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Sciences

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Nuclear energy: a clean energy for the future or a risk for humanity? As the European Union has classed nuclear as a green energy, France is building new power plants whilst Germany is decommissioning them. An in depth look at the future of atomic energy in the coming decades.

Clean energy for tomorrow or a risk for humanity? A look at the future of a controversial energy source.

The Future of Nuclear Energy

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Medicine and health

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

Eureka!

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. 

Gymnastics

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

Many think that the European Union is not doing enough about green issues. But the EU is beginning to implement concrete measures to counter-act climate change.

Euromyth No 11

Europe is Letting Our Planet Die

Environment

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Will human relationships become obsolete in the future, to be replaced by artificial intelligence and virtual reality? Today, researchers can simulate the presence of a loved one. In this episode, Helen Fares finds herself faced with the hologram of her best friend Josy, and explores the nature of friendship in the digital age.

Homo Digitalis

Will human relationships become obsolete in the future, to be replaced by artificial intelligence and virtual reality?

The Perfect Friend

We will be able to upgrade our brains with a microchip, blurring the boundaries between man and machine in a way that we've never seen before. But what will happen to us when our computers become smarter than we are? Helen Fares is on a mission to test the limits of the human brain.

Helen Fares is on a mission to test the limits of the human brain

The Upgraded Brain

As soon as weightlessness sets in in Earth orbit, everything floats, including bodily fluids. Most astronauts suffer from space sickness – similar to seasickness. You get sick, your eyes go crazy, your face swells up, your legs get longer and after a few sleepless nights (there is no day or night in space) many astronauts get severe back pain. Space researchers are trying to understand how the human body reacts without gravity. Could we need it to live?

Are We Ready for Mars?

What would happen to our bodies if we were all suddenly exposed to weightlessness in space?

42: The Answer to Almost Everything

In 10 years, Jean-Patrice Keka and his team have succeeded in getting five rockets off the ground with varying degrees of success. This 'Made in Africa' space programme is one-of-a-kind and proof of what can be achieved by one engineer with a bold dream: to become the first African in space.

DR Congo's Space Man

DR Congo's 'Made in Africa' space programme is proof of what can be achieved by one engineer with a bold dream

Does living in a digitised world divert sexual pleasure away from other people and towards the screen? A recent study confirms the trend in both Japan and Europe. Since the advent of the smartphone, the amount of sex couples have has decreased. At the same time, sex robots are now a reality. Helen Fares meets one of these lovers of the future.

The Digital Orgasm

Technology and innovation

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Nuclear: a clean energy source for the future or a risk for humanity? An in depth look at the future of atomic energy.

The sea absorbs our carbon emissions, gives us plentiful food, and regulates our climate. A healthy sea is a healthy planet. But we can't stop stripping the sea of resources. Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Overexploited Oceans

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?

Nuclear Waste

How can we warn our distant descendants of the risk of nuclear waste sites?

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?

Roots

The universe is big. So big, that surely 'Earthlings' can't possibly be the only form of intelligent life. What then is the probability that extraterrestrials exist? What could they look like? Finally, wouldn't their existence force us to rethink our place in the cosmos?

Are We Alone in the Universe?

The universe is big. So big, that surely 'Earthlings' can't possibly be the only form of intelligent life

Since the dawn of time, mankind has dreamed of a Fountain of Youth. A dream that may be coming true. Laboratories all over the world are announcing that they have rejuvenated animal species like mice, nematodes and fruit flies. Anti-ageing research has achieved the impossible: these animals live longer and healthier lives. Next step: humans?

Could We Live Forever?

Since the dawn of time, mankind has dreamed of a Fountain of Youth. A dream that may be coming true today.

Some animals are whats, and others are whos. Cats and dogs have distinct personalities; we couldn't possibly eat them. And then there are the pigs, cows, and sheep: an amorphous mass that end up on our plates. Dirk Nienhaus shows us his pig fattening facility. Meanwhile animal welfare activist Friedrich Mülln secretly checks for animal welfare violations on nightly missions. Cow farmer Anja Hradetzky is looking for a way to combine animal welfare and livestock husbandry - and comes up against the limits of the system.

The Status Quo

Activists, scientists and philosophers expose the consequences of factory farming and reflect on the status of animals in our societies.

Who We Eat

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

Reconnection

Jumpers and Earthquakes

We cannot escape our fate and we cannot escape ourselves. But we also have our limits: confused thinking, misleading intuitions, unrealiable memories... What consequences do these potential errors have on our relationship to the world and to ourselves? Just how far can we trust ourselves?

Can We Trust Ourselves?

42: The Answer to Nearly Everything

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.

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

A Baguette and Genome Sequencing

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?

Does living in a digitised world divert sexual pleasures away from other people and towards the screen?

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.

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

All living beings stop growing at some point. The global economy is different: it just keeps growing. Is a world without economic growth possible and what might that mean for the future?

Do We Need Economic Growth?

42 - The Answer to Almost Everything

Drugs have a bad press. But scientists have long been convinced that the use of psychedelics can sometimes be beneficial. The use of ecstasy, LSD and other hallucinogens could soon be authorised for therapeutic purposes. Should we change our relationship to certain drugs?

Are We Doing More Drugs?

Scientists have long been convinced that the use of psychedelics can sometimes be beneficial.

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?

Why do we love dogs and eat pigs? The second episode of Who We Eat is dedicated to the cultural and psychological roots of meat consumption.Psychologist Melanie Joy explains why she believes we all subscribe to an invisible ideology. The cultural historian Ilja Steffelbauer traces the history of meat from the beginnings of mankind to the present day. And Niko Rittenau, as a nutritionist, investigates how necessary the consumption of meat actually is.

Natural, Necessary, Normal

In Friederike Schmitz's workshops, schoolchildren act out how much space a fattening pig has on the floor of their classroom. In the discussion, it becomes clear that the children think in a similar way to adults: we all feel sorry for animals but changing our behavior is still difficult. Friedrich Mülln, the founder of SOKO Tierschutz, explains why he takes so many risks in the name of animal welfare. Activist Tobias Leenaert lives on a farm in Belgium with freed and rescued pigs, ducks, chickens and a turkey that loves to look in the mirror. He is convinced that the vegan movement cannot progress with moral arguments alone. Many people who reduce their consumption have more influence than a few hardliners. He explains why it is so difficult for people to change their behaviour.

The End of Meat

We all feel sorry for animals but changing our behavior is difficult. Moral arguments against meat are not enough to trigger lasting widespread change.

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Both a blessing and a curse, farming feeds us humans but is also harmful to the environment. Agriculture has radically transformed the land and our ways of life. But could foodstuffs created with biotechnology spell the end of traditional farming?

Could We Live Without Agriculture?

Agriculture has radically transformed the land and our way of life. But could foodstuffs created with biotechnology spell the end of traditional farming?

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.

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.

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.

Cynthia Rosenzweig, a climate scientist at NASA, explains why we can't just continue consuming meat the way we have. Research is being carried out all over the world into convincing meat alternatives. The episode takes a look behind the scenes of this industry, from the Rügenwald mill to the start-up Future Meat, which produces real meat in the laboratory with millions of dollars of investment.

Lab-Grown Meat

Cynthia Rosenzweig, a climate scientist at NASA, explains why we can't just continue consuming meat the way we have.

We explore the ethical foundations of our meat consumption and finds surprising answers. Peter Singer, the philosophical father of the modern animal rights movement, makes a compelling case for why we need to consider the welfare of animals as much as that of humans. Young fattening pigs show surprisingly human-like behavior in psychological experiments. In addition, evolutionary biologist Jon Mallatt takes the audience on a journey through time and explains why animals developed the first feelings.

Animals Like Us

 Young fattening pigs show surprisingly human-like behavior in psychological experiments.

Parasites get a bad rap: they can make us sick or even kill us. For centuries, we have been trying to protect ourselves against them, in particular through hygiene measures. Yet half of the living beings on Earth are parasites. If they are really everywhere, maybe they are not fundamentally useless?

The Purpose of Parasites

Parasites get a bad rap: they can make us sick or even kill us.

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.

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Eternal life: an impossible dream or our reality in just a few decades? And would you even be willing to modify your DNA to live longer? Is the body is only a computer and DNA the source code? Quite possibly...

Is the body is only a computer and DNA the source code?

Eternal Youth

According to futurist Ian Pearson, the holidays of the future will be virtual. The first wave of immigration into the virtual world has already taken place: you can dance, chat or play board games. Some people have even got married via VR. The possibilities are endless to escape real life, or enrich it.

The possibilities are endless to escape real life, or enrich it

Virtual Fun

Each technical revolution has taken us one step closer to simplifying our daily lives. Now, the old fear is back: machines will take our jobs. But will these robots be able to make us more efficient and happier at work?

Now, the old fear is back: machines will take our jobs

Digital Happiness at Work

Is humanity and technology becoming so meshed together that chips in the brain, 3D printed organs and virtual sex will one day just be considered a normal part of life? And if we were to become no longer totally human, but not totally digital either, would that make us a new species - Homo Digitalis? Are we going to take over evolution and decide for ourselves how we want to change?

Are we going to take over evolution and decide for ourselves how we want to change?