Январь 2003 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Putin meets with Deputy PM over Russian sciences
• U.S. ambassador to Moscow expresses optimism on U.S.-Russian ABM cooperation
• Russia and Bulgaria to expand collaboration
• In Honor of Igor Kurchatov: The Symbol of the Russian Nuclear Power
• Center Opens to Retrain Nuke Experts
• Russian Scientist Visits MTU
• Asteroid to pass by earth on Orthodox Christmas
• Scientific program in Russia combines tourism, fishing and science in an effort to preserve Russia's pristine waters and variety of fish
• Second Human Clone to Be Born in Netherlands: Clonaid
• People from distant lands have strikingly similar genetic traits, study reveals
• Russian scientists hope to soon find evidence of life on Mars
• NASA begins new year with international Arctic ozone study
• Spy Trials Against Russian Scholars

Президент В. Путин обсудил проблемы развития российской науки в 2003 году с министром промышленности, науки и технологий И. Клебановым

Moscow, Russia, Jan 13, 2003 (RosBusinessConsulting via COMTEX) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the problems of the development of Russian sciences in 2003 with Minister of Industry, Science and Technology Ilya Klebanov today. According to the presidential press service, Putin was particularly interested in how this industry is financed. Klebanov was quoted as saying that in 2003 the financing of sciences will be increased by one third. Extra money will be spent to renew devices, support research schools and young scientists as well as to give grants to academicians, PhDs and Masters of Sciences

MOSCOW, The United States and Russia have good prospects for cooperating on development of anti-ballistic missile systems and are now trying to define the areas of possible joint work, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow said in an interview published Wednesday.
Moscow vehemently opposed U.S. plans to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and deploy a new national missile shield, saying such action could seriously harm international security. But when U.S. President George W. Bush announced the withdrawal from the treaty last summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted mildly - and Russian officials have since adopted a tone of regret rather than anger over Washington's decision.
U.S. officials have in the meantime tried to mollify their Russian counterparts by playing up the possibilities for Russian scientists to take part in developing a new ABM system. In the interview with the Interfax news agency, U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said that Washington could make use of sophisticated Russian technology.
"Russia has advanced technology such as the S-300 and S-400 anti-air missiles, which could be developed into an anti-ballistic missile capability," Vershbow was quoted as saying.
The new S-400 Triumph can hit targets up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) away and engage stealth aircraft, Russian military observers say. The latest versions of its predecessor, the S-300, have a a range of 200 kilometers (124 miles).
While the S-300 can shoot down short-range missiles, the S-400 can engage intermediate range ballistic missiles that have a range of 2,170 miles, according to official Russian arms trade data.
Two years ago, Putin proposed creation of a joint missile defense system with Western European countries, and Russian military officials mentioned both the S-300 and S-400 as possible components. The proposal, seen largely as an attempt to rally European criticism against the U.S. missile defense plan, was short on detail and has so far not borne fruit. But Vershbow indicated that the suggestion had not fallen on deaf ears - and that it could be a component of a U.S.-Russian system.
"There may be some futuristic technologies, such as laser and other techniques, where we could collaborate," Vershbow said in the interview. "So given that Russia has tremendous scientific know-how and some experience with defensive systems, we think this could be a really serious partnership, which will benefit us both."

St.Petersburg, Russia, Jan 24, 2003 (RosBusinessConsulting via COMTEX) -- Russian and Bulgarian agencies will consider the possibility to increase supplies of natural gas from Russia to pipelines passing through Bulgaria. This intension was envisaged in a protocol signed by Russian Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin and Bulgarian Economy Minister Nikolai Vasilev at the eighth meeting of the Russian-Bulgarian joint government commission for trade, economic, scientific and technical collaboration. The sides are expected to discuss the possibility of participation of Russian companies in tenders for the construction of pipelines in eight Bulgarian regions. In addition, they sides will negotiate the construction of gas pipeline that will run to Yugoslavia. Furthermore, Russia and Bulgaria are going to speed up the construction of the oil pipeline Burgas (Bulgaria)-Alexandroupolis (Greece). The protocol signed today also envisages that representatives of the Russian national energy grid RAO UES and the National Energy Company of Bulgaria will have a meeting before the end of July 2003 and discuss supplies of electricity to Bulgaria. Finally, the Russian -Bulgarian protocol provides for expanding ties in the tourist sector as well as scientific and technical collaboration. In particular, Bulgaria is going to provide the Russian State Property Ministry with a list of tourist facilities to be privatized in Bulgaria so that Russian entrepreneurs could take part in the Bulgarian tourist businesses

Russia celebrated the 100 anniversary of its outstanding scientist of the nuclear power

В России отметили 100-летие выдающегося ученого Игоря Курчатова

The year 1943 was remarkable for the historic order of the Soviet government to set up Laboratory 2 on the base of the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences. The goal of the lab was to create an A-bomb. The first plutonium bomb blew up in August of 1949. The USA's monopoly on the nuclear weapon was destroyed.
A solemn meeting took place in the premises of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The meeting was devoted to the 100th anniversary since the birth of outstanding Soviet nuclear scientist, Igor Kurchatov. President Vladimir Putin sent a welcoming letter to the participants of the meeting. RIA Novosti reported that there were governmental officials, State Duma deputies, scientists and others present at the meeting. Yury Osipov, the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences said: "The 20th century is called the science century, which is absolutely right. One of the brightest scientific achievements is the progress that the humanity had in the study of the nuclear power. A very special place in this work belongs to Igor Kurchatov."
Alexander Rumyantsev, the Russian Minister for Nuclear Power, pointed out: "The professional deed that academician Igor Kurchatov did remains very important for us still, since the first Soviet nuclear field was established in the country under his guidance. With the help of that man the country conducted the test of the nuclear weapon, laid the foundation of the nuclear power-engineering, launched the first ever nuclear power plants, constructed the first ice-boat and the first nuclear submarine. With the help of that man the country also learned, how to organize large state projects, how to attract the intellectual potential for those purposes, and how to bring fundamental research to practice."
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov stressed out in his speech: "The nuclear parity of potentials between great superpowers has been established in the world, owing to Igor Kurchatov's works. This allowed to keep the world away from the global nuclear catastrophe."
Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov, regretfully stated that some people still believe that the first A-bomb was created in the Soviet Union owing to the activity of the intelligence service: "They say that Kurchatov only had to copy it and that was all he had to do. This is absolutely not true. The British scientists, who participated in the American A-bomb project, returned to England in 1946. They knew more than Soviet intelligence officers did. Yet, England created its first A-bomb only in 1952, while Igor Kurchatov did that in 1949. Igor Kurchatov's works are an example of high level of civic consciousness."
Unfortunately, this high level of civic consciousness is not high at all nowadays. This is the reason why Russian gifted scientists either leave abroad or start working for the West, living in Russia. Academician Igor Kurchatov was awarded with the title of the Hero of Social Labor three times, he was a four-time State Prize laureate. In 1959 he was decorated by the Global Council of the World for his contribution in the strengthening of peace and friendship between the nations. Zhores Alferov, the vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: "There are very few people like Igor Kurchatov in the world."
The people, who were employed at Laboratory 2 of the Soviet Academy of Science, worked 18 or even 20 hours every day, without a day off. Igor Kurchatov would sleep at his desk, then he would take a cold shower and then - back to work again.

В институте им. Курчатова открылся новый учебный центр, где ученых- атомщиков будут обучать программированию

A new training center that will teach software programming to former Soviet nuclear weapons researchers opened Saturday at Moscow's Kurchatov Institute.
Experts from local software giant Luxoft have been using Kurchatov -- the largest facility for nuclear research in the country - to retrain former Soviet weapons scientists and engineers since November 2001 under the U.S. Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program. IPP was set up by the U.S. Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration to enhance U.S. security by preparing weapons experts in the former Soviet Union for peacetime employment. Participants in the Kurchatov project expect to eventually train 500 scientists and engineers to work in the global information technology industry. "What we are looking for is transition from exporting brains to exporting products and services," Yevgeny Velikhov, president of the Kurchatov Institute, said at the center's opening ceremony in the institute's reconstructed building No. 76. Scientists have been leaving the former Soviet Union in large numbers to find better-paying work in the West, often called the "brain drain." Curt Weldon, a U.S. congressman and longtime backer of IPP, said at the opening ceremony that "the project is something that I have been watching with enthusiasm for a long time." He said Friday at a ceremony honoring the 100th birthday of Igor Kurchatov - the late scientist regarded as the father of the Soviet nuclear weapons program - that the researchers will play a major role in the IT sector's development. "I am particularly interested in how you, the scientists and engineers of Russia, can transform your nation through the commercialization of Russian science, often in cooperation with U.S. companies," he said. "I see such commercialization as a key to future Russian prosperity." So far, 47 scientists and engineers have graduated from the Kurchatov program and found employment at various Russian IT companies, among them Luxoft. Some 10 Luxoft employees now teach in the Kurchatov program. "The two things that we wanted to stress in our training program were the ability to work in project teams and the stages of the programming process," said Alexander Bushmelev, a Luxoft employee and head of training in the Kurchatov program. Optima Program - a company recently founded by Kurchatov Institute, Kurchatovsky Tekhnopark, the Optima systems integrator and U.S.-based CTG Software Inc. - will provide employment for graduates of the program. Optima Program is to become an offshore software provider for Western companies. CTG will promote Optima Program abroad. Some $22.6 million in U.S. funding in 2003 is to go toward IPP, which includes 176 projects under way at 57 institutes in Russia, 14 projects in Kazakhstan and 13 projects in Ukraine

Российский ученый, занимающийся электрическими реактивными системами, посетил Мичиганский университет и ознакомился с программой изучения космических двигателей. Российское космическое агенство планирует вести с университетом совместные исследовательские программы

A Russian rocket scientist recently met with Michigan Tech students and toured the university's space propulsion program. The Russian Space Agency, Sneemosh, is considering cooperative research with the university. The professor's area of expertise is electrical propulsion systems known as ion thrusters.
MTU Professor Dr. Brad King says, "At Michigan Tech we just started a new program to do research on ion thrusters. So this meeting is a first step in a formal collaboration between the university and his institute in Moscow."
Air Force, NASA, and Russian space agencies are already assisting the program. The Michigan Tech Aerospace Enterprise is currently working on a satellite propelled by ion thrusters.

Moscow, Jan. 6. (UNI): A 60-metre asteroid, Number 2002 AA29, which might become a small moon for the earth in future, will fly by our planet on the day of Orthodox Christmas tomorrow, researchers at the Astronomy Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences have said.
Orthodox Christmas is celebrated by Christians of Russian and Serbian churches and the monks of Mount Athos in Greece who follow the old Julian calendar.
Astronomers will watch this "small planet" through a telescope because it is of the 12-20th class of stellar magnitude, Ria Novosti quoted Sergei Barabanov, a researcher at the institute, as saying yesterday.
The naked eye can see a celestial body of only up to 6th stellar magnitude, he said.
Foreign astrophysicists believe that by the year 2600, this asteroid, whose orbit will never intersect with earth's, may approach the earth so closely that under the impact of terrestrial gravity it will be "caught" by our planet and become a "small moon".
Eleven "small bodies" will fly by the earth this January, Barabanov said, adding that on January 1 and 4 two asteroids, dozens of metres in size, flew by it.

Продолжение дайджеста за ЯНВАРЬ 2003 года (часть 2)

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