In the context of the 2024 edition of Brain Awareness Week currently being held in France, CNRS News highlights the advances made in the field of autism. Once considered the result of a rare, incurable disease, autism spectrum disorders are now the subject of intense research efforts that are improving the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of these conditions.

In 1729, the Natchez tribe of Native Americans suddenly massacred French settlers living near them in the area around New Orleans. The retaliation was fierce, nearly wiping out the entire clan. In a newly-released book, the historian Gilles Havard, initiator of a “reconciliation treaty” proposal, sheds new light on this tragic series of events.

A series of remarkable linear urban settlements have been uncovered in Ecuador's Upano Valley. The size, organisation, age, longevity and location of these sites has caused considerable surprise among archaeologists in South America. Stéphen Rostain, a CNRS research professor who directed the study, tells CNRS News about the discovery.

The capture and storage of water are an integral part of the development of human societies. The geoarchaeologist Louise Purdue studies the history of hydraulic systems, from simple wells to complex networks of canals and galleries. She tells CNRS News about how they have evolved in response to changing demographic and environmental conditions.

From dependence to addiction to the dogma of abstinence, the CNRS neuro-addictologist Serge Ahmed talks about the way our societies view the loss of control over consumption.

The sociologist Bernard Lahire feels that it is time for his discipline to identify the fundamental structures of human societies as universal mechanisms, as indisputable as the laws of physics and biology. An audacious proposal made possible by the observation of non-human societies.

As a result of climate change, a third of the world's population is likely to be affected by dwindling water reserves. This will inevitably lead to growing tensions, both internationally and locally, and raises the issue of how the world's water resources are managed and used.