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Fundamental Research Division
The DRF at the CEA assemble approximately 6,000 scientists since January 2016.
A team from the NeuroSpin (CEA-Joliot), in collaboration with Inserm (Tours), has published the first anatomical atlas of the human brain stem using mesoscopic resolution ultra-high field MRI. This atlas, freely accessible as a wiki, will be used in particular by neuroanatomists and neurosurgeons to help them in their procedures.
Researchers from the CEA-Joliot, the Collège de France, the CNRS and the University of Paris 8 have shown that humans possess a universal capacity to understand abstract geometric concepts. In contrast, this ability, which does not depend on age, culture or education, does not exist in any of the studied non-human primates.
It is as if a microwave photon interacting with a small superconducting junction was split into several photons of lower energy! This is the scenario proposed by an IRIG researcher to interpret recent experiments using a network of superconducting Josephson junctions.
Relying on more than 60,000 computational simulations of stellar “lives”, an international team involving the Irfu has “profiled” the stars that are likely to form black hole duos with the ability to merge. Their study points to a critical phase in the evolution of the binary system, the “common-envelope phase”, which may play a decisive role.
Drawing upon the 3D reconstruction of the cellular architecture of several phytoplankton families, researchers at the CEA-Irig have demonstrated that the physiological responses of these eukaryotes are associated with certain characteristics of their energy-producing organelles. This work thus provides new perspectives for the production of algal biomass, upstream of biotechnology applications.
Coupled to a novel multi-pore optic inspired by the vision of some crustaceans, the X-ray camera to be used in the MXT telescope of the Franco-Chinese satellite SVOM was designed and assembled by the Irfu and recently delivered to the Cnes. SVOM is scheduled for launch in late 2022.
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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.