating against cancer, not coronavirus.

While scientists agree on the date (4 billion years ago), their opinions diverge on the place and conditions that saw the birth of life on our planet. Did the first cells emerge from a primordial soup rather than from primitive oceanic hydrothermal springs? Or could life on Earth have originated elsewhere? 42 attempts to explain it all.

The Origin of Life

Life emerged about four billion years ago, but exactly where and how it started is unclear. 42 tries to find out the answer.

Northern Lights have fascinated and disturbed our ancestors for centuries. But they could also endanger our future

Hydrogen is touted as the solution to move away from gas and oil. This promoted alternative, touted as a sustainable energy source, is making headlines as it can be used to power buses and heating systems. But where will all this hydrogen come from? And how environmentally friendly is this solution?

Hydrogen Power: Miracle or Pipe Dream?

Hydrogen is considered the oil of the future. An increasing number of cities are attempting to inject it into their gas networks.

A quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Factory farming and extreme use of fertilizers and pesticides pollute our air, pollute our water and destroy our soil. Every year, 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost worldwide. In Spain, two-thirds of the country is affected by desertification. But there are also soils further north that are similarly desolate. In this episode of Roots, science journalist Pierre Girard meets Remedios Arres in Andalusia and Johanna Häger in Brandenburg, the sandbox of Europe.

Fighting Desertification

What should Europe do about its damaged and depleted soil?

Fear is a universal emotion that is key to our survival. But what happens if you are paralysed by fear? Jens speaks about his struggles with panic attacks that can overwhelm him and therapist Remy uses hypnosis to treat patients with phobias and panic attacks.

Fear

Fear is a universal emotion that is key to our survival. But what happens if you are paralysed by it?

Psyche

The world of work is undergoing a major upheaval. A study by the World Economic Forum reveals that as early as 2025, more tasks will be performed by robots and artificial intelligence than by human beings. This could potentially result in the elimination of millions of jobs.

The Robots After Our Jobs

As early as 2025, more tasks will be performed by robots and artificial intelligence than by human beings. 

Food intolerances are currently a hot topic - evident from the fully stocked shelves of so-called substitute products in supermarkets. Lactose, fructose, and gluten have become taboo for many consumers. Are these substances truly so intolerable, and are the respective alternative foods actually healthier?

Food Intolerance: A Modern Malady

More and more people complain of digestive disorders related to gluten, lactose, or fructose.

Illnesses, accidents, assaults ... Faced with traumatic events, a force within us allows us to overcome and move forward: resilience. Far from being an innate characteristic, it is a capacity that we can work on.

Resilience

Is it possible to modify our genes? Science has made major advancements, such as human DNA sequencing and the CRISPR/Cas9 techniques. While it has become possible to cure genetic diseases and preventively treat predispositions to certain pathologies, these innovations are not without risks and are likely to be misused.

Gene Editing and the Spectre of Eugenics

What's the recipe for making a song a global hit? Musicologists, brain scientists and professionals in the music industry are actively researching the 'magic formula' for the mega hit.

Does the Perfect Song Exist?

What's the recipe for making a song a global hit?

Getting into space has never been easier and the resources of our solar system are highly coveted. But with the legal framework of space exploration and the exploitation of its resources still unclear, is space being stolen from us?

Is Space Being Stolen From Us?

With the legal framework of space exploration and the exploitation of its resources still unclear, is space being stolen from us?

Most popular

The beauty of the peacock troubled Darwin for a long time. It didn't quite fit into his theory of evolution and the idea of "survival of the fittest." Darwin came to the conviction that animals must also possess a sense of beauty. Especially the females, who select the "beautiful" males. Modern-day ornithologist Richard O. Prum is convinced that "the complexity of aesthetic and sexual pleasure" in the animal kingdom is far more developed than we give it credit for.

Do Animals Appreciate Beauty?

What perception do animals have of beauty? Does it play a specific biological role?

The European probe Euclid took off successfully on 1 July 2023. Its objective is ambitious: to attempt to solve the enigma of dark matter and above all dark energy, which make up 95% of the universe.

Exploration of a Dark Universe

ESA's Euclid Mission

Sophie, Pablo, Rosemary, Raphaël, and Marco are the ESA astronauts appointed through a lengthy selection process, whose exciting time at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne began in April 2023. Initially, they will undergo training for stays on the ISS, but later they will also be prepared for a medium-term lunar mission and potentially even beyond that, meaning a mission to Mars!

Sophie, Pablo, Rosemary, Raphaël, and Marco are the ESA astronauts appointed through a lengthy selection process.

Europe's Next Generation of Astronauts

Humanity is dependent on electricity. Power outages have been rare for us so far, but our electricity system is being transformed: renewable energies are intended to replace the fossil fuels that have reliably supplied us. Additionally, the risks of natural disasters and cyberattacks are increasing. At the same time, our electricity demand is growing tremendously.

The Grid Under Strain

Power outages have been rare for us so far, but our electricity system is being transformed.

The dominance of our species has consequences: we have created conditions that fuel rapid evolution. Global warming, climate change, hunting, habitat destruction, resource exploitation, and pollution are forcing nature to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.
As a result, new variants emerge within populations or even entirely new species, adapting to new circumstances within a few generations. Can this rapid evolution help us find a solution to the loss of species?

The Advent of Turbo-Evolution

The dominance of our species has consequences: we have created conditions that fuel rapid evolution.

The vast sea - a symbol of boundlessness. But is it really so? Who does the sea actually belong to? In the past, it was simple: as far as the cannons could shoot, that much sea belonged to the land. Nowadays, the distribution is more complicated, also because we use the sea in diverse and intensive ways. But can the sea and its treasures be distributed fairly at all?

Who Owns the Sea?

Can the sea and its treasures be distributed fairly?

Chance, destiny, predestination, God. People have come up with many explanations for events that either seem completely unbelievable or highly improbable. Albert Einstein said, God "does not play dice." Like many scientists since Newton, he was convinced that the world could, in theory, be calculated down to the smallest detail. In his view, there was no such thing as chance. Everything was merely an endless chain of cause and effect. So, if one had enough data, one could also predict the future. "Einstein was wrong," says quantum physicist and artist Libby Heaney. Because the tiniest particles in the world behave completely randomly. Have we just not yet deciphered their laws, or is our world fundamentally governed by chance?

The Chaos of Chance

Is our world fundamentally governed by chance?

Chemistry makes our sweaters softer, our world more colourful and pleasant, and it can even save lives. The flip side: we have released so many toxic chemicals that we have severely damaged our ecosystem. And these substances are increasing. Where are the limits of our Earth's capacity, and how do we get a handle on the poison?

Surviving Our Polluted Planet

We have released so many toxic chemicals that we have caused existential damage to our ecosystem.

Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and similar platforms relay a wide range of content, information, and opinions. In countries where freedom of the press is limited, social media can play a crucial role. Berlin-based AlgorithmWatch warns that social media algorithms help fraudsters target vulnerable individuals with their malicious software.

Social Media Influencing Democracy

Social media algorithms help fraudsters target vulnerable individuals.

Most recent

In France, in the Massif Central, Sarah Singla practices conservation agriculture based on three principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent land cover and crop rotation. In Périgord, Benoît Le Baube also protects his fields by no longer plowing them. He also uses organic waste to fertilize the soil.

Sustainable Agriculture to the Rescue

In France, in the Massif Central, Sarah Singla practices conservation agriculture.

In this episode, we discover with the journalist Pierre Girard how cows can make the activity of a farm more respectful of nature and how sheep can improve cereal harvests. These unusual methods could offer a solution to agriculture's carbon emissions problem.

Climate-Killer Cows

In this episode, we discover with the journalist Pierre Girard how cows can make the activity of a farm more respectful of nature.

Biodiversity is good for the environment but also for our taste buds. In Alsace, a winegrower practices "complantation", the mixing of several grape varieties on the same plot to avoid pesticides. In southern Italy, Mario relies on the coexistence of plants and livestock to enrich the biodiversity of his fields and produce a mozzarella with a unique taste.

Resilient Biodiversity

Biodiversity is good for the environment but also for our taste buds.

The largest store of carbon besides the oceans is the soil. If only 0.4 percent more carbon could be put into the earth every year, the increase in greenhouse gas emissions would stop immediately. This is called carbon farming. But whether carbon goes into the soil or not is decided by agriculture. In this episode of Roots, science journalist Pierre Girard meets Félix Noblia in the Basque Country and Fabrice Desjours in Burgundy.Félix uses a special grazing system that actively stores carbon in the soil. Fabrice Desjours from Burgundy combines forgotten herbs, trees and plants to transform meadows into forest gardens where everything is edible.

Carbon Farming

If only 0.4 percent more carbon could be put into the earth every year, the increase in greenhouse gas emissions would stop immediately.

What’s the link between a French stick and genome sequencing? Geneticists have managed to sequence the DNA of wheat, and it is more complicated than you might think.

Reconnection

Geneticists have managed to sequence the DNA of wheat, and it is more complicated than you might think.

A Baguette and Genome Sequencing

Why did Frédéric Lechenault, a specialist researcher in interface systems, start knitting? The answers links pullovers with seismic activity.

Jumpers and Earthquakes

Tarek Besold is an AI researcher. He works on making machines intelligent. But can he make them undersand love? And will we one day fall in love with our smartphones?

Tarek Besold is an AI researcher. He’s working on making machines intelligent. But can he make them undersand love? And will we one day fall in love with our smartphones?

Love and Artifical Intelligence

Dr Philipp Rothemund promises great progress in prosthetic limbs with soft robots. Made from crisp packets. But what do olives have to do with soft robotics?

Olives and Prosthetic Limbs - What Links Them?

Long considered clean and inexpensive, nuclear energy raises a major problem: radioactive waste. It must be buried underground for at least a million years, or forever. But our civilisation won't be around forever. How can we warn our distant descendants of the risk of nuclear waste sites? What pictograms could warn them against the toxic gift we leave them?