encOURAGinG the ScientiFic cOmmUnitY
colloquia by and for the scientific community
Confronting knowledge and skills is crucial to scientific progress. Boosted by its interdisciplinary approaches and close connections
with the forces of research, both in France and abroad, the Académie des Sciences organizes every year a series of scientific
meetings focused on research fields that delve into the boundaries of knowledge
3
.
conference debates
Shale Gas
in its report
La recherche scientifique face aux défis de l’énergie [Scientific
research rising to the challenges of energy] (EDP Sciences Ed., December
2012)
, the Académie des Sciences recommended that a study be
conducted before any decision should be taken on shale gas exploitation,
to explore its benefits, drawbacks, economic issues and impacts on the
environment. to this end, it has decided to gather the best French and
international experts regarding these unconventional gas resources so as
to provide all those interested in the issue with the most up-to-date pieces
of scientific and technical information. Following this conference debate,
the work of the Standing committee for Prospects in energy Procurement
has lead the Académie des Sciences to publish the advice note
Elements
to Clarify the Shale Gas Debate
(26 February 2013).
Calculation, Computer Science and Quantum Computers
Calculation, Computer Science and Quantum Computers constitute Quantum Computing (QC), whose general principle is to use the
laws and phenomena of Quantum mechanics for the best profit of information processing. During this conference at the Académie
des Sciences, experts from this emerging discipline, which is still little known to the general public and many scientists, have
described the physical and mathematical bases, the circuits and the algorithmic aspects of QC (2 April 2013).
Mass Data: Directions and Issues Regarding Big Data
Digital data is now being produced in ever bigger quantities. Such quantities
of informations paves the way for new perspectives, both in the exact and the
human sciences. Now how may such “mass data” be best managed and used?
The conference at the Académie des Sciences gave the opportunity to consider the
critical management issues: warehousing, analysing, sorting and optimizing data,
respecting privacy, ensuring availability to all (18 February 2014).
Planetary Climate Engineering
In addition to the necessary policies aiming at reducing greenhouse gas, the possible input of “planetary climate engineering”
techniques remains under discussion. The session organized by the Académie des Sciences gave the opportunity to present the state
of research on the different methods through which solar radiation is managed – cloud seeding – and on atmospheric CO
2
reduction
techniques, such as ocean fertilization, CO
2
uptake by the continental biosphere or CO
2
geological storage (25 June 2013).
© 2013 Andrew Ostrovsky
© Sergey Bobok