Olivier Angèle

Short-sightedness is reaching epidemic proportions. Some scientists think they have found a reason why. East Asia has been gripped by an unprecedented rise in myopia. Today, up to 90% of Chinese teenagers and young adults are short-sighted. Other parts of the world have also seen a dramatic increase in the condition, which now affects around half of young adults in the USA and Europe. By some estimates, the world may count nearly half a billion of blind people in 2050. In severe cases, the deformation of the eyeball increases the risk of retinal detachment, cataracts, glaucoma and even blindness. About one-fifth of university-aged people in East Asia now have this extreme form of myopia, and half of them are expected to develop irreversible vision loss. This threat has prompted a rise in research to try to understand the causes of the disorder — and scientists are beginning to find answers…

Gombessa Expedition 4 Laurent Ballesta went to observe a gathering of thousands of groupers during the full moon of June 2014 (Le mystère mérou) in the southern pass of the Polynesian atoll of Fakarava, where he discovered a pack of over seven hundred grey sharks. How can this unprecedented density be explained? Could it be that social behaviors govern this wild horde? During three years of preparation, he and the other divers on his international scientific team tamed their fear by abandoning the defensive reflexes that provoke shark aggression, with the aim of slipping into the heart of the raging pack to study and film it from the inside. Sharks fitted with microchips, receiving antennas, hydrophones, an ark of 32 synchronized cameras...: a whole technological arsenal is mobilized for the project. As the groupers approach for their annual spawning, what battle plan will the sharks deploy?