Science at UM [S02-ep04]: From toads to the pro 3D platform
This week on A l’UM la science, Aurélien Besnard, a researcher at CEFE, talks to us about the strategy adopted by a toad, the yellow-bellied toad, to cope with the deterioration of its habitat due to human activities. In the second part of the program, we take you on a tour of the Pro 3D platform at the Montpellier Laboratory of Mechanics and Civil Engineering. Finally, we will hear from Amrin, who will talk to us about La Télescope.
Last night I had a wonderful dream. I was a princess, living alone at the top of the highest tower of my gigantic castle, when suddenly a charming prince arrived, kidnapped me in his white Audi with 200 horsepower and a Crit'Air 6 sticker, polluting the countryside as he drove, before trying to kiss me—without my consent, of course—and then, bang! As if by magic, he turned into a magnificent toad, returned to his pond where he married a pretty toad. They lived happily ever after and had many toad children, who in turn had many toad children, which soon repopulated the pond, then all the ponds in the region, then all the ponds in France and Navarre, and finally in Europe, and so on until toads disappeared completely from the list of endangered species.
Then I woke up, grabbed my computer to do a couple of quick searches, and found that according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature in France (IUCN), out of 35 species of amphibians, eight are in danger of extinction due, as you might expect, to human activity and its impact. This is the case for the brown pelobate, known as the knife-toed frog, the field frog, the Lanza salamander, and the yellow-bellied toad.
It is this species that was chosen for a groundbreaking study conducted over 25 years by 62 scientists from seven European countries to assess the evolution of these populations. And what they have to tell us is not entirely negative. Aurélien Besnard is our guest. He is a researcher at CEFE, the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology. He participated in this study entitled " Compensatory recruitment ensures the viability of amphibian populations in anthropized environments." An article published in the journal PNAS last September.
In the second part of the program, we will visit the Pro 3D platform at the Montpellier Mechanics and Civil Engineering Laboratory with Yvan Duhamel, who will introduce us to this additive manufacturing platform, or in other words, three-dimensional printing, where he assists researchers and students who want to manufacture unique plastic or metal parts for their research projects.
At the end of the program, we will hear from Amrin, who will talk to us about La Télescope, a start-up specializing in the prevention of light pollution.
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting: Aline Périault
Editing : Bruno Bertrand
Production: Adeline Floc’h
Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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