Discovery Science and techniques
En quête de sommeil
2021
Sous-titres : Français Espagnol Anglais Allemand Arabe
We spend a third of our lives asleep. Yet sleep remains a mysterious moment, spent in the shadows of our conscious life.
Discovery | Science and techniques
Episode 1
27 min
The basis of sleep
Sleep is an essential part of our everyday lives. But what actually happens when we sleep? At Concordia University, Jean-Daniel Doucet is fitted with sensors to observe his sleep patterns. The psychologist Charles Morin tells him more about insomnia, a disorder that affects at least 10% of all Quebeckers.
Episode 2
27 min
Restorative sleep
Sleep plays an important role in the correct functioning of our entire metabolism and its benefits dramatically increase with regular physical activity. Its restorative effect enables the body to rest, reinforces the immune system, and gives the brain time to detox. We meet sleep specialists and discover sleep apnoea.
Episode 3
29 min
Sleep and medication
The quantity of sleeping tablets, drugs known for helping us to fall asleep more easily, consumed in Quebec is three times higher than in the rest of Canada. How do they work and what other ways are there to sleep better? What are their side effects?
Episode 4
26 min
Dreams and nightmares
Sometimes we remember our dreams, sometimes we don't. How do they work? They generally occur during a specific sleep phase and are more often negative than positive: we learn why. We also discover the fascinating disorder known as sleep paralysis.
Episode 5
28 min
Different types of sleep
Sleep habits are not universal. They vary from one country to another, change over time and even between different species. How has our relationship with sleep evolved? Is the notion of the ideal sleep the same in all societies?
We spend a third of our lives asleep. Yet sleep remains a mysterious moment, spent in the shadows of our conscious life.
Tim Doucette is blind. He is also an astronomer, an enthusiastic amateur who as an adult, discovered that he had extraordinary night vision. A situation that encouraged him to open his own observatory in Nova-Scotia, and to visit Mauna Kea, and the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. We look back at his story.
An inventive "bonesetter", a grandmother blowing gently to relieve pain, two healers using their four hands to treat patients, a doctor who combines chemistry and "secret"... Practitioners who all share a special connection with nature. Why, given the advances of modern medicine, do some still prefer to call on healers?
Five senior citizens aged between 65 and 76 took part in an eighteen-month course of intense mental training, measured as part of a scientific study to assess the effects of meditation on aging. We look at their personal and emotional journey, as they take on the challenge of aging well.
The speed with which the first Covid-19 vaccine was created is a veritable prowess, made possible by messenger RNA technology. We delve into this little known therapy, result of decades of research, explained by the scientists who worked tirelessly for its development.
And what if you left the reality of being human behind to explore the world as if you were an animal or plant. A well-known figure from Romandy takes up the challenge of discovering what it is like to be a totally different species, feeling and living as they do.
Since 1923, the Association Francophone Pour le Savoir (Acfas) played a discreet but essential role in accompanying Quebec society throughout its scientific and social revolutions. In ten chapters and as many decades, we discover the major advances that left an indelible mark on science in Quebec.
