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Fundamental Research Division
The DRF at the CEA assemble approximately 6,000 scientists since January 2016.
In March 2017, following a series of successful tests, IRFU has delivered its in-kind contributions to the European Spallation Source (ESS) project in Lund, Sweden: an optical diagnostic and an emittance-meter to control the purity and vergence of the proton beam (under the responsibility of IRFU). Under construction since 2013, the spallation source is expected to enter service in 2019. It will be nearly one hundred times more intense than current sources.
Climate scientists have shown that weather anomalies can exert a significant influence on a country's CO2 emissions and, to a lesser extent, on global emissions.
Physicists from INAC have provided evidence for previously unseen quantum phase transitions in a superconducting ferromagnetic compound (UCoGe) under the influence of an external magnetic field.
The PILOT experiment to observe interstellar matter and stars in formation was launched in Australia on April 17, 2017, under a stratospheric balloon. PILOT will observe the polarization of infrared light emitted by dust particles using its detectors and reading electronics provided by IRFU.
How to explain the cohesion between photosynthetic membranes, which, stacked on top of one another, turn one square meter of leaves into a photosynthetic surface area as large as an entire rugby stadium? Scientists from CEA-BIG and ILL shared their insights on the matter.
Chemists from ICSM have provided evidence of an atypical transition in a system of surfactant molecules in an aqueous solution: “large” hollow spheres (vesicles) evolve toward “small” solid spheres (micelles) as concentration increases. A sort of “Big Bang” due to electrostatic repulsion between vesicles leads to their explosion into micelles. This could offer new opportunities for drug encapsulation and vectorization.
Using high-performance computing and an analytical model, researchers from IRFU have shown that certain properties of a stellar cluster are already "inscribed" in the gaseous proto-cluster that precedes it and that hosts stars while they form. Gravity and turbulence play a major role in this cluster.
A team from IRAMIS has developed a sensor based on giant magnetoresistance (GMR) that can perform an in vitro measurement of the evolution of a magnetic field associated to a skeletal muscle's response to an electric stimulus. Their advance is a first step toward in vivo measurement of neuronal activity.
According to the ALICE collaboration at LHC (CERN), certain rare proton collisions have properties that are similar to those of a quark–gluon plasma. In the past, these properties had been observed for collisions of heavy nuclei only. The physicists are now confronted with a new enigma: how can a state of quark–gluon plasma emerge in a system as “small” as that generated by a collision between two protons?
Why not look for phosphate where it is: in the soil? Scientists from CEA-BIAM and their partners have provided evidence for an adaptation mechanism in the root of plants.
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CEA is a French government-funded technological research organisation in four main areas: low-carbon energies, defense and security, information technologies and health technologies. A prominent player in the European Research Area, it is involved in setting up collaborative projects with many partners around the world.