UM atUM [S02-ep03]: From Harbor Wildlife to the Science Festival
This week on *AUM science*, Nicolas Bierne, a researcher atISEM, talks to us about the strange underwater fauna found in the harbor. In the second half of the show, we present the final installment of our series on the LIRMM with Alexandre Pinlou. Finally, Agnès Pesenti shares the program for the Fête de la Science.
This week we’re offering you a little reimagining of Jacques Brel, but in an underwater version where the sailors of the Port of Amsterdam are replaced by heavy metals, hydrocarbons, concrete, artificial lights—of course—and noise…. For while our sailors sing, eat, drink, and dance on the surface, they also carry aboard their ships small stowaways, well-hidden in the many nooks and crannies a vessel holds. So how do these exotic species adapt to this strange ecosystem that is a port? What unique adaptive responses might they develop? Do they hybridize with local species? In short, as you can see, while ports are crossroads for people and goods, they are also crossroads for species and, as such, can serve as veritable open-air laboratories. Our guest is Nicolas Bierne, a researcher atISEM, the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier. Together with his colleague Frédérique Viard, he published an article titled “Urban Encounters by the Sea: Ports as Darwinian Field Laboratories for Studying Marine Evolution in the Anthropocene.”
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In the second half of the program, we present the third and final installment of our miniseries on Lirmm, and this time Alexandre Pinlou will introduce you to the Department of Computer Science. From computational theory, data science, and artificial intelligence to bioinformatics, image processing, and software engineering, he’ll use examples to explain how computer science is woven into every aspect of our daily lives. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Lirmm is taking advantage of the Festival of Science to invite you to explore its facilities and learn about the researchers’ work during a major open house on Saturday, October 8.
And we’re staying with the Festival of Science with our last-minute guest—this week, it’s Agnès Pesenti from the Science Outreach Department, who’s here to present the Festival of Science program.
AtUM , you’ve got the schedule—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM, University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Director: Adeline Floc’h
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