Март 2004 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• "Young brain import" may make up for brain drain from Russia
• Le logiciel russe sort de l'hibernation
• UCLA Conference Brings Together World-Renowned Scientists to Address Origin of Animals
• Arctique. Sauvetage réussi sur la banquise
• Russian academy honors IMA head
• Irradiated reactor compartments storage facility to be completed in 2007
• Soviet program can protect computers against viruses
• Relics of Past Give Proof that Balhae Is Kokuryo's Successor
• Water Is Purified From Fluorine
• Thermal Portrait Of Atherosclerosis Patients
• Nuclear plant in earthquake zone
• Alan Guth and Andrei Linde Win International Cosmology Award
• Boulder scientists ride train in Siberia to gauge pollution
• Physicists see golden needle in a micro-cosmic haystack

«Утечка мозгов» из России может быть частично восполнена за счет «импорта молодых мозгов» из стран СНГ, утверждает вице-президент РАН Николай Платэ. Если молодые российские ученые покидают страну в поисках лучшей жизни, то их коллеги из бывших республик СССР заинтересованы в том, чтобы работать в России.

MOSCOW, March 1 (Itar-Tass) -- The brain drain from Russia may be partly made up for by "importing young brains" from the CIS states, vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolai Plate said.
"While our young scientists go to industrialised countries in search of better life, their colleagues from ex-Soviet republics are interested in working in Russia," he told Itar-Tass on Monday.
At the same time, he thinks that "better living conditions, larger salaries and upgraded scientific infrastructure will stop the brain drain". In his view, "The state must not prohibit young scientists from going abroad and patent their inventions there". "Science is international by nature and the participation of young scientists in the international division of labour should be welcomed and encouraged," he added.
Acting Minister of Industry and Science Andrei Fursenko said, "The biggest problem in Russia today is not the outflow of technology but its effective introduction and use."
He explained this by the fact that "developers are not interested in having their technologies introduced, especially since there are no incentives whatsoever."
The situation is partially explained by the fact that developers are not interested in launching their technologies, due to a lack of any financial motivation, he noted.
At present, just 10 percent of Russian companies can be called active in terms of using innovations, compared to 70 percent in the United States. But even innovative companies that exist in the country spend only several percent on renewing their assets.
Not a single new deposit has been found in Russia in recent years. There are 2 to 3 percent of companies working with innovative technologies in the mining sector, whereas more than 34 percent of such firms operate in the food industry.

Российский рынок программного обеспечения выходит из «зимней спячки». Начав почти с нуля, он постепенно набирает обороты и уже достиг значительных результатов.

Les éditeurs insufflent du dynamisme dans un secteur n'ayant connu jusque-là qu'une croissance timide. Le marché informatique russe est estimé entre 1,25 et 1,5 milliard de dollars.
Le pays constitue un cas particulier du marché de l'industrie du logiciel. Au début des années 80, ce secteur entame une croissance mondiale qui durera près de deux décennies. Mais l'URSS, sur la voie de la Perestroïka, passe, elle, à côté des bénéfices de ce marché. Et en subit encore les conséquences.
«Pendant la Perestroïka, des milliers de Russes ont quitté le pays avec les résultats de leurs recherches. Ils ont fait la gloire de logiciels du marché international, sans que soit mentionnée leur origine russe», déplore Valentin Makarov, président de Fort-Ross, un consortium de trente-sept sociétés technologiques russes.
Un marché estimé à 350 millions de dollars.
A cause de cette fin de siècle troublée, le marché russe reste jeune. Les plus anciennes entreprises - ParallelGraphics (éditeur de solutions 3D pour le Web), Abbyy (reconnaissance de caractères et linguistique) et Promt (linguistique) - ont été fondées entre 1989 et 1991. Mais ce retard se rattrape peu à peu. Abbyy a réalisé un chiffre d'affaires estimé à plus de 11 millions de dollars en 2002, dont la quasi-totalité à l'exportation.
Sur son marché interieur, la société connaît un certain succès avec ses solutions de gestion de formulaires. «Plus de 400 banques en Russie, dans les Balkans, en Ukraine, au Kazakhstan et en Pologne utilisent nos logiciels pour traiter plus de 350 000 ordres de paiement par jour», se félicite Aram Pakhchanian, vice-président des projets d'entreprise, une branche d'Abbyy qui a généré 2 millions de dollars de chiffre d'affaires en 2003.
Le Trésor public russe, le fonds de pension russe et l'équivalent du ministère de l'Education pour le baccalauréat national figurent parmi les clients de l'éditeur. Parti quasiment de zéro, le marché russe du logiciel a, aujourd'hui, atteint une taille conséquente. «Nous estimons que la totalité du secteur informatique en Russie se situe entre 1,25 et 1,5 milliard de dollars, dont 350 millions de dollars au minimum pour le logiciel», précise Valentin Makarov.
Et la croissance de cette jeune industrie ne fait que commencer, prédit Sergueï Andreyev, CEO d'Abbyy: «La grande tradition de recherche scientifique du pays nous a freinés a sortir des laboratoires de R&D, mais les choses changent et nos produits s'exportent bien.»

16 апреля в Калифорнийском университете (Лос-Анджелес) состоится 15-й ежегодный симпозиум, организованный университетским Центром по изучению эволюции и происхождения жизни. В симпозиуме примут участие многие известные ученые, в том числе из России.

LOS ANGELES, March 10 -- A UCLA symposium on Friday, April 16, will bring together internationally renowned scientists to address the origin of animals.
Free to the public, the 15th annual symposium sponsored by UCLA's IGPP Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life (CSEOL) will be held in UCLA's Schoenberg Auditorium (near Hilgard and Westholme avenues) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The geologically "sudden" appearance of animals in the fossil record - known as the Cambrian explosion, the event that gave rise to the evolutionary line leading to humans - has long been shrouded in mystery. In "On the Origin of Species," Charles Darwin argued that the lack of a rich fossil record predating the rise of animals at the beginning of the Cambrian period of geological time (some 550 million years ago) was "inexplicable," an absence that could be "truly urged as a valid argument" against his theory of evolution.
"For more than a century, this problem remained unsolved and seemed unsolvable," said UCLA paleobiologist J. William Schopf, founder and director of CSEOL, author of the prize-winning book, "Cradle of Life," and one of the world's leading experts on the earliest life on Earth.
"But in recent years, the picture finally has changed," Schopf said. "A vast pre-animal fossil record, dating to billions of years ago, has been uncovered. New animal fossils have been discovered, some appreciably older than the oldest Cambrian-age deposits. In addition, new techniques have been devised, chiefly from molecular biology, that sort out this problem. This symposium brings together world experts to tell us about how and when animals first appeared in the Cambrian explosion of life."
Participants at the symposium will be:
Charles R. Marshall, professor of geology and biology at Harvard University, adjunct professor of geobiology at MIT, and former member of UCLA's department of Earth and space sciences. Marshall, recipient of the prestigious "young paleontologist" Schuchert Award of the Paleontological Society and a Guggenheim Fellowship, is an internationally recognized pioneering leader of the new wave of biologists and paleontologists deciphering how evolution works. He has applied in-depth understanding of mathematics, molecular biology, paleontology and the workings of evolution to studies of the incompleteness of the fossil record, extinctions in the history of life, and the molecular evolution and systematics of living systems. Marshall will speak at 9:10 a.m. on "The Cambrian Explosion of Animals."
Ellis Yochelson is past president of the Paleontological Society, the leading national scientific society in his field, and an historian of the geological sciences. He is the worldwide expert on Charles Doolittle Walcott, discoverer of the Cambrian explosion and the Burgess Shale fossils. Yochelson was recipient of the 2003 Geological Society of America's History of Science Medal. A paleontologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History until his official retirement, he remains an active researcher and a world-renowned specialist in the study of fossil mollusks (especially snails and their relatives). He served as president of the History of Earth Sciences Society and as editor or co-editor of major publications in paleontology. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Washington Academy of Sciences, an honorary lifetime member of the History of Earth Sciences Society and the 2003 award winner of the History of Geology Division of the Geological Society of America. Yochelson will speak about Walcott at 10 a.m.
Desmond H. Collins is a world expert on the Cambrian explosion as evidenced by the 530-million-year-old animal fossils of the Burgess Shale. He holds the position of senior curator at Canada's Royal Ontario Museum and is head of the department of paleobiology. He is also a faculty member of the University of Toronto's departments of zoology and geology. His work has been featured on science television programs in the United States, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. His honors include his selection as chair of the Geological Association of Canada's Palaeontological Division and distinguished lecturer of the Paleontological Society. From 18 seasons of fieldwork (1975-2000), Collins' experience has provided a new perspective on the ancient fauna of the Burgess Shale. He will speak at 11:10 a.m. about "The First Big Find: Fossils of the Burgess Shale, Canada."
Jun-Yuan Chen, research professor at the Chinese Academy of Science's Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, is one of China's most distinguished scientists. Chen is discoverer, with Chia-wei Li, of the oldest animal fossils now known: 580 million years old. Formally recognized in 1987 by China's National Scientific Council as that country's Outstanding Scientist, in 2003 Chen was honored as recipient of China's highest scientific accolade, the national First Class Award of Science. He was recognized early in his career for his seminal studies of Cambrian-age cephalopods, ancient relatives of modern squids; over the past decade his investigations of the remarkably well-preserved Early Cambrian Chengjiang fauna of South China have established his prominence worldwide. He is the author of 15 books, and his research on the Chengjiang fossils has contributed new understanding of the nature of evolution, rates of evolution and the development of biologic complexity. He will speak at 1:30 p.m. about "Amazing Fossils From the Dawn of Animals and the Cambrian explosion of Life."
Mark Webster, assistant professor of paleobiology at UCLA, is among the most accomplished young paleontologists in the United States. He is an expert on early-evolved fossil trilobites, ancient lobster-like animals that are the prize catch of every fossil hunter. He has carried out geological and paleontological fieldwork in Spain, Scotland, England and the United States. His honors include the Geological Society of America's 1998 Outstanding Student Research Award. Admired for his research and teaching, Webster is associate director of CSEOL and played a major role in organizing the symposium. He will speak at 2:20 p.m. about "Trends in Early Animal Evolution: Anecdotes and Evidence From Trilobites."
Kevin J. Peterson, assistant professor of biology at Dartmouth College, is an international leader in the interdisciplinary science involved in unraveling the origins of animals. A recent UCLA Ph.D., Peterson was recipient of a CSEOL Fellowship in 1990 and is the first former CSEOL Fellow to participate as a speaker in a CSEOL symposium. He conducted his graduate studies at UCLA under the tutelage of Charles Marshall and served as a visiting researcher in the department of palaeontology at the Natural History Museum, London. Peterson has given invited lectures at universities and national and international scientific meetings. He will speak at 3:30 p.m. about "Tempo and Mode of Early Animals Evolution: The Molecular Record."
David Bottjer, professor of paleontology in USC's department of Earth sciences and a research associate at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, will moderate a question-and-answer session, starting at 4:20 p.m., when the audience will have an opportunity to ask questions. He is the incoming president of the Paleontological Society. He is also editor-in-chief of the journal "Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology," and co-editor of the highly acclaimed book series, "Critical Moments and Perspectives in Paleobiology and Earth History." An active researcher, focusing especially on the evolutionary paleoecology of macroinvertebrate animals as evidenced in the Phanerozoic geologic record, he was honored in 2002 as CSEOL's Distinguished Scientist of the year.
  Mikhail Fedonkin, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russia's leading expert in the field, is expected to attend the symposium and participate in the question-and-answer session. Previous topics in the CSEOL symposium series have included "Are We Alone in the Universe?" "The Endangered Earth," "Major Events in the History of Life," "Humans and the Environmental Crisis," "Evolution and the Molecular Revolution," "Origin and Evolution of the Universe," "Origin and Evolution of Intelligence," "Engineering the Human Germline," "Evolution in the Computer Age" and "Extinctions in the History of Life." Each symposium is later published as a book.

Благополучно завершилась операция по спасению двенадцати российских ученых. Они провели 4 дня на льдине после того, как станция «Северный Полюс 32» ушла под воду.

Quatre jours sur un bout de banquise au pôle Nord. Les douze hommes de la station russe Severny Polious 32 (SP-32), ont été ramenés sains et saufs, hier, sur l'archipel norvégien de Spitzberg, à 700 km du lieu de l ' accident. La station polaire SP-32 avait été presque entièrement engloutie dans les eaux glaciales mercredi, quand la banquise sur laquelle elle était installée s'était brisee. Il s'agirait d' un accident sans précédent.
Un enorme pan de glace
Le directeur de la station, Vladimir Kochelev, a raconté par téléphone à la télévision comment, soudainement, un pan de glace de plusieurs mètres de haut s'est dressé, engloutissant 90 % de la station dans les eaux polaires.
L'opération de sauvetage par hélicoptère , a été menée dans des conditions «exceptionnellement difficiles», a déclaré Artour Tchilingarov, président de l'Association russe des explorateurs polaires et responsable de l'opération. Les sauveteurs ont dû accélérer la manœuvre car le temps menaçait de se dégrader aujourd'hui.
Deux chiens qui accompagnaient l'expédition scientifique ont également été sauvés. Les rescapés devraient bientôt être rapatriés en Russie et retrouver leurs familles «avant lundi».
-30 degres
Disposant de réserves de fioul et de nourriture, les douze hommes ont survécu pendant quatre jours sur un morceau de glace, dans un abri rescapé de leur base, par des températures avoisinant les - 30 degres Celsius. Ils avaient préparé une zone d'atterrissage pour les hélicoptères venus les secourir. Le sort de ces scientifiques russes, tous expérimentés et familiers des expéditions polaires, tenait la Russie en haleine depuis mercredi.
Station dérivante
L'expédition se trouvait à 700 km du pôle Nord géographique, dans le bassin de Nansen, entre le Groenland et la terre François-Joseph.
Entrée en service en avril 2003, SP-32 était installée sur un morceau de banquise de 1,5 km sur 2, qui a parcouru 2.750 km en neuf mois dans la région du pôle. La station se dirigeait vers le sud.
SP-32, qui devait achever sa mission en avril, était la première station dérivante à reprendre l'étude du pôle Nord après une interruption de douze ans.

Доктор Й. Блашар, президент Израильской Медицинской Ассоциации, стал первым израильтянином - членом Российской академии медицинских наук.

Dr. Yoram Blachar, chairman of the Israel Medical Association, will on Tuesday become the first Israeli to be inducted into the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. The ceremony will take place at IMA headquarters in Ramat Gan, with the Russian ambassador to Israel and a Russian scientific delegation attending.
The Russian academy is the leading institution for medical sciences in that country and enjoys much prestige among doctors in Russia and the rest of the world.
Blachar is being cited for his contribution to international health and medicine, for his work in Israel and as chairman of the World Medical Association. In a statement issued by the Russian academy, it said that Blachar's membership "symbolizes the beginning of cooperation between Russia and Israel in the field of medicine and science."
Meanwhile, the Geha Mental Health Center of Clalit Health Services has signed a twinning agreement with the St. Petersburg's Baktereb Institute, which is the leading psychiatric research center in Russia. Geha director Prof. Shmuel Tyano said that at a time when Israel is diplomatically isolated, it is very important to continue cooperation with researchers abroad.
The agreement, he added, would not only serve patients and the advance of research but also promote cooperation between the two countries. The two centers will exchange know-how and researchers and carry out joint research.

16-20 февраля в Берлине и Грайсвальде состоялись заседания совместных российско-германских управляющего и технического советов комплексного проекта «Безопасное обращение с реакторными блоками утилизируемых атомных подводных лодок». На встрече был утвержден график создания объекта хранения реакторных блоков АПЛ в губе Сайда: первые блоки должны быть помещены на береговую площадку осенью 2005 года, а полная сдача объекта в эксплуатацию намечена на конец 2007 года.

On February 16-20, the meetings of the joint Russian-German managing and technical councils of the project on safe handling of reactor compartments from the retired submarines was held in Germany, Nuclear.ru was told by Victor Akhunov, Minatom's departmental head for the decommissioning of nuclear installations in Russia. The project is being implemented according to the agreement signed in October 2003.
According to Akhunov, the project consists of 3 parts. The first part is preparation of the compartments for long storage and their preservation. Shipyard Nerpa has the entire necessary infrastructure for these operations. The second part is transportation. It was decided to transport the reactor compartments ready for conservation to the storage facility by the floating dock PD-42. And the third part is creating infrastructure of the onshore storage facility. Reactors can be stored there for 70 years. Shipyard Nerpa, the Kurchatov Russian Science Centre and German Company Energiewerke Nord GmbH will manage the project.
According to the construction schedule approved at the meeting, the first reactor compartments should be placed in the onshore facility already in 2005, but the site is to be completed in 2007. The contracts for some works in 2004 should be signed by March 21. They will deal with site exploration in Sayda bay and technical documentation. «We hope that already in June this year we can have ground breaking ceremony of the facility» Akhunov said to Nuclear.ru.

Российские ученые полагают, что программа безопасности, созданная еще в советское время, способна практически полностью защитить компьютеры от вирусов.

MOSCOW,March 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian scientists believe that the Security Programme for computers, created in Soviet times, can protect computers against viruses almost totally, Boris Babayan, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of the Institute of Microprocessor Computer Systems, told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
According to Babayan, most of the computer viruses existing today attack the "weak areas" of the software and penetrate the computers through so-called "holes" in the operational systems. In the opinion of Babayan, "the principle on which the Security Programme is based is rather simple." When the programme detects the virus-infected file and establishes the type of the virus, it blocks at once the whole of the file. So, Babayan continued, "the virus can no longer spread inside the computer, much less penetrate Internet." At the same time, "the Security Programme neither reduces the working speed of the computer, nor overloads its memory."
Babayan believes the effective introduction of the Security Programme is impossible without its adaptation to the modern operational systems, like Windows, Mackintosh etc. "Some ten billion dollars are needed for its introduction, but the expenditures are a trifle in comparison with the damage, inflicted by numerous viruses spread in Internet," he said. Experts are of the opinion, that some 700 types of viruses are now spread in Internet. Each virus has several versions. Some 20 viruses are especially dangerous, including MyDoom, Bagle and Nelsky. According to the estimates, the damage inflicted by MyDoom alone has reached 36 billion dollars.

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