Russia defence & technology updates

[Bahamut]

Revolutionary Russian filters use light to purify air
September 7, 2016 OLGA BAKLITSKAYA-KAMENEVA, SPECIAL TO RBTH
Physicists at Moscow State University invented a powerful new technology that removes dangerous pollutants from the air.
Facebook77

Twitter

LinkedIn
Pinterest

WhatsApp
ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT

People everywhere grapple with exhaust fumes and carbon monoxide, industrial organic compounds, tobacco smoke and unpleasant smells. Source: Alexandr Ryumin/TASS

People everywhere grapple with exhaust fumes and carbon monoxide, toxic household and industrial organic compounds, tobacco smoke and unpleasant smells, as well as with viruses and pathogenic bacteria. To neutralize these airborne nuisances and threats various filter systems are used, from mechanical to coal.

Photocatalytic filters, which have a porous titanium dioxide membrane, can also be used. When subjected to ultraviolet light this type of filter forms active atomic radicals that neutralize pollutants. It also breaks down harmful substances and forms antiseptic molecules of hydrogen peroxide that are mold-resistant.

The main disadvantage of photocatalytic purification is the use of mercury UV lamps that have highly toxic vapors. The technology created by MSU scientists, however, can replace such hazardous materials.

“To get rid of hazardous lamps we tried to invent a catalyst that would be sensitive to natural sunlight or run on ordinary incandescent light bulbs,” said Elizaveta Konstantinova, a professor at the MSU Physics Department.

Glass balls
Thanks to a surface treated with a high concentration of chemically active radicals, nanocrystalline titanium dioxide works as an effective photocatalyst. Scientists added nitrogen and carbon residues to it, and this nanomaterial not only became a powerful photocatalyst but also did a better job purifying air.




Recycling in Russia - time to get dirty


How to make a filter from this material? Scientists propose making it from sintered glass balls that are 0.1 millimeter in diameter, or in the form of a flat surface. The latter can be treated with a nanocrystalline titanium dioxide powder that has nitrogen and carbon additives.

Polluted air is either forced through a porous membrane, or comes into contact with its flat surface lit by a visible lamp or natural light.

Anti-bacterial paint
“We now hope to improve this technology and look for other ways of obtaining catalysts sensitive to visible light,'' said one of the scientists responsible for this breakthrough, Vladimir Zaytsev. ``If our ideas generate interest among engineers and investors, we are ready to further develop this technology into laboratory devices and prototypes of air filters.''

Zaytsev added that this technology could even be used to make anti-bacterial wall paint. “The entire surface of a room could work like an air filter, whereby visible light destroys organic molecules and kills germs,” he said.

Such highly effective filters could be used to decontaminate living quarters and medical facilities.

 

[Bahamut]

Russian university joins Facebook's artificial intelligence project
August 31, 2016 VSEVOLOD PULYA, RBTH
The world's largest social network will make AI technology freely available thanks to partnerships with research centers in nine countries.
Facebook135

Twitter

LinkedIn6
Pinterest

WhatsApp
FACEBOOK, SOCIAL NETWORK, TECHNOLOGY

MFTI researchers (left to right): Vladislav Belyaev, Alexei Ozyorin, Valentin Malykh, Dmitry Khusnutdinov. Source: Press photo

In an exclusive with RBTH, Yann LeCun, the Director of AI Research at Facebook, said that the Neural Nets and Deep Learning Lab at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MFTI), together with 14 research centers from around the world, will join forces in a global research program launched by the Facebook Artificial Intelligence Partnership (FAIR).

All the program's recipients will receive access to 22 high-performance servers based on GPUs (graphics processing units). In return, participating scientists will have to openly publish their results, algorithms and other information obtained in the course of research. This information will then be available to scientists and developers around the world.

FAIR's selection criteria is the quality of past research and its usefulness, as well as geographical diversity and the team's need for additional capacity, LeCun said. In addition to Russia's MFTI, the other 14 academic and research institutions come from Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Belgium, and Italy.

FAIR members are conducting research in various areas of artificial intelligence, including neural networks, computer vision and machine learning systems. The full list of recipients is available on Facebook's blog.

Self-reliant robots
Mikhail Burtsev, the head of MFTI's Neural Nets and Deep Learning Lab, said the possibility of making breakthrough discoveries in his lab is critically dependent on the speed of processing large amounts of data.

"The new equipment will allow us to carry out experiments more quickly," Burtsev said. "As a result, new possibilities in artificial intelligence will be discovered sooner."

His laboratory is working on a neural network dialogue system – a set of algorithms capable of supporting a meaningful dialogue with a human on given topics. The technology can be used in technical support call centers, stores and information services.




Robots hold first beauty contest for humans


Another area of research is machine reinforcement learning. It differs from neural network learning by the fact that examples for solving the problem are unknown, and there is only an estimate of the success of particular actions.

A program or a robot tries different strategies to get the "desired" (positive reinforcement), or to avoid "punishment" (negative). As a result, AI systems learn to better understand the human and become more self-reliant, plan actions and make decisions.

The laboratory's deputy head, Vladislav Belyayev, said this research can be used for the automation of various activities -- interaction with customers, computer games, helping with logistics, or the management of complex technical systems.

FB forgoes exclusive rights
FAIR provides not only the servers and software, but also will work with recipients on their research. In addition, there will be internships for students and young scientists from participating universities, LeCun said. Most important, Facebook will not demand exclusively obtaining the rights to research results.

Facebook is already using elements of artificial intelligence in its products. For example, the DeepText AI technology can determine the meaning of a post or comment, and will learn to block offensive messages.

LeCun said that recognition of images and video clips is a priority for Facebook AI development, as well as understanding and translating languages.

 

[Bahamut]

Back to the drawing board: Russia revives futuristic laser gun project
September 9, 2016 MIKHAIL KHODARENOK, GAZETA.RU
Russia has renewed work on developing a new-generation laser that can be mounted on an aircraft. The project has been known since Soviet times as A-60 (A-60SE).
Facebook545

Twitter

LinkedIn
Pinterest

WhatsApp
ARMS, ARMY, DEFENSE

This is not the first time that Russia has tried to develop an effective plane-mounted laser weapon, and reflects the resurrection of an old project begun in the Soviet era. Source: Mil.ru

Russia is working on a plane equipped with a new-generation laser, a source in the Russian defense industry has said in an interview with the TASS news agency. "The defense industry is working on a new-generation air-based laser," said the source.

In his words, the plane with the laser is being referred to as the A-60. Earlier, the mass media reported (in Russian) that the weapon is being realized as part of the Sokol-Eshelon project.

The A-60 flying laser
However, this is not the first time that Russia has tried to develop an effective plane-mounted laser weapon, and reflects the resurrection of an old project begun in the Soviet era.

Work on the air-based laser system (LKAB) began in the Almaz scientific-productive association in June 1965.

Almaz carried out the work on the aviation system along with the G. M. Beriev aviation scientific-technical plant in Taganrog (700 miles south of Moscow).




Russia may soon be able to hit targets in space


Together the two scientific centers created the A-60 Soviet aviation laser system, to be installed on the Il-76 airplane. Active testing of the flying laser system was conducted at an airport near Moscow in 1983. On April 27, 1984 the A-60's laser successfully struck an aerial target, which received the necessary damage after being hit with the radiation.

In the 1990s, due to the collapse of the USSR and the consequent economic crisis, work on the project was halted. It was renewed only in the 2000s.

Experts say that it is incorrect to attribute to the laser system "the objective to intercept combat blocks of ballistic missiles." "No one ever expected this of the LKAB," said Konstantin Makienko, deputy director of the Moscow-based Center for Strategy and Technology Analysis.

Specialists have distinguished not so much the possibilities of striking the target thermally as the laser’s potential to suppress optic-electronic reconnaissance instruments: periscopes, rangefinders and other devices that modern weapons possess. Thanks to their focus characteristics, such devices significantly augment the impact of laser radiation. The laser's striking range can be hundreds and thousands of times greater in comparison to the limited range of the thermal strike, say Almaz representatives.

The A-60 Soviet aviation laser system was to be installed on the Il-76 airplane. Source: Krasnaya zvezda

Inexpensive, instantaneous and good for any weather
Laser weapons are attractive primarily because of their possibility to unexpectedly and practically instantaneously (with the speed of light) attack the enemy. They are also interesting because of the inexpensiveness of the “shot,” their high precision, as well as the absence of the need to maintain an arsenal of "ammunition" during peacetime. Because it can be installed on a plane a laser can be used in all weather (shooting is not affected by cloudiness, for example), it can be transported to various locations and it can be easily maneuvered.




What will 6th-generation fighters be like in the U.S. and Russia?


In August 2009 the defense industry carried out an experiment in which the laser ray from the A-60 plane was aimed at a spacecraft at an altitude of over 900 miles (1,500 kilometers). Several dozen space apparatuses were discovered and tracked by the laser during the flight. At the end of 2012, according to the Izvestiya newspaper, the Defense Ministry ordered the renewal of work to create combat lasers that would strike airplanes, satellites and ballistic missiles.

A laser weapons race?
The U.S. also carried out tests of a powerful laser as part of the ABL project aimed at creating an anti-missile defense system. Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin participated in the project. In land tests conducted in 1985, the chemical laser heated up and blew up an immobile fuel tank at a distance of around 1,000 yards (about 1 kilometer).




Modernized Russian bombers will be able to fly in the stratosphere


This system had been assembled on the modified Boeing 747-400F cargo plane. The ABL consisted of infrared sensors for identifying the targets, three lasers and a lens system for focusing the ray. The tests were carried out almost annually, but in the end the testers were not able to reach the desired level of effectiveness. The project was abandoned in 2012.

"The domestic aviation laser complex will use the excellence of laser weapons to maximum effect for solving important problems in Russia's aerospace defense. We are convinced that, by creating this innovative system, Almaz and the association of enterprises will maintain their leading position in the development of laser systems," said a spokesperson from the Almaz press service.

 

[Bahamut]

How Moscow’s new light rail system will make life easier for passengers
September 9, 2016 ANASTASIA RUPASOVA, SPECIAL TO RBTH
Around 100 years since the idea of building a ring railway in Moscow was first proposed, it has finally become a reality. The Russian capital’s new transport network, the Moscow Central Ring, will reduce commuter loads on rail hubs and metro stations around the city.
Facebook800

Twitter

LinkedIn33
Pinterest1

WhatsApp
MOSCOW, TRANSPORT, RAILWAYS, INFRASTRUCTURE

Moscow is about to take another large step in its never-ending battle to keep up with the demand for transport infrastructure as the city continues to expand. A new light overland railway system will allow commuters to be able to change onto city transport without traveling into the center of Moscow.

The Moscow Central Ring (MTsK), an equivalent of Germany’s S-Bahn and the London Overground, will open in the Russian capital on Sept. 10. New carriages, equipped with free Wi-Fi, will be able to transport up to 400,000 passengers daily, which will make it possible to reduce the load on the Moscow subway network – the Moscow metro – by 15 percent and cut an average journey by 20 minutes.

"We need to break in this system, see how convenient it is for passengers, what problems there are. It’s an enormous infrastructure. We hope it will occupy a worthy place [in the city’s transport network], if not immediately, then in a couple of years,” said Moscow mayor Sobyanin in an interview with the TV channel NTV.

The Lastochka electric train takes a test run on the Moscow Central Ring. The Lastochka is a rapid electric train designed for Russian railways on the Siemens Desiro platform. Source: Maxim Blinov/RIA Novosti

The MTsK will use Lastochka carriages made by the Siemens corporation especially for Russian Railways. They were used during the Sochi Olympics and are currently employed on commuter services from Moscow’s Leningradsky and several other stations. The MTsK will use 130 pairs of the cars daily.

The Lastochka carriages are bigger than those used on the Moscow metro: They are wider and have fewer seats, but they also have toilets, climate control, screen monitors, and additional space for prams and bicycles, as well as Wi-Fi and power points for gadget chargers. Each train will have five of the carriages and will be able to accommodate 1,250 passengers.

The MTsK will use the same tickets as the Moscow Metro and other means of public transport in the city, including the Troika travel card, though Sobyanin announced (in Russian) on his Twitter account on Aug. 30 that travel on the new network will be free for the first month after its launch.

Visitors outside the Moscow Central Ring mount at the Moscow Urban Forum in the Manege exhibition hall, Moscow. Source: Evgeny Biyatov/RIA Novosti

What should Moscow residents expect?
The Moscow Central Ring will consist of 31 transit hubs, each of which will be linked up to public transport stops and 17 to stations on the Moscow metro. Eleven of these stops will have covered galleries for changing to Metro lines: Engineers call this the “dry feet” principle. Ten MTsK stops will be connected to commuter train services. The city authorities promise that an average change between stops will take not more than eight minutes.

Trains will run at an interval of five-six minutes at peak times and 10-15 minutes the rest of the day. MTsK working hours will be the same as for Moscow Metro: from 6:00 a.m. until 1 a.m.

The Moscow Central Ring opens in September. Source: Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

The MTsK is expected to ease the load on the circle line of the Moscow metro by 15 percent and on Moscow railway terminals by 40 percent, since commuters will no longer have to reach them in order to change for the metro as they will now be able to use the MTsK instead. The designers behind the project estimate that with the MTsK, the average journey in greater Moscow will become 20 minutes shorter.

Since for several million Muscovites, the MTsK will become their nearest public transport stop, by the end of this year Moscow commuter trains will be able to receive up to 400,000 passengers a day. Overall, the MTsK is expected to have an annual passenger flow of up to 300 million people.

A 100-year-old idea
The idea to build a ring railway in the city is not new. It was first broached by the Russian imperial finance minister, Sergei Witte, more than 100 years ago. On Nov. 7, 1897, Tsar Nicholas II ordered the creation of a Small Ring Railway, construction of which began in 1903. Roof tiles for its Art Nouveau station pavilions were brought from Warsaw and clocks purchased from the renowned Swiss maker Paul Buhre. The stations had electricity and were fitted with stoves.

However, contrary to expectations, the railway was not an instant success. High ticket prices put many passengers off. The pricing policy was revised and up till 1917, the Small Ring Railway served the needs of numerous Moscow workers and civil servants.

Stalin railway shop of the October railroad in Moscow, 1939. Source: Anatoliy Garanin/RIA Novosti

Yet, after the 1920s, when the districts covered by the ring railway were connected to tram and bus services, the railway was no longer used to transport passengers and served only for cargos.

In Soviet times, there was much talk of reviving the MTsK as a means of public transport. However, its heavy use in cargo transportation and some of its construction features did not make it possible to easily and quickly convert the line for passenger carriages.

Red Army reserve soldiers moving to the front from the Moscow region, USSR, in 1941. Source: Arkady Shaikhet (Reproduction)

It was only in 2011 that the city authorities approved the integration of the ring railway into the Moscow public transport system. Once the project is fully implemented, the MTsK will become a fully-fledged equivalent of the London Overground, Germany’s S-bahn, Austria’s Stadtbahn, France’s RER, Italy’s Passante, and Hungary’s HEV.

 

[Bahamut]

Russian clean water startup makes finals of prestigious competition
September 1, 2016 ARSENY KALASHNIKOFF, SPECIAL TO RBTH
The Russian company BMG Intepco made the top 100 projects of MassChallenge UK 2016 with technology used to purify industrial wastewater at production facilities.
Facebook172

Twitter

LinkedIn2
Pinterest

WhatsApp
ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, RUSSIAN STARTUPS

BMG Intepco company listed as one of the most promising clean tech startups. Source: Panthermedia / Vostock-photo

BMG Intepco was listed as one of the four most promising international startups in the Energy/Clean Tech category of the MassChallenge UK 2016, a global startup accelerator program that opens in September. When it concludes in late November all participants will have a chance to present their projects to potential international investors, partners and customers. A group of international experts considered more than 1,000 applications from 69 countries, and in the end only 100 finalists were chosen.

BMG Intepco offers solution for the removal of oil and pollutants from water / Press photo

“We were lucky to find ourselves among the world’s best startups, and as a finalist startup we have the opportunity to grow and win new markets,'' said Andrey Elagin, CEO of BMG Intepco. ``Europe is our strategic region and has a huge potential for our products.''

BMG Intepco offers an environmentally benign and efficient solution for the removal of oil, petroleum products and mixed pollutants from water and soil.

The technology is based on natural microgels / Press photo

The company's technology is based on natural microgels varying from 50 to 1,000 nanometers in size that capture pollutants and force them to settle. BMG Intepco is an alumnus of the Russian startup accelerator GenerationS.

 

[Bahamut]

Russian and U.S. scientists join forces to fight deadly virus
September 6, 2016 SVETLANA ARKHANGELSKAYA, SPECIAL TO RBTH
Russian and American virologists are working on a new vaccine against African swine fever, which devastates pig herds.
Facebook83

Twitter

LinkedIn12
Pinterest

WhatsApp
MEDICINE, SCIENCE, FOOD

A worker of the Rodnikovsky pig-breeding farm holds a piglet. The farm specializes in raising and processing purebred pigs of meat breeds. Source: Aleksandr Kondratuk/RIA Novosti

Until recently one of the animal kingdom's most deadly diseases, the African swine fever (ASF), was unstoppable. The only way to slow down spread of the virus was to cull and burn infected animals. Thanks to efforts by virologists from Russia and the U.S., there is a chance to entirely defeat the devastating virus.



New antiviral drug from Urals will help fight Ebola and other viruses


“Previously when developing a vaccine traditional methods of neutralizing the virus were used, but when the animal was infected with another form of the virus, it still faced certain death,” said Denis Kolbasov, head of the National Research Institute of Veterinary Virology and Microbiology, which is located in a Moscow suburb.

The ASF virus is the only species in its genus but it can easily mutate, spreading not only among mammals but also among ticks in Africa, where mutations can also occur.

The international research project was launched a year ago and is expected to last a total of three years. It brings together some of the best minds from Russia's National Research Institute of Veterinary Virology and Microbiology, and from the state universities of Illinois, Nebraska and Connecticut in the U.S. To combat the virus, American scientists are working with genetic material and bioinformatics systems, while their Russian colleagues are conducting animal tests.



Russia bans European pork imports


Researchers already studied the genome of the ASF virus and pinpointed the area responsible for its variability. By manipulating this area scientists were able to create a vaccine by changing the virus' traits and rendering it harmless. According to clinical tests, the new vaccine guarantees full protection against the virus for 60 days.

This breakthrough will help create medicines and vaccines that can be sold. Nevertheless, more work needs to be done. For example, it's not yet clear what effect the vaccine has on pregnant sows, the immunization rate has not yet been determined, and the animals’ condition a year after immunization has yet to be studied.

“In the next phase I hope we will be able to identify those specific sections of the pig gene responsible for defense against this virus,'' said Denis Kolbasov. ``If there is just one section and it is identical for all types of the virus, then it will be possible to develop a universal vaccine. If not, and should a new type of the virus emerge, then it will be possible to promptly respond to the situation and quickly develop new vaccines.”

The project's results were published in July this year in the Journal of General Virology. The research is funded with a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) (in Russian), which is committing up to 5 million rubles (about $76,000) annually for the project.



ASF virus research is underway in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, South Africa, Spain, and Russia. Russia's first case of ASF was recorded in Dec. 2007. Since then, the virus has not undergone considerable mutation in that country.

The ASF virus is not a threat to humans but it causes considerable losses for pig farmers. Overall, Russia has had over 500 outbreaks of the disease, resulting in losses of 30 billion rubles (over $460 million), with about one million pigs culled.

 

[Bahamut]

Russia may soon be able to hit targets in space
September 5, 2016 ALEXANDER VERSHININ, SPECIAL TO RBTH
Near space may soon become the scene for potential military conflict: Russia is developing a new type of rocket capable of hitting targets beyond the atmosphere.
Facebook355

Twitter

LinkedIn
Pinterest

WhatsApp
ARMED BY RUSSIA, MISSILES

An antimissile of the A-135 Amur missile defense system under construction at the Avangard factory in Moscow. Source: Viktor Litovkin/TASS

As the fight for space enters an active phase and requires increasingly advanced technical innovations, Russia is developing weaponry capable of striking targets beyond the earth’s atmosphere, and the first rocket with these capabilities could be on the way.

In late August the deputy commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Lt-Gen. Viktor Gumenny, announced that the Russian military was to receive a long-range antimissile.

“This will allow air defense and missile defense troops to carry out any task set by the supreme commander and the defense minister within the set timeframe,” he told the Russian News Service radio station.

The new long-range antimissile was first mentioned in late 2015, after its successful flight tests. An image of the missile in a launch tube appeared in a corporate calendar produced by the arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey.

Information about the new Russian missile is classified. Even the exact name of the model is not being disclosed. According to open-source reports, the missile has no foreign equivalents. Its avionics have no equivalents in Russia, while its engine is designed to make the missile the fastest in the world.

According to the Aerospace Forces command, it will be a long-range missile – which may mean that its impact zone will include the whole of near space.

First predecessors
The history of Russian antimissiles capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and satellites dates back to the 1970s. Back then designers came up with an ambitious idea: The threat posed by the nuclear weapons of a potential enemy could be reduced to zero by countering it with a missile shield.

To rule out the very possibility of undermining the nuclear parity between the superpowers, in 1972 the USSR and the U.S. signed a treaty restricting their capabilities to create national missile defense systems. Those capabilities could be deployed only within the geographic boundaries of a set region. The Soviet Union used its nuclear umbrella to cover Moscow.

A 53T6 missile of the A-135 missile defense system, Sofrino, Moscow Region / PhotoXPress

The main missile defending the capital was the 53Т6 model, known as Gazel in NATO classification. It operated on the same principle as its U.S. equivalents: It was a solid-fuel missile several meters long and fitted with a nuclear warhead.

However, the execution of the Soviet equivalent made it a truly unique design. With a mass of 10 tons and a powerful engine, it rose to an altitude of almost 100,000 feet (30 kilometers) in a matter of five seconds. Its 10 kiloton nuclear charge would blow up in the stratosphere, hitting enemy ballistic missile warheads.

More importantly, the designers envisaged a serious potential for upgrading the missile. This work took place in Soviet times and continued after the break-up of the Soviet Union. That is why today the 53Т6 continues to be a formidable opponent to low-orbit satellites, including those that form part of the global navigation system.

Space jamming technology
Yet as an anti-satellite weapon a missile has a number of shortcomings. In some cases, it may be more effective to use weapons that do not destroy the target but just render it inoperative. These include ground-based jammers: metal constructions set on a vehicle platform and packed with electronics that are deadly for satellites.

Space surveillance and missile defence system - Don-2N radar - located near Sofrino, Moscow region / Ivan Gushchin/TASS

The Russian electronic warfare system for countering satellites in low circular orbits is equipped with special aerials, i.e. specially mounted electronic devices for receiving and transmitting signals. They hit low-orbit satellites in their Achilles' heel. If the system manages to suppress just a couple of weak signals, the whole satellite group becomes inoperative.

Latest tests have shown that the brainchild of the Moscow Institute of Radio Engineering Research has turned out to be even more effective than its designers anticipated. If deployed in the Russian Arctic, the electronic warfare system for countering satellites in low circular orbits could cover the space over the bigger part of the northern hemisphere.

 

[Bahamut]

Scientists have synthesized a "brother of graphene" - 2D sheet of boron
Science & Space
December 18, 2015, 12:22 UTC+3
Borophene is an unusual material because it shows many metallic properties at the nanoscale even though three-dimensional, or bulk, boron is nonmetallic and semiconducting
Borophene structure. The “ridges” of the cardboard-like structure result in unusual properties of this material
© Dr. Alexandra O. Borissova
MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. A team of scientists at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University, and Stony Brook University have for the first time created a two-dimensional sheet of boron - a material known as borophene. The study results were published in Thursday’s issue of Science.

Scientists have been interested in two-dimensional materials for their unique characteristics, particularly involving their electronic properties. Borophene is an unusual material because it shows many metallic properties at the nanoscale even though three-dimensional, or bulk, boron is nonmetallic and semiconducting.

Because borophene is both metallic and atomically thin, it holds promise for possible applications ranging from electronics to photovoltaics, said Argonne nanoscientist Nathan Guisinger, who led the experiment. "No bulk form of elemental boron has this metal-like behavior," he said.



READ ALSO
Scientists show new way to absorb infrared radiation
China launches dark matter satellite
Siberian scientists develop unique equipment for US thermonuclear reactor


One of boron’s most unusual features consists of its atomic configuration at the nanoscale. While other two-dimensional materials look more or less like perfectly smooth and even planes at the nanoscale, borophene looks like corrugated cardboard, buckling up and down depending on how the boron atoms bind to one another.

The discovery and synthesis of borophene was aided by computer simulation work led by Stony Brook researcher Xiang-Feng Zhou and Russian scientist Artem Oganov, who is currently affiliated with the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. Oganov and Zhou used advanced simulation methods that showed the formation of the crinkles of the corrugated surface.





More:
http://tass.com/science/845155

 

[gadeshi]

Arena Active Tank Defence System destroys PG-7 anti-tank grenade:

 

[gadeshi]

T-72B-3 - underwater driving skills:

 

[gadeshi]

A Zvezda film about T-90A and Relict ERA/ARENA ATDS:

 

[gadeshi]

A Zvezda film about Armiya-2016 expo and Patriot Park:
Some 360 deg videos from Army-2016 expo:

 

[gadeshi]

More Zvezda military videos:

 

[gadeshi]

Russian and Chinese military sailors have conducted ships survivability trials:

 

[Bahamut]

Roscosmos declares contest for developing solar research satellite
Science & Space
September 14, 11:49 UTC+3
Arka will become the first Russian solar studies satellite since the Koronas-Foton satellite, operational from February to November 2009, went out of order

© EPA/NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory/HANDOUT
MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Russia’s state-run space corporation Roscosmos has declared a contest for the development of the space laboratory Arka, expected to produce high resolution images of the Sun, as follows from an announcement placed on the state purchases website.

The satellite will be meant for studying objects up to 100 kilometers in size within ranges that cannot be registered from the Earth’s surface. In particular, it may help scientists find out how solar flares emerge.



READ ALSO
Experts sceptical about Milner’s Breakthrough Starshot project
Stephen Hawking: I was impressed that Russia was ahead of America in the space race
Russian physicists figure way to distinguish supercompact stellar objects from black holes
Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space
Journey to the stars: sci-fi spacecraft


The yet-to-be developed observatory is to be put in an orbit no less than 500 kilometers high alongside the launch of another space vehicle.

Under the plan the satellite’s preliminary design is to be developed by November 2017. In 2018-2020 design documentation for the mock-ups and experimental samples is to be finalized and the mockups made and tested. In 2019-2023 test products are to be manufactured and tested comprehensively. The assembly of a flight sample of the Arka satellite and its experimental testing on the ground are due in 2021-2024. Its launch and flight tests are going to be held in 2021-2024.

Arka will become the first Russian solar studies satellite since the Koronas-Foton satellite, operational from February to November 2009, went out of order.



More:
http://tass.com/science/899704

 

[Bahamut]

International team of science gurus use lasers to detect blood clots
Science & Space
September 16, 18:53 UTC+3
Scientists from the USA and Russia have succeeded in locating clots in blood vessels by means of a new laser technique

© Vladimir Zinin /TASS
MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/ Scientists from the USA and Russia have succeeded in locating clots in blood vessels by means of a new laser technique. The results of the study have been published in the journal PLOS ONE.



READ ALSO

Russian scientists create effective magnetically controlled drug for thrombus degradation


"We have shown, that the new method enables clots in the blood flow to be identified," - reported Alexander Melerzanov, the dean of the Faculty of Biological and Medical Physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technologies (MIPT). The developers believe the laser technique would be used to monitor the progress of existing and new blood clots during medical procedures and during post-op. In the future, this technique can also help prevent fatal thromboembolic complications at early stages.

Thromboembolism is the flow of a clot in a blood stream. Normally, clots are formed to obstruct the flow of blood, but it can also completely block the blood vessel, and this in turn can hinder blood circulation and eventually lead to death. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 100-150 out of 100,000 people suffered from thromboembolism in 2014.

Despite the severity, these highly-sensitive methods of detecting thrombi (clots) still need improvement at present. Scientists decided to test the photoacoustic flow cytometry for detecting clots. To do so, cells are marked with fluorescent colors, and undergo laser irradiation, which prompts the color to start shining as a response.

During the course of the tests, the dye coloring the clots is injected into the blood of mice. Afterwards, the area under investigation is irradiated with a laser, which results in the dye shining and identifying the clots. Once the light is detected, special computer software is used to process the signal and plot graphs, which are used to make a diagnosis.



More:
http://tass.com/science/900273

 

[Bahamut]

Russian scientists create effective magnetically controlled drug for thrombus degradation
Science & Space
June 20, 23:39 UTC+3
Up to 60% of fatal cases among patients in Russia are caused by heart and apoplectic attacks, the two most dangerous thrombus diseases connected with the vascular occlusion.

© Sergei Fadeichev/ITAR-TASS
MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/ The scientists from the Saint Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO), together with the Saint-Petersburg Municipal Mariinsky Hospital have created a magnetically controlled drug for curing thrombosis based on a magnetite matrix with encapsulated thrombolytic enzyme, as reported the popular-science web portal "Cherdak" at TASS, with the reference to the press service of ITMO.

The solution of nanosized drug localized near the clot by means of an external magnetic field can dissolve blood clots up to 4000 times more efficiently than ordinary enzyme-based drugs. The results of the research have been published in Scientific Reports.

"The researchers have created a material guaranteeing directional and safe for an organism delivery of thrombus degradation enzyme, that enables lowering dosage and avoiding many side effects," reported in the press release.

What is thrombolytic?
Up to 60% of fatal cases among patients in Russia are caused by heart and apoplectic attacks, the two most dangerous thrombus diseases connected with the vascular occlusion. One of the main objectives of emergency assistance in such conditions is to maintain a thrombolysis, i. e. to dissolve the clot quickly. However, only 2% of Russian patients brought to the hospital can successfully undergo this procedure since the time of thrombus degradation is limited by 3-4.5 hours starting from the formation time. After that, tissues die without blood flow.

Influence of newly introduced thrombolytic system of the vascular thrombus extracted during the surgery.

Influence of newly introduced thrombolytic system of the vascular thrombus extracted during the surgery© The figure is provided by press service of ITMO



Moreover, the modern thrombolytics, the protein injected intravenously to dissolve thrombus, do not have a directional effect but rather spread over the whole circulatory system causing the immune reflex of the organism. Therefore, the drugs are injected in knock-out doses in hope that at least a small portion will reach the blood clot on time.

“Now, we are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut”, says Ivan Dudanov, the head of the regional cardiovascular center of Mariinsky hospital. “Dissolving a little blood clot that blocked a vessel of only 1-2 mm in diameter, thrombolytic drugs negatively affect the entire network of blood vessels. In order to change the situation, we decided to develop a method of targeted drug delivery that would allow us to considerably reduce the dosage and ensure that the whole therapeutic effect is focused on the clot.”

The new remedy
The new material is composed of a porous magnetite framework with enclosed protein urokinase – an enzyme frequently used in medicine as a thrombolytic agent. The composite can be used to create a thrombolytic coating for artificial blood vessels and stable injectable solutions made of nanosized particles that can be easily localized near the clot by means of an external magnetic field. The new material should be absolutely safe for a human as it consists solely of components that have been approved for intravenous injection.

Schematic view of the nanoparticle of thrombolytic medicine. The enzyme is surrounded by the magnetite frame. © The figure is provided by press service of ITMO



"We prepared a thrombolytic colloid and tested its impact on artificial blood clots taken from plasma and blood of humans, and thrombus extracted from patients in the course of the surgical intervention. The results may soon allow us to try out the new thrombolytic system on mammals. Now we are approaching preclinical studies and coordinating our project with the Ministery of Education and Sciences," - said Vladimir Vinogradov, the head of the Laboratory of Solution Chemistry of Advanced Materials and Technologies at ITMO.

Prophylaxis of thrombosis
According to the scientists, the new drugs could be used not only for thrombosis treatment, but also for its prevention. The composite can be used for coating artificial vessels to prevent its' occlusion. Additionally, the protein integrated in the composite is able to function for a very long period of time, as it is protected by the magnetite frame from the various inhibitors that are present in the blood. Therefore, potentially the new drug can be injected in small amounts into the vessels for therapeutic refinement even before the thrombus formation.

“Usually, while developing similar materials in order to achieve a prolonged effect, the enzyme is encapsulated inside a polymeric matrix. Then the protein is gradually released from the matrix and eventually loses all activity," said Andrey Drozdov, the first author of the study and researcher at the Laboratory of Solution Chemistry of Advanced Materials and Technologies at ITMO. "We have experimentally demonstrated that enzymes protected by composite do not lose therapeutic properties over extended periods of time and even after repeated use. The rate, at which the new drug can dissolve the clot, outperforms unprotected enzymes by about 4000 times.”



More:
http://tass.com/science/885744

 

[Zebra]

..................................................................................................................................

 

[Bahamut]

..................................................................................................................................

Bust of Stalin ruled illegal and likely to be torn down
By The Siberian Times reporter
15 September 2016
Statue to Soviet dictator erected close to proposed memorial to his victims of political repression is labelled 'blasphemy’.


'The bust of Stalin that was erected today has been deemed illegal.' Picture: Denis Khanzhin

A row has erupted over the Stalin bust in the city of Surgut where many residents are the descendants of victims of political repression in Soviet times. Yekaterina Shvidkaya, spokeswoman for the Surgut administration, said: 'The bust of Stalin that was erected today has been deemed illegal.

'A commission... has approved a place nearby for installing a monument to the repressed and the funds are being collected.' She predicted the bust close to the Ob River 'will be removed'.

Another group applied in May to erect a bust to the USSR's wartime leader.

'Erecting the monument here is blasphemy.' Pictures: Denis Khanzhin

A decision was taken that the dispute should be solved by a public council due to be set up after elections to the State Duma - Russia's lower house of parliament - on 18 September.

Despite this, activists created their own council that decided in favour of putting up the statue.

Pavel Akimov, who initiated the installation of a monument to former political prisoners, condemned the plans to build a Stalin statue nearby.

'The tears of those people who had been sent here have not dried yet,' he said, according to TASS. 'Some 9,000 people were deported in 1932 - that is half of this community's citizens. Erecting the monument here is blasphemy.'

activists created their own council that decided in favour of putting up the statue. Pictures: Denis Khanzhin, URA.ru

The administration of Surgut, in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region, said tensions flared over proposed installation of the monument due to the historic memories of the local citizens.

'Political prisoners were deported here, there was a whole village with people in exile,' said a local official. 'Now their relatives live in Surgut and, of course, they have a very negative assessment of the situation.'

Surgut was a key location in Stalin's gulag forced-labour-camp system, in which hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens served prison terms after politically-motivated sentences.

Surgut was a key location in Stalin's gulag forced-labour-camp system, in which hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens served prison terms. Picture: The Siberian Times

 

[Bahamut]

Newly-discovered Siberian dinosaur was as heavy as 7 male African elephants
By The Siberian Times reporter
12 August 2016
Scientists disclose vital statistics of 'Sibirosaurus', 20 metres (66 ft) in length, able to stand tall on hind legs.


The first relics of the skeleton were unearthed in 2008, but it has taken eight years to remove the monster's fossils from the cliff face in Kemerovo region. Picture: TSU

The new species of giant dinosaur that lived 100 million years ago belonged to a group that included some of the largest to roam the Earth. Related to the Titanosaur, its fossils have been painstakingly dug from Kemerevo region over recent years.

It is expected that Siberian researchers will publish full details in science journals in the coming months, when it will also be given its official Latin name. For now a few key measurements of the world's newest dinosaur have become known.

The 'very large herbivore' was an adult and weighed in at 50 tonnes. It is unclear if it was male or female. But in size it was about 20 metres long, revealed scientists at Tomsk State University.

It is expected that Siberian researchers will publish full details in science journals in the coming months, when it will also be given its official Latin name. Pictures: TSU

By no means the biggest Jurassic giant, it was still a mighty beast. It was as heavy as seven full grown African male elephants - the largest modern land animals - or eight extinct Siberian woolly mammoths.

It thundered across Siberia in the Early Cretaceous Period around 100 million years ago and its remains were found in a dinosaur necropolis on the banks of the River Kiya near the village of Shestakovo.

The first relics of the skeleton were unearthed in 2008, but it has taken eight years to remove the monster's fossils from the cliff face in Kemerovo region: yet the prize is seen as highly significant, confirming a new kind of dinosaur.

The new dinosaur's sacral ribs were arranged in a 'star shape' and converged towards the centre. Only the Euhelopus, see diagram above, had a similar unusual sacrum structure. Picture: Wilson & Upchurch

The giant is being partially reconstructed in Tomsk, although scientists are not yet ready to show their full work to the world. A model is being made to highlight what it would have looked like.

'We knew immediately that we had found bones of a very large herbivorous dinosaur, but as they were locked inside blocks of sandstone, it took us years to take them out,' explained Stepan Ivantsov, of the Laboratory for Mesozoic and Cenozoic Continental Ecosystems at Tomsk State University.

'With Alexander Averianov, our colleague from the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, we did comparative analyses with Titanosaurs found in other countries.'

Sauropods were an category of large, four-legged, herbivorous dinosaurs. They had long necks, small heads with blunt teeth, and a small brain. Picture: Hombre D Hojalata

The scientists see their discovery as a new member of the Titanosaurs, a diverse group of lizard-footed sauropod dinosaurs. They argue the skeleton is different to anything previously known.

Professor Averianov said: 'One opinion is that Titonasaurus dinosaurs could go up on their hind legs, leaning on their tails so that they could reach the higher branches of trees. To do this, they needed a more mobile rear part of the spine.'

Uniquely, the new dinosaur's sacral ribs were arranged in a 'star shape' and converged towards the centre, with no joint on the vertebral neural arch.

Its remains were found in a dinosaur necropolis on the banks of the River Kiya near the village of Shestakovo, Kemerovo region. Pictures: TSU

The scientists have already joined the largest bones that once made its sacrum. Neck vertebrae and shoulder blades were assembled, too, from multiple pieces.

A sculptor is working on the best preserved part of the dinosaur so that later it can be exhibited to public. Sauropods were an category of large, four-legged, herbivorous dinosaurs.

They had long necks, small heads with blunt teeth, and a small brain. Their long tails counterbalanced their necks. They had large guts, necessary for digesting huge amounts of plant material.

They walked slowly on four short, thick, five-toed legs. Their nostrils were located on the upper parts of their skulls, close to the eyes.

Research has been conducted by Tomsk State University, St Petersburg State University and the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.