Russia defence & technology updates

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Scientists develop durable and safe Li-ion battery

23 Jun '17
An international team of scientists featuring researchers from Russia’s Skoltech (the university founded by the Skolkovo Foundation and MIT) appears to have found a way of making a storage battery, including that for a smartphone, much more efficient and durable.

The researchers are said to have been able to change the crystal lattice in the Li-ion battery cathode to boost its efficacy and longevity considerably without compromising safety. The study has been published in English in Nature Materials.

Lithium-ion batteries are used widely across electronics in portable products such as laptops, tablets, mobile phones and photo cameras. Lithium is the charge carrier; when the battery is charging, Li ions leave the crystal lattice of a transition metal (d-metal)’s oxide which can change its oxidation level. In modern batteries, a layered cobalt/lithium oxide structure is typically used.

The number of recharging cycles and capacity (the amount of lithium that leaves the crystal lattice in charging and returns in discharging) are two main characteristics of a Li-ion battery. The problem is, however, that no more than 60% of lithium typically leaves the cathode structure. Otherwise the likelihood of an explosion and fire would grow dramatically. Recharging cycles are not endless, either; energy contained in charges batteries decreases with time.

As a solution to the problem, the scientists have offered a different crystal structure for the cathode material. A classic Li-ion battery has a layered structure, with Li layers alternating with those of oxygen and a transition metal. When lithium abandons its positions, d-metal ions come to replace it. So, lithium basically cannot “return home” as there’s no longer any vacancy for it. That leads to a reduction of battery capacity.

The new concept of a battery structure calls for a shift of layers between one another, thus giving the battery a framework structure that can work in a much more stable manner, losing almost no energy at all. That is expected to help extract lithium from it in its entirety during charging without any risk of fire.

 

[Bahamut]

Not by Oil Alone: Russian Scientists Research New Algae Biofuel
TECH
15:49 21.06.2017(updated 18:06 21.06.2017)Get short URL
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Enterprising Russian scientists have managed to discover the secret of a bio-oil made from microalgae which may help turn it into a more efficient fuel.

© AP PHOTO/ TERRY SPENCE
Scientists Double Oil Production in Algae Biofuel Research Breakthrough
Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow State University and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology have managed to determine the exact chemical composition of biofuel derived from Spirulina platensis microalgae, according to a study published in the European Journal of Mass Spectrometry.


Due to the fact that algae tend to accumulate biomass much faster than other photosynthesizing organisms, many researchers consider them a perfect raw material for manufacturing biofuel that may eventually replace gasoline.

"Further efforts should be focused on using the varieties of algae containing highest possible levels of fats, and creating such algae varieties via genetic modifications. It will allow us to procure the most effective raw material for producing biofuel," Evgeny Nikolaev, a professor at Skoltech and one of the study's authors, said.

In order to make biofuel out of microalgae, the biomass gets heated to about 300 degrees Celsius while simultaneously being subjected to extremely high pressure. The process is known as hydrothermal liquefaction.

As a result, the biomass gets separated into liquid fuel and a dense residue, both of them containing thousands of various substances which makes it extremely difficult to determine their exact composition and thus discover a way to improve the process in order to enhance the quality of biofuel thus produced.

In order to deal with this problem, the scientists treated the biomass with deuterium oxide, also known as heavy water. Due to the fact that molecules containing deuterium have a slightly different profile as compared to their ‘normal’ counterparts, the researchers were able to employ mass spectrometry to decipher the exact formula of all of the biofuel’s compounds.

The researchers determined that the bio-oil produced from algae resembles brilliant green dye rather than petroleum in terms of consistency and qualities, and that most of the compounds it consists of have little in common with hydrocarbons.

Further study of this substance will help to determine which varieties of algae are more suited for making biofuel, and how the existing varieties of algae can be genetically enhanced in order to produce fuel that may eventually replace gasoline

 

[bhramos]

The first stage of the All-Army competition "Rembate" within ARMI 2017

 

[Bahamut]

Pilot model of advanced marine engine to be built in near future
Military & Defense
June 28, 12:41UTC+3
Maritime engines may be further improved by increasing their capacity and efficiency
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© Igor Zotin/TASS
ST. PETERSBURG, June 28. /TASS/. The design of the fifth-generation marine propulsion will be determined by 2019, whereas the first model may be built in three years, the United Engine Corporation (UEC, part of Rostec) told TASS.



READ ALSO
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"We expect the design of the fifth-generation marine gas turbine engine to be determined by 2018 - 2019, while the first pilot model may be built in two and a half or three years and will be tested further," the company reported.

The corporation plans to develop and explore new noncorrosive heat-resistant alloys and a low emission combustion chamber, as well as conduct other research activities, in order to develop technologies and design the advanced maritime gas turbine engines and propulsion systems.

"Experts from Saturn (part of the UEC) have carried out complex calculation and research activities in order to improve the cycle parameters of the basic gas producer unit that influence the capacity and efficiency of the future maritime engines," the UEC reported.


Maritime engines may be further improved by increasing their capacity and efficiency, the corporation reiterated.



More:
http://tass.com/defense/953636

 

[Bahamut]

New device diagnoses and predicts lung problems

28 Jun '17
At the Far East Center for Respiratory Physiology and Pathology in Blagoveshchensk, in the Amur region some 7,800km east of Moscow, researchers have come up with a new device to diagnose allergy to cold and a range of dangerous respiratory diseases in patients, Ampravda.ru reported.

“A patient breathes in air cooled down to minus 20 degrees Celsius, and sensors register temperatures at inhalation and exhalation, drawing a comprehensive picture of the way the person’s respiratory system works. A physician receives a report on the lung condition and prescribes therapy,” said Nikolai Ulyanychev, a senior research fellow at the Center and device developer.

The scientists say their new instrument can diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a hazardous lung condition that develops symptom-free for years and only manifests itself at too late a stage to rely on therapies known today. That’s why early warning is critical here.

In Russia, about a million people have COPD, and another 5% are at risk of contracting the disease—especially those who have relocated to low-humidity areas, such as the Amur region.

The device is also reported to be able to reveal one’s susceptibility to asthma. Research shows that people that can’t tolerate cold are at great risk of catching the disease.

The solution would benefit not only physicians and patients, but also athletes, the developers believe.

Their lab prototype has been tested on more than a thousand patients. The Center team is seeking funds to finance the development of a life-size, full functionality prototype

 

[Bahamut]

Preliminary design for fifth-generation non-nuclear submarine completed
Military & Defense
June 28, 18:13UTC+3
Negotiations for putting together the technical project are underway
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© Vadim Zhernov/TASS
ST. PETERSBURG, June 28./TASS/. The preliminary project for the fifth-generation non-nuclear submarine has already been concluded in Russia, and negotiations for putting together the technical project are underway, the United Shipbuilding Corporation’s (USC) Vice President for Naval Construction, Igor Ponomaryov, told TASS.



READ ALSO
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"The preliminary design for the advanced fifth-generation non-nuclear submarine was developed by the Rubin Central Design Bureau has already been completed, and the approval of the draft proposal for the ship’s engineering design is being discussed. The decision on its construction will be taken after the engineering design is completed," he said.

As Director General of the Rubin Central Design Bureau, Igor Vilnit, told TASS earlier, the fifth-generation non-nuclear submarine project will be based on the Project 677 Lada. The pilot submarine of this class - the St. Petersburg - is being tested at the Northern Shipyard and two more are under construction.

The fifth-generation non-nuclear submarines will be equipped with air-independent propulsion.


Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Vice Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov, earlier said that the project for fifth-generation non-nuclear submarines will be dubbed "Kalina." According to the naval commander, they will be built for the Northern and Baltic Fleets



More:
http://tass.com/defense/953719

 

[Bahamut]

Russia starts design work on Priboy advanced helicopter carrier
Military & Defense
June 28, 13:29UTC+3
The model of the Priboy amphibious assault ship was first displayed at the Russian Navy’s exhibition stand at the Army-2015 forum
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© Andrei Luzik/Russian Navy Northern Fleet Press Office/TASS
ST. PETERSBURG, June 28. /TASS/. Design work on the Priboy advanced helicopter carrier has started, and the shipyards that can build ships of this type are already known, United Shipbuilding Corporation’s (USC) Vice President for Naval Construction, Igor Ponomaryov, told TASS.



READ ALSO
Russia to build first helicopter carrier by 2022


"The USC enterprises have started working on this project: there is a project pipeline and there is understanding of all basic technologies. The USC has enterprises ready to build such a ship: the modernized Northern Shipyard, as well as the Baltic Shipyard and Sevmash, that has a vast experience in building large surface ships," he said.

Earlier, the USC head Alexey Rakhmanov said in an interview with TASS that the construction of the Priboy helicopter carries is included in the state armaments program for 2018 - 2025.

The model of the Priboy amphibious assault ship, with a capacity of 14,000 tonnes, was first displayed at the Russian Navy’s exhibition stand at the Army-2015 forum.


In May, 2017, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov told reporters that the first Russian helicopter carrier would appear by around 2022, but he did not specify its type.



More:
http://tass.com/defense/953648

 

[gadeshi]

Russia - Accend! Promo video:

 

[Bahamut]

New material helps use light to record data

29 Jun '17
Physicists at the St. Petersburg-based ITMO University partnered with colleagues in Germany and the Netherlands in research and experiments that have resulted in a change of parameters of the light. This has helped create quasiparticles known as excitons, which are fully controlled and enable the recording of data at room temperatures.

The particles are a transitional form between photons and electrons, and the researchers hope the discovery will help develop compact optoelectronic devices for fast recording and processing of an optical signal. The proposed method is based on a novel class of material known as metal-organic framework with van der Waals forces operating in between the layers of the material.

The scientists not only succeeded in creating excitons at room temperatures but also learned how to control the quasiparticles with an ultra-high sensitivity of a few hundred femtoseconds. On top of that, they now know how to activate the excitons by changing distance between the layers.

The exciton is no news to scientists in the world, and it could already have been used to develop a fundamentally new family of super-compact and remarkably energy-efficient devices. All the prototypes of exciton-based devices, however, either can only operate at very low temperatures or are too complicated to make

 

[Bahamut]

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Scientists Develop New Chip That May Help Usher in the Age of Quantum Computers
TECH
16:33 29.06.2017Get short URL
31607110
A team of scientists has developed a new on-chip that may become a major breakthrough in the field of quantum information.

CC0 / PIXABAY /
Israel Enters Quantum Computer Race, Placing Encryption at Ever-Greater Risk
INRS physicists managed to create the first silicon chip that can be used to both store and manipulate high-dimensional qubits – units of quantum information – which may help simplify the architecture of quantum computers, according to a study published in Nature, a top US scientific journal.


Qubits act as memory cells and computation modules in aquantum computer, and each qubit can store both 0 and 1 due to the laws of quantum physics.

"At this point we learned to operate with ten frequencies. In a two-photon system that allows for at least one hundred dimensions. By improving the precision of manufacturing of the resonator, the electronics responsible for spectral dispersion will allow one to work with nearly a hundred different colors. It is this fine tuning that will help increase the number of the system’s quantum states," Professor Roberto Morandotti, the project’s research team leader, said.

Alexei Ustinov, one of the lead researcer at the Russian Quantum Center, told RIA Novosti that while scientists quickly learned to produce single qubits, it quickly became apparent that a network comprised of several qubits is poorly suited for storing and retrieving information.

This factor prompted many researchers to pursue a different approach: instead of attempting to unite several qubits into a single network, they instead seek to ‘pack’ several quantum information cells into a single qubit.

Morandotti and his team managed to solve this problem by developing a chip that allows 'packing' virtually unlimited amount of quantum information into pairs of entangled photons.

The chip itself is essentially a micro-resonator: a hollow silicon ring where light can move in a circular pattern, bouncing off the walls. The chip can be modified to amplify or dampen certain light impulses in order to encode memory cells.

"By merging the fields of quantum optics and ultrafast optical processing, we have shown that high-dimensional manipulation of these states is indeed possible using standard telecommunications elements like modulators and frequency filters," Professor Jose Azana added.

 

[Bahamut]

Russian, Singaporean scientists reveal how plants weather cold temperatures
Science & Space
June 29, 17:34UTC+3
Plants sacrifice their newborn cells of the root tip in order to survive cold temperature conditions and retain their own ‘stem cells’
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MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/ An international research team from Novosibirsk State University (NSU), the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICG SB RAS), and the National University of Singapore have identified and analyzed the mechanism enabling plants to adapt to cold temperatures. This breakthrough was announced by NSU’s Computational Transcriptomic and Evolutionary Bioinformatics Laboratory (LCTEB).



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It turns out that plants sacrifice their newborn cells of the root tip in order to survive cold temperature conditions and retain their own ‘stem cells.’ The study was published recently in the journal, Cell.

Plants possess stem cells just as animals do, which are the cells located at the tip of roots or sprouts from where any other plant tissues originate. Researchers from Singapore revealed that at a low temperature (+4 °C) the DNA in a plant’s stem cells is damaged which can result in the death of the cells’ offspring. With that, the death of cells inside the root tip has been shown to help other tissues survive and toughen up the plant in such a way that it becomes more resistant to any other types of stress.

"Only a few stem cell offspring die (during cold spells), and that’s despite the fact that the lifespan of these cells are very short even under normal conditions. By contrast, the other tissues remained unscathed," Victoria Mironova, PhD Biologist and Head of the NSU’s Computational Transcriptomic and Evolutionary Bioinformatics Laboratory and Chief of the Sector for System Biology of Plant Morphogenesis at the RAS Institute of Cytology and Genetics of Siberian Branch, commented.


Computer modeling


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Russian scientists addressed the processes occurring at the root’s tip using a mathematical approach. The mechanism which decides on what cells will be sacrificed in order to enable a plant to survive, is controlled by the genes responsible for transmitting auxin, the hormone required for the normal growth of roots.

"The modeling proved that under cold temperature conditions, the concentration of this hormone drops which puts the lifespan of a plant in jeopardy. If the cells at the root tip are destroyed, the concentration of auxin is restored providing for the ‘stem cells’ maintenance,’ Maria Savina, the leading engineer at LCTEB at NSU and a junior research assistant at ICG SB RAS explained.

Application in agriculture
According to the scientists, continued research on this topic might be very beneficial for agriculture. Plants and crops could be treated with auxin prior to the onset of any cold spell. This way, it would be possible to avoid the death of cells and help plants overcome severe temperature stress without resorting to any sacrifices. The study’s results could be also applied in analyzing mammals’ mechanisms for adapting to cold temperatures, since the structure of stem cell niches, their functions and sensitivity to stress have many similarities between animals and plants.


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http://tass.com/science/953985

 

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Deal for selling Sea Launch project’s assets to be closed by yearend
Science & Space
June 29, 19:07UTC+3
The deal’s closure will help repay a considerable part of Sea Launch Group’s debts to Energiya Corporation
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MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. The deal for selling the Sea Launch project’s assets is expected to be closed in late 2017, Russia’s Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation said in its annual report on Thursday.

"The deal is expected to be finally closed in the fourth quarter of 2017 after the required authorizing licenses are obtained from the US authorities," the document says.



READ ALSO
S7 Group buys Sea Launch floating spaceport from Russian space rocket corporation


According to the report, Sea Launch Group affiliated with Energiya Corporation signed two agreements with S7 on December 23, 2016 on selling the assets of the Sea Launch project.

Once all the terms of the deal are fulfilled, the ownership rights to the Sea Launch project’s core assets (the assembly and command ship, the Odyssey launch platform and the ground-based auxiliary equipment) will pass over to new owners.


"The deal’s closure will help repay a considerable part of Sea Launch Group’s debts to Energiya Corporation," the document says.

Energiya intends to continue cooperation with the new owner of the Sea Launch project, providing all possible assistance in the complex’s development and operation, the document reads.

Sea Launch
The Sea Launch is an international commercial project of the seaborne rocket and space complex. Sea Launch Company was established in 1995 for the project’s implementation. Its founders included US Boeing, Russia’s Energiya Corporation, the Norwegian shipyard Kvaerner (currently Aker Solutions), Ukraine’s Yuzhnoye design bureau and the Ukrainian Yuzhmash rocket and space enterprise. Sea Launch Company declared its bankruptcy in the summer of 2009 and after its reorganization in 2010 Russia’s Energiya Corporation gained the leading role in the project. Space launches were suspended in 2014.



READ ALSO
Sea Launch Project may get a new class rocket


In late September 2016, S7 signed a contract with Sea Launch Group on the project’s acquisition. The purchase items comprised the Odyssey floating platform, the Sea Launch Commander ship, the ground-based equipment at Long Beach port (California), and also the Sea Launch trademark.

Space launches from the floating spaceport are expected to restart in 2018. A total of 10-12 launches are expected to be conducted under the project during the first five years.



More:
http://tass.com/science/954009

 

[gadeshi]

More military videos from Zvezda TV Channel:
Snipers trainings:
And recons:

 

[gadeshi]

===========================
PDSAMs and MANPADs:
Marines:
Motor rifles:

 

[gadeshi]

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[gadeshi]

Military archeologists have found WW2 fighter MiG-3 that conducted the first night time ram action:

 

[gadeshi]

Russian prospective combat equipment Ratnik-3 with exoskeleton:

 

[bhramos]

Opening of the All-Army competition stage "Open Water" in Murom within ARMI 2017

 

[gadeshi]

Russia - Accend! Promo video.
Crimean SSZ Shipyards in the beginning:

 

[gadeshi]

More military videos from Zvezda TV Channel: