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Your key to understanding the latest breakthroughs in medical and environmental science.

Sciences

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Is it possible to make an eco-friendly toilet? And can we make use of faeces and urine, usually treated as waste? Xenius investigates the taboo subject of toilets.

Xenius

Making Toilets Eco-Friendly

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Medicine and health

In Germany, 18 million tonnes of food products are thrown away every year. Just because a fruit or vegetable is strangely shaped or because a product's expiration date has passed doesn't mean it can't be eaten. Yet these foods often end up in the trash.

In Germany, 18 million tonnes of food products are thrown away every year

How to Cut Down on Food Waste

The Arctic's "eternal ice" has been melting for several decades and is shrinking fast. What impact does this have on the global climate?

The Arctic's "eternal ice" has been melting for several decades and is shrinking fast

The Melting of Sea Ice

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

Built in 1972, under the military dictatorship, the BR-163 road that crosses Brazil from north to south is both an artery essential to the economic development of the country and a path that threatens to destroy the rainforest.

Brazil: The BR-163 Corridor

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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Eco-neighbourhoods are experiments in how to live together but do they represent the future for our cities?

Ecotopia

Cities of the Future

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.

Homo Digitalis

The Upgraded Brain

How can we attract plants and animals onto eco-housing communities built on brownfield sites?

Reinventing Nature

This is neither a bug, nor a UFO: so what is it, then? We'll give you a clue: it's the key to the future of travel.

Sciencible

Bang!

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.

The Perfect Friend

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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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?

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

Are We Alone in the Universe?

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?

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

Nuclear Waste

Millions of people worldwide suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), an extreme and persistent exhaustion for which there is no cure. An investigation into a little known illness focusing on the experiences of three individuals suffering from CFS: Ralf, Sonja and Aileen.

ME/CFS – A Misunderstood Illness

 An investigation into little understood illness focusing on the experiences of three individuals suffering from CFS: Ralf, Sonja and Aileen.

Living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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

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.

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

Does the Perfect Song Exist?

Nanostructure researcher Serge Berthier has been working on solar energy for years. But he also likes catching butterflies... And he has managed to link his two passions. But what do solar panels have to do with lepidopterans?

Reconnection

Butterflies and Solar Panels: What's the Connection?

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

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.

Psycho: Resilience

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

The pandemic has provided us with a painful reminder of how important physical contact is for our mental well-being. Individuals share their experiences of physical isolation.

Psycho Bugs

The pandemic has provided us with a painful reminder of how important physical contact is for our mental well-being.

Need a Hug?

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

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

Psycho: Fear

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

What do DNA samples actually reveal? And how realistically are they used in crime drama series where they are often crucial to the plot? Xenius finds out by going to the Institute of Legal Medicine at Cologne University.

DNA & What it Reveals About Us

Are eco-neighbourhoods the future for our cities?

A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Water

 A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Good News From Our Planet

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

Jumpers and Earthquakes

This is neither a bug, nor a UFO: so what is it, then?

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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?

There are 500,000 premature babies born ever year in Europe. Some are born so early that they need permanent medical attention. Xenius investigates how the latest advancements are improving the life chances and quality of life of premature babies.

Xenius investigates how the latest advancements are improving the life chances and quality of life of premature babies.

Premature Births

SUVs are fashionable in Europe but are they environmentally friendly? And are they as safe as other road vehicles? Xenius investigates with the help of researchers from Munich Technical University.

SUVs: Bad for the Environment?

Fifty years after man's first small step, the promise of colonisation and tourist trips to the Moon seem almost within reach. But is the moon ready for us?

The Moon and Us

Living on the Moon

Where does the Moon come from? Mythology and science have each come to their own conclusions.

The Moon and Us (5/5)

Making Sense of the Moon

Lunar eclipses, super moons or pink moons, our lunar satellite offers us an array of surprising spectacles.

The Moon and Us (4/5)

Admiring the Moon

Humans like to observe and examine the Moon, down to its smallest features. Its seas and craters have all been mapped out and even its mysterious dark side should soon reveal its secrets.

The Moon and Us (3/5)

Observing the Moon

We attribute all sorts of powers to the Moon... And while its influence on our life on Earth is undeniable, its powers are not necessarily the ones we think.

The Moon and Us (2/5)

Living with the Moon

Glaciers contain essential data on the climate of previous eras. The melting ice is a major concern for scientists, who are racing against time. The presenters of Xenius survey a cave in the Stubai Alps, discover the working methods of glaciologists, and learn about the wealth of information hidden in the layers of ice.

The melting of the glaciers is a major concern for scientists, who are racing against time

Glaciers in a Changing Climate

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Back pain is a very common ailment with a majority of people suffering from it at one point in their lives. Xenius investigates the myths surrounding back pain and the best ways to avoid and treat it.

Xenius investigates the myths surrounding back pain and the best ways to avoid and treat it.

How To Avoid Back Pain

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, different figures have been pouring in. The number of patients, of deaths, the modes of transmission or the incubation period: what does the data tell us? And what do the numbers really mean for us and our families? We decode the story behind the numbers.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, different figures have been pouring in. But what do they actually mean?

COVID-19 in Numbers

A look at three pioneer eco-districts in Europe, set up between 1995 and 2005, to encourage ecological living..

A look at three pioneer eco-districts in Europe

Pioneering Green Neighbourhoods

Are rural eco-neighborhoods a weapon against the rural exodus? We take a look at three next generation, eco-friendly villages in France to find out.

Are rural eco-neighborhoods a weapon against the rural exodus?

Rural Eco-homes

Clichy-Batignolles (Paris, France) and the Eco-Village des Noés (Val-de- Reuil, France) have been awarded the label "One Planet Living" by the WWF, helping the inhabitants to adopt a more sustainable way of life.

Helping the inhabitants to adopt a more sustainable way of life

An Eco-Village For Every Taste

Urban eco-neighborhoods are multiplying and becoming increasingly large. But is it possible to remain ecological on such a large scale? The Docks of Saint-Ouen (France), Eikenøtt of Gland (Switzerland) and Scharnhauser Park in Ostfildern (Germany) took up the challenge.

The Docks of Saint-Ouen (France), Eikenøtt of Gland (Switzerland) and Scharnhauser Park in Ostfildern (Germany) each try in their own way foster sustainable living

Living Differently in the City

Rubbish sorting systems differ according to the eco-neighborhoods. It's not always simple to manage it in a green way, and each eco-village has developed their own methods.

Ectopia

It's not always simple to manage waste in a green way

Green Waste Management

An eco-district isn't just imposed on residents from the top down: it's a community project, and often, future residents are involved in making major decisions. The eco-villages of des Noés (Val-de-Reuil, France), Clichy-Batignolles (Paris, France), and the Vergers (Meyrin, Switzerland) describe how it's done.

An eco-district isn't just imposed on residents from the top down; often, future residents are involved in making major decisions