пятница, 29 августа 2008 г.

Particle, Particle in Space, Tell Me About Earthquakes


The crew of the International space station finishes preparations for “Vsplesk” (“Burst”) experiment, results of which are expected to help in developing methods for real-time forecasting of earthquakes.

Russian members of the ISS crew have already installed hardware, necessary for the experiment, on the external surface of the “Zvezda” (“Star”) service module this July. Recently cosmonauts finished installation of scientific devices inside the station.

During the “Vsplesk” experiment researchers will find out how effective detection of charged particle bursts in near-Earth space environment is. Said bursts are believed to be related to various geophysical processes, taking place on our planet, including seismic events. One of the most important tasks of the experiments is distinguishing earthquake precursors from particles, having other physical nature. Russian scientists built research hardware and installed it on the ISS (“Vsplesk”) and on the “Resurs DK” space vehicle (“Arina”), launched in July 2006. Thus, particle detection is performed from different sites of near-Earth space, which makes received data more reliable and gives accurate view of the processes of interest.

Read more: Particle, Particle in Space, Tell Me About Earthquakes

Unique Fresco Restoration Technique Developed


Researchers from Novgorod State University developed a unique computer-based technology for restoration of ancient Russian frescoes.

New technology currently saves monumental painting in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, dating back to 12th century. The church frescoes couldn’t be restored manually due to irretrievable losses of many fragments of paintings.

Read more: Unique Fresco Restoration Technique Developed

четверг, 28 августа 2008 г.

New Satellites for GLONASS


Russian engineers started production of new type of space navigation satellites, designed for domestic positioning system GLONASS.

New “GLONASS-K” satellite, which belongs to the third generation of Russian navigation satellites, is expected to be launched in 2010.

Read more: New Satellites for GLONASS

World Digital Library Becomes Real


In April 2009 all Internet users will get acquainted with the prototype of World Digital Library, the collection of digitalized materials on history and culture of various nations and ethnic groups: manuscripts, maps, books, musical scores, sound recording, films, prints and images.

Read more: World Digital Library Becomes Real

Emil Lenz - One Science Is Not Enough


Emil Lenz was among those geniuses, whose playground lied in several scientific fields. What we would have done without Lenz's law, I wonder?

Lenz’s wonderful talents were deep understanding of physical processes and ability to discover physical patterns.

Read more: Emil Lenz - One Science Is Not Enough