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Going back in time, we perceive the close link between glass, matter and stars. Formed from atoms produced during the death of stars, particularly the heavier ones which explode in supernovas, silicon, an essential element in the manufacture of glass, is formed, as are many atoms lighter than iron, which constitute a part of the earth's resources. There are natural glasses like obsidian from volcanism, but it is in Mesopotamia that we find the first pieces of coarse glass made by man more than 4000 years ago.

As in a cooking recipe, the properties of glass depend on the basic ingredients used, offering an infinite number of compositions for different uses, culinary glasses being resistant, for example, to sudden changes in temperature without altering the food. It is preferred over plastic for its resistance, its recyclability and its inertia in the face of chemical attack, particularly in the food and pharmaceutical industries or for the storage of our hazardous waste. We find it in many applications, including in solar panels to protect photovoltaic cells and increase their efficiency. Used glass is recycled into cullet to make new glass objects, thus limiting the extraction of new raw materials and reducing energy consumption.

The film is in French.

Screenwriting:

• Louis Hennet, research engineer at the ICMN laboratory
• Nadia Pellerin, university professor at the CEMHTI laboratory
• Élodie Salager, research manager at the CEMHTI laboratory
• Marie-Laure Thurier, MATEX scientific mediator

In collaboration with Loïc Javoy from the FRMJC Center

Production: Centre-Val de Loire region
Director: Marie-Laure Thurier, from the CNRS
Voiceover: Loïc Javoy from the FRMJC Center
Original music: Thomas Bloch

Participants:

• 6th grade students from the Voltaire college in Saint-Florent-sur-Cher (18) for questions
• Argentomagus in Argenton-sur-Creuse (18) for images of vases from their historical background
• Pascal Mazabraud for his actions as a glassmaker at the University of Orleans
• PYREX company for production images

Scientists from laboratories in the Centre-Val de Loire region for research images:

• CEMHTI, Extreme Conditions and High Temperature and Irradiation Materials, CNRS
• GREMAN, Research Group in Materials, Microelectronics, Acoustics and Nanotechnologies, CNRS/University of Tours/INSA Center Val de Loire
• GREMI, Research Group on the Energetics of Ionized Media, CNRS/University of Orleans
• ICMN, Interfaces, Confinement, Materials and Nanostructures, CNRS/University of Orleans
• ISTO, Orleans Institute of Earth Sciences, CNRS/University of Orleans
• LaMé, Gabriel LAMÉ Mechanical Laboratory, University of Tours
• PCM2E, Physical Chemistry of Materials and Electrolytes for Energy, University of Tours

Additional images:

• Envato, powered by Digital Craft
• Excerpt from the ESO show “Water, a Cosmic Adventure”
• Credits and transitions: Digital Craft