ARTE France

Built between 1954 and 1961 at Evreux, near Lyon, by Le Corbusier, the legendary Convent of La Tourette was designed as a dwelling and a place of prayer and study for 100 Dominican monks, but after turmoil over Vatican II and the '68 student uprisings left only one student, the Domenicans allowed the convent to become a conference center. Le Corbusier's architectural principles are evident in the convent's design, placement and attention to geometry...

18% of greenhouse gasses allegedly come from livestock rearing, and animal rights groups have documented cruelty and abuses in mass meat production. Does cultured meat-which numerous scientists in various countries are working on-open up real perspectives for feeding a rising population and for fighting pollution or does it represent a false hope? Will the environmental arguments put forward in its favor be enough to convince consumers to eat cultured...

Otto Wagner designed one of the first office blocks of the 20th century, radically departing from the style of architecture traditionally associated with bank. Built between 1903 and 1906, the Vienna Savings Bank covered an entire block. While the glass and steel design was more functional than other buildings designed at that time, Wagner also expressed beauty with a flow of movement throughout the bank.

In villages on the high plains along the Vietnamese border in northwest Cambodia lives the Bunong ethnic group. Cambodian medicine, marked by the influence of doctrines borrowed from Buddhist, Ayurvedic, and Chinese medicines, varies according to the region. The Bunongs developed ancestral medicinal expertise based on plants that is practiced by secret caregivers, the Krus.

Taking revenge against Prometheus, Zeus created the first woman - the beautiful Pandora. He gave her a manipulative and deceptive character, and subjected Prometheus to terrible torture. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were the sons of a Titan, Japetus. Japetus clashed with Zeus in the Battle of the Titans, whereas Prometheus - which means "forethought" - guessing that Zeus would be the victor, sided with him. But although Zeus and Prometheus...

Why, from the 2nd century on, do the Christians feel the need to constitute a specifically Christian body of literature? Why is there a New Testament? What are the criteria that make it possible to separate what is orthodox from what is heretical? What is the crucial role Marcion plays around 140? Why does he imagine there being a Christian God and a Jewish God?

According to several IQ studies, our intelligence is declining as populations grow. Why should that be? And is IQ an adequate measure of human intelligence - the amazing faculty that has enabled us to achieve dominion over nature? Scientists from many different fields are scrutinizing our intelligence, be it innate (genetic) or acquired through environment, education and learning processes, in an attempt to determine what intelligence really is. Meanwhile,...

Around the year 30, Jesus was crucified by the Romans in Jerusalem. Three and a half centuries later, Christianity became the official religion of the Empire. How long did it take for Jesus to become Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a God-made man? Did Jesus create the Church? After his death, was it Peter, the chief disciple, who replaced him as the head of the community?

It was a visit to the Oseki traditional Chochin lantern workshop in Gifu in 1951 that inspired Isamu Noguchi's unusually-shaped lamps, in which candles were replaced by electric light. Noguchi's Akari Lamps were first sold in Japan in 1952 and were marketed internationally from 1955 onwards. Akari lamps are hand-crafted out of softly translucent washi paper and higo bamboo; they are quintessentially light and delicate. Noguchi says Akari lamps "seem...

Australia, a country the size of a continent, is 14 times larger than France but has nearly three times fewer inhabitants. Given the great distances in the country, how can everybody receive medical care and treatment in the event of an emergency? Today, the flying doctor plays a leading role in Australia. Bernard Fontanille sets out to discover one of these organizations, Careflight. Bernard discovers the vast contrasts in Australia through farmers,...