What is an offensive environmental odor? How can it be defined, and how should its consequences be managed? This is what students will learn in the serious game “Les ECSPER à Smellville”, part of the Air Quality MOOC. This educational tool was developed at IMT Lille Douai, and will be available in 2018. Players will be faced with the problem …

The principle behind diffusion imaging and tractography is exploring how water spreads through our brain in order to study the structure of neurons. Doctors can use this method to improve their understanding of brain disease. Pietro Gori, a researcher in image processing at Télécom ParisTech, has just launched a project called Neural Meta Tracts, funded by the Emergence program at …

During peak pollution events, everyone is talking about them. Fine particles are often accused of being toxic. Unfortunately, they do not only come out during episodes of high pollution. Véronique Riffault, a researcher in atmospheric sciences at IMT Lille Douai, revisits the basics of fine particles to better understand what they are all about.   What does a fine particle …

Patrick Waelbroeck, Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT) Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin only have value if all the participants in the monetary system view it to as currency. It must therefore be rare, in the sense that it must not be easily copied (a problem equivalent to counterfeit banknotes for traditional currencies). This is a requirement that is met by the Bitcoin network, which …

What is the role of a center for scientific literacy and what sort of work does its director do? What are the goals of the AMCSTI (Association of Museums and Centers for the Advancement of Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture)? Guillaume Desbrosse, the Director of CCSTI La Rotonde Mines Saint-Étienne, who has recently been appointed president of the AMCSTI, explains the challenges and …

Mines Saint-Étienne | #modeling and simulation, performance evaluation, healthcare systems, health data

There is only one way to unlock the mysteries of certain genetic diseases — analyze each patient gene by gene. Genome analysis offers great promise for understanding rare diseases and providing personalized treatment for each patient. The French government hopes to make this new form of medicine available through its healthcare system by 2025. To achieve this aim, institutional healthcare …

The European Commission is anticipating the arrival of the fifth generation in mobile phones (5G) in 2020. It is expected to significantly increase data speeds and offer additional uses. However, the extent of the repercussions on the telecommunications market and on services is still difficult to evaluate, even for the experts. Some believe that 5G will be no more than …

René Garello, IMT Atlantique – Institut Mines-Télécom The French National Centre for Space Research has recently presented two projects based on greenhouse gas emission monitoring (CO2 and methane) using satellite sensors. The satellites, which are to be launched after 2020, will supplement measures carried out in situ. On a global scale, this is not the first such program to measure climate …

We now encounter algorithms at every moment of the day. But this exposure can be dangerous. It has been proven to influence our political opinions, moods and choices. Far from being neutral, algorithms carry their developers’ value judgments, which are imposed on us without our noticing most of the time. It is now necessary to raise questions about the ethical …