Российская наука и мир (дайджест)

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jul 22, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- HyperBaric Systems (OTC Bulletin Board: HYRB) announced today that the company has received its first patent on technology and methodology for preserving blood platelets.
The patent document, numbered US 6,413,713, B1, was dated July 2, 2002 and is titled, "Method For Preserving Blood Platelets."
Harry Masuda, president of HyperBaric Systems, said, "We are pleased that our initial patent has been issued. This is only the first of several important patent applications we have made and we anticipate filing several more this year as our intellectual property continues to strengthen and to broaden."
Masuda said the inventor of the preservation technology was Vladimir Serebrennikov, technical director of the company's Russian branch located in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.
"Vladimir was one of the original founders of HyperBaric Systems and he assigned the patent to the company," Masuda said. "We now have 11 employees in our Russian laboratory and research facility. Vladimir, who heads the research group, reports to our Chief Scientific Officer Dr. David Lucas here in Palo Alto."
HyperBaric Systems is a leading biomedical company focused on extending the preservation periods of biological materials such as blood platelets, the congealing component of blood and donor organs including hearts, kidneys and lungs. The company is generally acknowledged within the blood platelet industry as the leading company developing specific technology to extend the shelf life of blood platelets using refrigeration procedures. The company's proprietary technology, which virtually doubles the current shelf life of blood platelets, has been confirmed by The Blood Research Center in Sacramento, California.
An investment profile on HyperBaric Systems may be found at www.hawkassociates.com/hyperbaricsystems/profile.htm.
HyperBaric Systems is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with additional offices in the greater San Francisco Bay area and Rancho Mirage, California. The company also has laboratory, research and testing facilities in Michigan and Russia.
For further information contact: Harry Masuda, president and CEO, (650) 323-0943, email: hmasuda@california.com or Bob Strom, VP Marketing, (760) 883-5807, restrom3@cs.com Institutional investor relations - contact Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall, Hawk Associates, at (305) 852-2383. Email: info@hawkassociates.com; Individual investors contact - contact Rich Kaiser, Yes International, 800-631-8127, rich@yesinternational.com, Detailed information about HyperBaric Systems can be found on the website www.hyperbaricsystems.com. Copies of HyperBaric Systems' press releases, current price quotes, stock charts and other valuable information for investors may be found on the website: www.hawkassociates.com/hyperbaricsystems. Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those discussed in filings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Reuters / Mon Jul 29, 1:51 PM ET

Scientist Touts Laser to Zap Asteroid

Российский ученый Б. Картогин говорит, что крупный астероид, который, как утверждают, направляется к земле, можно было бы разрушить с помощью мощного лазера

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian scientist said Friday that a massive asteroid said to be heading for Earth could be destroyed with the help of a powerful laser.
He was speaking after space experts warned this week that an asteroid, spotted from several different countries, could hit Earth in 2019, destroying life as we know it.
Boris Kartogin, general director and designer at rocket producer Energomash, was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying the asteroid could be thwarted, using a powerful laser installation based in space.
"Defenses for the Earth can be designed," Kartogin told a news conference.
Lasers in space were hugely controversial during U.S. President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites)'s term in office in the 1980s. His scheme to shoot down Soviet nuclear missiles was dubbed "Star Wars" after the cult science fiction film series.
The 1.2-mile wide asteroid was first detected earlier this month by the United States Linear sky survey program.
But NASA (news - web sites) scientists are downplaying the danger of a collision, saying the odds are minimal.
Kartogin said the laser defense scheme would require the assembly of 10 to 12 platforms in Earth's orbit, which would then be equipped with powerful, chemical lasers capable of destroying the approaching asteroid.
He added that "a laser of such power does not yet exist, but the international community is already seriously talking about the need to create one."
Energomash is carrying out work on laser technology.
Scientists from several countries, including Russia, are already studying ways to defend the planet from an asteroid collision.

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New Scientist / 30 July 02

Anti-gravity research on the rise

Исследования анти-гравитации возрождаются

MOSCOW, Russia, Jul 26, 2002 (RosBusinessConsulting via COMTEX) -- Russia's Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, a leader in the Russian rocket and space industry, is going to develop a Russian analogue of Sea Launch systems, designed for launching satellites with Zenit-3SL rockets from sea platforms.
The first sea launch from a platform in the Pacific Ocean took place in March 1999, and the number of successful launches reached eight over the past three years. Information about plans to develop Sea Launch systems was reported by Energia President and Chief Designer Yury Semenov. He noted that this idea had been discussed at a meeting between Russian scientists and Leningrad regional governor Valery Serdyukov.
Chief Designer of the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering design bureau Igor Spassky called this initiative promising, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

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Agencia EFE / Saturday, July 27, 2002 5:02 PM EST

"El Dorado" discovered in Peruvian Amazon, explorers claim

By David Blanco Bonilla

Международная группа исследователей утверждает, что глубоко в сердце Перуанской Амазонки они нашли легендарный город инков, который испанцы знали как "Эль-Дорадо"

LIMA, Jul 27, 2002 (EFE via COMTEX) -- An international team of explorers claims to have found the legendary Inca city of gold that the Spanish knew as "El Dorado," deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.
The quest began on June 30, when more than two dozen researchers began combing the wild and unexplored jungle region along the basin of the Madre de Dios River.
El Dorado, called "Paititi" by the region's Indian population, is known as the last bastion of the Incas as they sought refuge from advancing Spanish conquistadors.
The leader of the expedition, the Polish-Italian journalist and explorer Jacek Palkiewicz, told EFE Saturday he was very pleased with the expedition and felt "certain" he had found El Dorado.
After two years of research and exploration, Palkiewicz said, the lost city had been found in an area adjoining the Manu national park, southeast of Lima.
The journey to El Dorado has allowed the researchers to confirm all the written accounts and myths surrounding the lost city, including reports that it was a 10-day walk from Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Inca empire. Palkiewicz said he was most surprised to learn that stories of the city being under a lake were completely accurate.
The lake has been discovered in a four-square-kilometer (1.5-square-mile) plateau totally covered in vegetation.
Russian specialists taking part in the expedition used terrestrial radar to confirm the existence of an underwater network of caverns and tunnels.
According to legend, the treasures of the last Inca rulers were buried under the lake.
He added that a final extensive expedition would be carried out in October and would include scientists specializing in the study of caves.
Palkiewicz said he had found traces of pre-Inca constructions, which indicate that the Incas had only begun to colonize the area shortly before arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
The man described by Britain's Guardian newspaper as a "self-styled academic" did not rule out the existence of other Inca constructions, but said the dense jungle and the region's torrential rains prevented the team from investigating further.
The expedition, which was made up of scientists from Argentina, Italy, Poland, Russia and Peru, used terrestrial radar and satellites to locate the lost city.
The journey was planned after two previous visits to the area and was given a further boost by the discovery of a 16th-century manuscript ostensibly proving that El Dorado had been discovered by Jesuit missionaries. In the manuscript, which was found in the Vatican archives of the Society of Jesus, the pope authorizes the Jesuits to evangelize the Indians of Paititi.
Palkiewicz, a teacher of survival skills who has written some 20 books about his journeys to the most remote areas of the planet, has extensive experience in the Amazon jungles.
In 1996, he led another expedition that succeeded in locating the true source of the Amazon River.
His most recent expedition had a budget of more than $1 million and received the symbolic support of Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, Poland's Aleksander Kwasniewski and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Efforts to locate the legendary city began with the arrival of Spanish conquerors in 1532.
Rumors of a jungle city that supposedly held priceless treasures to be used to pay the ransom of the last Inca ruler, Atahualpa, prompted searches of the region.
Many previous El Dorado expeditions ended in disaster on account of the region's hostile environment and difficult terrain.
One such failed expedition took place in 1925, when famous British explorer Col. Peter Fawcett disappeared in western Brazil while looking for the city.
In 1970, a French-American expedition led by Serge Debru disappeared, most likely at the hands of Huachipairi Indians.
A 1997 expedition led by Norwegian anthropologist Lars Hafksjold also disappeared after setting out for the Madidi River, not far from the site of Palkiewicz's discovery.