The Universe should not exist

Between Hawaii and Mexico lies an area the size of India rich in polymetallic nodules (photo). A Canadian start-up has started collecting a few tons of nodules for experimental purposes. This area being one of the last wild and unknown underwater spaces, this provoked an outcry from environmental organizations. A recent inventory of local species found by some oceanographic expeditions lists 5,578 species, 90% of which are new to science. Will this announcement be enough to disarm attempts to exploit the seabed? Case to follow. (Current Biology)

The majority of the 6.5 million French-speaking Quebecers descend from 8,500 settlers who migrated in the 17^e and XVIII^e centuries (above a watercolor by Henri Gaston Darien). This is revealed by a genetic study crossed with an examination of the civil registers kept by the Church. In addition, barely 1% of French Canadians have Indian ancestors. The main French provinces that contributed to the settlement of Quebec are Aunis, Poitou, Normandy, Perche and Île-de-France. (Science)

This is the tour de force achieved by American engineers from Amherst College, who collected it from the humidity of the air alone. Their process uses static electricity which causes lightning. Except that he reproduces it on a very small scale. This supermethod is the doorway to clean, inexpensive electricity available everywhere on Earth. (Advanced Materials)

2,800 years ago, when the Assyrians controlled the state of Judah, the Jews often had the “current”. Research, carried out by the universities of Cambridge and Tel Aviv, has identified, in the fossil excrement of two cesspools from this period, the parasite Giardia lamblia cause of dysentery. (Parasitology)