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    Russian Science: Discussion Thread

    Kiko
    Kiko


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    Russian Science: Discussion Thread - Page 10 Empty Re: Russian Science: Discussion Thread

    Post  Kiko Mon Sep 23, 2024 10:04 pm

    The directive is given: the scientific infrastructure of the Russian Federation will become the best in the world, by Alena Nefedova, Denis Gritsenko for Izvestia. 09.23.2024.

    The head of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center predicted a technological breakthrough for the country and told the president about new projects.

    Russia's research infrastructure will become the best in the world in the next five to eight years. This was discussed at a meeting between Vladimir Putin and the head of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center Mikhail Kovalchuk. According to the scientist, the technological breakthrough in the country will also speed up the return of domestic specialists to their homeland, many of whom have worked in foreign research institutes since the 1990s. In addition to the ongoing development of nuclear technologies, the main areas of work of the national research center include the development of agriculture, genetics, and the creation of unique mega-installations. Among the scientific developments of the Kurchatov Institute are prototypes of engines for flights into deep space and a deep-sea manned vehicle. How heat is provided in the Arctic and can we expect an expedition to Mars - in the Izvestia material.

    On the contribution of the Kurchatov Institute to the development of nuclear energy.

    Vladimir Putin began his working week in the Kremlin: on September 23, he met with the president of the Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk. The institute was originally founded in 1943 to create Soviet atomic weapons, and now it is developing many unique scientific fields. According to Mikhail Kovalchuk, a powerful interdisciplinary center of more than 20 institutes has been assembled under the roof of the NIC.

    “Kurchatnik” is no longer an institute, it is a whole agglomeration of various institutions, and it is developing in a variety of ways and is engaged in almost all areas of research,” said Vladimir Putin.

    The Kurchatov Institute unites a significant part of Russia's scientific potential in the fields of nuclear physics, energy, materials science, biology and genetics, as well as information technology. According to Mikhail Kovalchuk, today the center is actively engaged in "bringing order" to the Arctic using nuclear energy, namely, providing heat supply in remote and hard-to-reach regions where there is no centralized energy supply. We are talking about the "Elena-AM" project - a pilot nuclear thermoelectric power station developed by the Kurchatov Institute.

    — We are developing a fundamentally new nuclear energy. We have the Elena station — a “battery” built at the plant, it produces up to a megawatt of electricity and up to 15 MW of heat. But in the Arctic, where there are no large consumers, where it is impossible to create either a network structure or a large station, these local stations solve the problem, — Mikhail Kovalchuk specified.

    The development of the nuclear complex remains the central vector of the Kurchatov Institute’s work: back in 2007, Russia declared that it was ready to close the nuclear cycle, make it completely safe and fully provide for global energy consumption, experts recalled.

    As for nuclear energy in general, the development of a new direction of fast neutron reactors is of particular importance now. Their difference is that they use spent nuclear fuel from thermal reactors, in turn producing fuel for them, thereby closing the nuclear cycle, said Vladimir Reshetov, professor at the Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.

    — Today, this development is already being implemented at the engineering level, and we are ready to provide the entire world with energy by burning uranium-238. A fast neutron reactor is the future of all nuclear energy, — he says.

    In general, Mikhail Kovalchuk identified several main areas, including energy and materials science.

    — We have only two priorities, or rather three, but two main ones. The first is that any human thought that arises in the head materializes in the form of materials. For example, you have come up with a painting — you need paints, a canvas, an easel, and so on. You have come up with a melody — you need a piano, a musical instrument, notes, ink. That is, any thing is a material, and to create a material, you need energy, — he said.

    “And the soul?” Vladimir Putin asked.

    — And the third priority is the soul and the intellect, absolutely right. That's all. These three, which we possess, I think, are among the best in the world, because if we did not know how to do this, we would not have gone into space and created nuclear energy in the shortest possible time. These are two breakthrough projects of the 20th century, where we have always been leaders. Therefore, I think that our situation today is good, — Mikhail Kovalchuk answered.

    On Nature-Like Technologies and Quantum Network

    An important direction for the development of science in Russia will be the restart of fundamental research. This is especially relevant against the backdrop of scientists returning home after the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) ended its cooperation with them. "And in this sense, we have every opportunity for a technological breakthrough," Mikhail Kovalchuk emphasized.

    Among other priority areas of the Kurchatov Institute are the development of nature-like technologies and a genetic program. Mikhail Kovalchuk touched upon programs for the development of agriculture. In particular, in this sector, the Russian Federation needs to stop depending on large Western corporations in the area of ​​creating and maintaining genetic material for food production, Pavel Volchkov, head of the MIPT genomic engineering laboratory, explained to Izvestia.

    This is especially noticeable in the production of chicken meat and eggs. There is less dependence in plant growing, especially in the cultivation of sugar beet. For some areas, the possibility of importing genetic material remains, despite the sanctions. For others, where, for example, complex hybrids are needed, it is no longer possible. At the same time, for effective agriculture it is necessary not only to maintain the gene pool, but also to improve it. Therefore, the development of genetic technologies and the creation of new varieties has become a matter of survival for the country today, — Pavel Volchkov specified.

    Also, Russian scientists working at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center are developing neuromorphic microelectronics and a quantum network as part of the network research infrastructure, the head of the scientific center reported.

    "We are working on fundamentally new neuromorphic microelectronics. Today, we have concentrated almost all, almost 100% of the network infrastructure for science, the entire supercomputer part, all the networks - 20 thousand km of networks, uniting hundreds of scientific institutes and universities," the scientist added.

    According to Igor Pivovarov, chief analyst at the MIPT Center for Artificial Intelligence, the creation of neuromorphic computing networks opens up great prospects for the development of more powerful computers.

    — Modern software artificial neural networks (ANN) are a mathematical model of brain neurons, united into large arrays. But they are still calculated on conventional processors. If the processors themselves are made according to the neuron principle, then they will be thousands of times faster. And if you assemble such artificial neurons, that is, unite them into a network, then you will get a neuromorphic computer. Such a network is 1,000 times faster and requires very little energy, — he explained.

    In addition, the program for creating unique mega-installations throughout the country is in full swing, the head of the Kurchatov Institute recalled. According to his estimates, in the next five to eight years, Russia will have the best research infrastructure in the world.

    On the conquest of space

    In addition, the National Research Center is developing plasma electrodeless engines for deep space flights.

    — Today we fly into space like Munchausen on a cannonball. Our RD-180 engine worked for three hundred seconds, gave a kick, and we flew along ballistic trajectories that we cannot influence. And we need to patrol, land on the Moon, — said Mikhail Kovalchuk.

    Now, according to him, the institute has prototypes of engines that provide a completely different thrust for flight. For example, a lunar station based on the principle of the "Selena" battery, Mikhail Kovalchuk noted. This is a self-regulating nuclear station based on the principles of direct energy conversion.

    What is “direct conversion”? We are now converting the reactor heat into steam, the steam turns the turbines. This is not direct. And direct — there are thermoelectric elements, a special substance. You surround the station with these elements, and all the heat is directly converted into electricity, — continued Mikhail Kovalchuk.

    According to Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics Andrei Ionin, the development by the Kurchatov Institute of devices based on the principles of nuclear energy for use in space is absolutely necessary for the development of domestic cosmonautics.

    The Kurchatov Institute Research Center is working on a project for a nuclear power plant operating in space. It may have different names. The project was launched back in Soviet times, but the public phase began in 2009. It will take a lot of time to implement, because it is a breakthrough technology. It needs to combine two areas that were previously developing in parallel: nuclear energy and space exploration, — said Andrei Ionin.

    This is necessary for the exploration of deep space, including an expedition to Mars. The implementation of the Kurchatov Institute projects will provide at least a third of the necessary developments and research for a flight to this planet. With the help of atomic energy, it will be possible to implement the operation of aircraft engines, maintain life support systems and produce everything necessary in orbit. The Selena lunar station project looks very promising in this context, the expert emphasized.

    About studying the depths and a unique simulator

    Specialists from the Kurchatov Institute have also developed a deep-sea manned vehicle that can be used to monitor the condition of pipelines laid at depth, along the seabed, said Mikhail Kovalchuk. Recall that in September 2023, Vladimir Putin spoke about attacks on the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream, through which Russia supplies gas to Turkey, at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    The modern device is designed for two people and descends to 2.2 km, while a remote-controlled device has also been developed that explores the seabed. Kovalchuk explained in detail how it will work: "We have made a unique simulator, a complete imitation, you sit in this cabin, descend, a complete imitation of diving. The simulator is a completely unique thing."

    — I went down 2 km in Baikal. 1.9 km, — the president recalled. — At such a depth, I think, nothing can be seen in the Black Sea. Hydrogen sulphide environment.

    Vladimir Putin has made several such dives: in 2009, while still the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, he made a four-hour dive in the Mir-1 vehicle to the bottom of Lake Baikal. In 2019, he made a dive in a bathyscaphe to the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, to the site of the demise of a submarine that sank during the Great Patriotic War. The dive lasted about 30 minutes in the autonomous deep-sea vehicle C-Explorer 3.11.

    https://iz.ru/1763525/alena-nefedova-denis-gritcenko/dana-ustanovka-nauchnaia-infrastruktura-rf-stanet-luchshei-v-mire

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    flamming_python
    flamming_python


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    Russian Science: Discussion Thread - Page 10 Empty Re: Russian Science: Discussion Thread

    Post  flamming_python Tue Sep 24, 2024 8:55 am

    500 Russian scientists about to be kicked out of CERN

    Sure hope Russia has the letters of invitation prepped and ready to be sent

    Kiko likes this post


      Current date/time is Mon Oct 07, 2024 6:38 pm