Октябрь 2004 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Siberian scientists develop self-heating insoles
• UW researcher honored by Russian academy
• Russian Scientists Leverage Regulatory Know-How to Court International Healthcare Markets
• UM geologist's research in Siberia could change view the Earth's evolution
• Après l'annonce des réformes, le Kremlin donne "un signal positif"
• Science and Life journal marks its 70th jubilee
• La Russie envisage une mission de simulation martienne de 500 jours
• Russian Expedition Establishes Exact Location of Ancient Mystical Country Shambala
• Great breakthrough in cancer diagnostics
• Japan 2005 Expo to display frozen mammoth
• Laser Instead Of A Diamond Saw
• Pre-Amur Dinosaur Is A Newcomer From America
• Bulgaria, Russia Design Jointly Satellite
• Doubts cast on benefits of Kyoto protocol for Russia
• La Russie va construire un pas de tir spatial en Corée du Sud
• Russian Academy of Sciences to be modernized

Сибирские ученые разработали самонагревающиеся стельки. Специальный сорбент, который в них содержится, поглощает влагу, выделяя при этом тепло. Стельки поддерживают температуру 18-20 градусов в течение 5-6 часов, после чего для восстановления свойств их достаточно просушить на батарее. Полпред президента РФ в Сибирском федеральном округе Анатолий Квашнин уже рекомендовал начальнику тыла Вооруженных сил РФ использовать стельки в армии.

The latest invention of Siberian scientists - self-heating shoe insoles has been recommended for use in the armed forces by the President's plenipotentiary in Siberian region Anatoly Kvashnin to the chief of Russian Armed Forces.
Kvashnin visited the Siberian department on Tuesday for an exhibition hosted by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The self-heating show insoles were among the items displayed at the exhibition booth.
The plenipotentiary, who used to be head of the Joint Staff of Russia's armed forces, was so fascinated with the new "invention" that he immediately called up Vladimir Isakov, chief of the home front of Russia's Armed Forces.
Kvashnin spent about an hour on the phone explaining all advantages of the unique item and offered Isakov to purchase several boxes with samples.
The Institute's director Alexander Noskov stated that the insoles are made of special sorbtive medium that absorbs moisture and generates heat. Further, the insoles are capable of neutralizing unpleasant odor. It is possible to dry them on a regular heater; they easily restore their unique qualities. Such insoles are quite durable as well are are said to last for a year. Self-heating insoles maintain temperature of about 18-20 C (70F) for approximately 5-6 hours. The insoles have been successfully tested under special trials in Chechnya.
The harsh climate of Russia burdens people with added expenses to ensure personal comforts, particularly for the lower limbs. The problem compounds by the fact that human body constantly secretes water and perspires. Not only does moisture that evaporates from one's foot cool down the lower limbs, it also tends to increase humidity inside the footware up to 100 percent. The lower the ambient temperature, faster is moisture condensation rate and it gets absorbed by shoes. Overheating is also observed in case of heavy fur boots, which are too warm most of the time. Due to this people have to change their footware insides frequently.
American, European and Japanese companies manufacture an entire array of various insoles which are mainly built on a rather complex system of air ventilation. However, this principle proves ineffective in cold or wet weather.
Existing insoles that are in the market capable of generating heat are way too expensive. In Russia, one easily could buy a pair of shoes for that money.
Siberian scientists developed a new material that absorbs moisture and generates heat at once. Their insoles proved to be 3-5 times more effective than their western competitors. Once the temperature drops below +35C, the new material activates and starts absorbing moisture and generates heat. The insoles have ideal customers in servicemen, miners, construction workers, athletes, to name a few.

Американский эпидемиолог Скотт Дэвис стал членом Российской Академии Медицинских Наук за исследования в области рака щитовидной железы и детской лейкемии в районах, пострадавших в результате аварии на Чернобыльской АЭС.

For an American, being inducted into a foreign science academy is quite an honor. UW professor Scott Davis is the first foreign epidemiologist to be elected to the Russian Academy of Medical Science. Davis, who chairs the Department of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, recently received the honor for his research of thyroid cancer and childhood leukemia in areas hit by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown of 1986.
Since 1990, Davis has headed an international team of doctors, epidemiologists and other specialists to chart the effects of radiation on the infected population in the former Soviet Union.
"It's a great honor. I'm very pleased to be a member of this body," Davis said. "I look at it as more of a recognition of a collaboration we've built over these years, more than an individual honor for me." Davis believes his appointment is a reflection on the kind of research done by his team.
"In terms of working in Russia, it provides a recognition of the high caliber and rigor of the research," said Davis. "That's important internally in the country for facilitating future research endeavors, and internationally for recognition of the Russian team. It also gives our Seattle group a similar recognition."
Davis' research is based out of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where he serves as a member in the division of public health sciences. His team includes about 50 Russian scientists and a half dozen Seattle-based scientists. For the past 14 years, the group has studied the relationships between radiation exposure and the incidence of thyroid cancer and childhood leukemia. The leukemia research has been completed, and Davis is currently submitting his findings to medical journals.
"One of the hallmarks of our work compared to other work around Chernobyl is the estimates of radiation doses for each individual," said Davis.
According to Davis, his group's work has been more specific than most previous studies on the region that focus on larger groups of people.
"We have taken the trouble of finding for each individual their radiation dose and looking at the relationship between disease and dose, and dose response. We're less than a handful of groups that have utilized the concept of individual doses. You can't get much more precise," said Davis.
According to a news release from the Fred Hutchinson Center, the project was born in 1990 after a Russian who had been exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl meltdown came to the center to receive treatment for leukemia. But according to Davis, there were many obstacles, some political, some practical.
"There was no history or tradition of doing epidemiology in these areas. And there was no history of groups working together in a collaborative fashion, even within one country," said Davis. He said the group spent four years establishing the infrastructure for the research.
"And there were no resources in terms of money, equipment and supplies, so we had to bring all of that with us and foster the relationships," Davis said. "Even today, the question of resources and working conditions is really challenging."
Fred Hutchinson formed a relationship with a research institute in Moscow, and Davis made his first of more than 30 visits to the country in 1990.
"We started this when the Soviet Union was in existence, and spent the initial couple of years putting together the infrastructure," Davis said. "Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and we were working in Belarus, which was a different county that wanted nothing to do with Russia, and we were out in the cold." The effects of the Chernobyl meltdown itself can also make for a difficult job, according to Davis.
"It's very sobering to see the situation there," said Davis. "Over the years, we've been to Chernobyl, zones that were evacuated, and places where people have moved in that are still highly contaminated, and see the impact on these people's lives. That's why we do this work -- so we can learn from this horrible event."

Российские специфические нормы на продукцию здравоохранения стоили нации миллионы долларов. После распада Советского Союза одна из наиболее населенных стран мира не могла продавать свои изобретения в области фармацевтики и медицинских технологий за пределами собственных границ. Существующие российские нормативы не отвечают требованиям большинства стран. Но недавние усилия программы "Инициативы в Биоиндустрии" (BII) и Международной организации профессионалов здравоохранения (RAPS), совместно с Госдепартаментом США, направлены на преодоление этой преграды.

ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ - Russia's unique regulations on health product development have cost the nation millions of dollars. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, the world's 7th most populated nation has remained isolated from marketing its pharmaceutical and medical device discoveries outside its own borders. To its fiscal detriment, Russia's existing regulations are not compatible with the requirements of most countries. But through the recent efforts of the BioIndustry Initiative (BII), the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS), in conjunction with the US State Department, is helping Russia become a known healthcare research entity.
In order to build a bridge between Russian science and the global community, the US government has sought the expertise of RAPS in establishing standards for Russian research facilities and scientific organizations. Working in collaboration with Russian authorities, RAPS is helping the country's leading scientists harmonize their regulatory processes with those of the international community-opening a multimillion dollar market potential and the possibility of "undiscovered" therapeutics.
Zorina Pitkin, PhD, RAC, a native of Russia and a member of RAPS' advisory committee for the project, likens the problem of regulatory incompatibility to differences in electrical voltages across international borders. "If you're from the US and you bring a laptop computer to Europe, the voltage difference will render your laptop useless. But if you have an adaptor, you can make it work."
Similarly, if a healthcare company follows a set of regulations that satisfies the requirements of multiple countries, they can leverage their research or products for the benefit of many.
RAPS' mission to help establish harmonized regulations in Russia is a component of BII -- an effort that aims to reduce terrorists' access to biological weapons and facilities, and joins Russia in combating terrorism. To achieve these goals, the State Department is helping to transform former Soviet biological production facilities into channels for sustainable peaceful applications, and is partnering with Russian scientists to develop drugs and vaccines for highly infectious diseases that affect both the former Soviet Union and the world.
"RAPS brings critical expertise and a global scope to the BioIndustry Initiative and our efforts to provide the Russian scientific community with international reach in marketing its discoveries," said Dr. Jason Rao, Director of the BioIndustry Initiative.
To this end, members of RAPS' advisory committee recently made a trip to Moscow to evaluate Russia's current regulatory environment. Using that acquired knowledge, the committee is now working with members of the Russian scientific community to examine ways to enhance the compatibility of Russian regulations and thus the marketability of Russian health products.
Central to RAPS' efforts is the advancement of good laboratory practice (GLP) in Russia. GLP is the model through which laboratory testing is carried out in a controlled, precise manner. GLP is a critical element of international health product regulation. Without adhering to it, a company's drugs and medical devices cannot pass the scrutiny of international governments.
"There is a sincere willingness from the Russian scientists to learn good laboratory practice," explained Pitkin. "There is also a strong demand from the Russian government to implement it. There's work to do, but the willingness is there."
According to RAPS Executive Director Sherry Keramidas, PhD, CAE, "This program demonstrates the great import of regulatory compliance in every setting, every nation. It's our goal to provide the knowledge and tools to reach these goals ... to enable Russia to compete on an equal playing field with scientists around the globe."

Американский геолог Джим Сирз совместно с группой российских ученых сделал интересные находки в Сибири, в районе реки Белой.

In the far reaches of Siberia, University of Montana geologist Jim Sears found what he was looking for this summer, and it could mean a dramatic shift in our understanding of Earth's evolution.
For nearly 30 years, Sears has been alone in the sea of academia with his seemingly radical hypothesis. He argues that Siberia, not Australia, was once attached to the western edge of North America and rifted open the Pacific Ocean basin.
Now, thanks to a rare opportunity to spend the summer scouring Russia's most remote corners, Sears has some compelling evidence. That evidence, he said, shows eastern Siberia is home to the exact same rock formations as California's Death Valley, and he'll share the news at an international gathering of geologists in December.
By then, results from DNA-like tests of the rocks will be complete and, he believes, will confirm what his trained eye already tells him.
"Once these samples pass the lab test, the hypothesis will become a theory," Sears said. "And then we can move on to lots of other things - such as the behavior of Earth's magnetic fields and the origin of some fossil species, perhaps unravelling some of our previous knowledge." Sears, along with his Russian-speaking son, Robert Sears, spent four weeks with two Russian scientists and three Russian science students floating the Belaya River and taking rock samples.
Although the small expedition of seven had good weather when it set out, the bulk of the trip took place under a cloud of horrific thunderstorms, rain and flash flood conditions.
Whatever language and cultural barriers there may have been were quickly diluted by Mother Nature and the need to work as a team.
A puncture in any of the expedition's seven small rubber rafts would have meant major trouble and possibly the loss of once-in-a-lifetime research to the roaring river, Robert Sears said.
"There was a lot of camaraderie - and adventure," he said. "And it was great to spend time with my dad in that amazing place." Although the Russian government has long been reluctant to open its country to outsiders, Jim Sears and Don Winston, a retired UM geology professor, were granted access for separate research missions this summer.
While Sears' mission, which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, was focused on collecting rock samples and examining geology along the Belaya River, Winston's Russian-led entourage planned to traverse the Udzha Valley, where the trip's financial backer, a Russian diamond company, believed enormous mineral deposits resided.
Sears' journey stayed its course. Winston, who was hoping to find a colorful rock formation just like the "Belt Super Group" found in Glacier National Park, had a dramatic change of itinerary, and ended up floating the Anabar River.
"We never did go where we originally thought we would go," Winston said. "The diamond company changed its mind, so we went to a different area." "I didn't find any belt rocks, but I found rocks I'd never seen before," the 73-year-old said joyfully. "I saw geology that was interesting in its own right - stuff I don't think anyone's looked at."
And while Sears' research was filled with bad weather and tense survival moments, Winston, said his journey was like a long leisurely float on the Missouri River.
"It was wonderful," he said. "The landscape was pretty flat - a big plateau where glaciers had not scraped off any surfaces in the Ice Age. It was just a big rubble of rocks with rivers winding through it."
Because his expedition was so far north, the sun shone all day as if it were 5 p.m. on a early fall day in Montana.
"We had a very relaxing time," Winston said. "We just floated all day."
"I may not have found any belt rocks to support Jim's theory, but it was a grand time," he said. "I would have been a damn fool if I hadn't gone."
"Now I feel like I can research more of Siberia - with having actually been there."

30 сентября российское правительство официально высказалось в пользу ратификации Киотского протокола – без особого, впрочем, энтузиазма. Большинство экспертов считают, что ратификация угрожает экономическому росту России и рассматривают подписание протокола как вынужденный шаг, связанный прежде всего с вступлением России в ВТО.

C'est sans enthousiasme, et sans professer de quelconques convictions quant à la teneur écologique de la démarche, que le gouvernement russe s'est officiellement prononcé, jeudi 30 septembre, en faveur de la ratification du protocole de Kyoto sur la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Depuis 1997, la Russie tergiversait sur sa volonté de faire aboutir le processus. Vladimir Poutine avait multiplié les déclarations ambiguës sur le sujet, avant d'indiquer en mai, lors d'un sommet Union européenne-Russie tenu à Moscou, que tout progrès sur Kyoto serait lié à l'approbation accordée par les Européens à l'entrée de la Russie dans l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC).
"Si nous refusions de ratifier, nous serions marginalisés", a déclaré jeudi le vice-ministre des affaires étrangères Iouri Fedotov, lors d'une réunion du conseil des ministres décrite par la presse comme "houleuse". "Cela aurait des préjudices non seulement politiques mais aussi peut-être économiques", a déclaré le ministre.
La décision de se rallier à Kyoto "est forcée", a commenté un conseiller du Kremlin, l'économiste Andreï Illarionov, opposant farouche à la ratification. "Nous ne la prenons pas avec plaisir." En apportant un frein à la croissance russe, le protocole "entraînera des pertes de l'ordre de 1 000 milliards de dollars" à l'économie russe, et "rendra impossible le doublement du produit intérieur brut", affirme-t-il.
"UN DÉBAT DIFFICILE"
Le moment choisi pour le feu vert officiel russe apporté au processus de Kyoto semblait répondre à un souci du Kremlin de redresser l'image du régime de Vladimir Poutine, deux semaines après l'annonce de réformes politiques concentrant encore plus de pouvoirs entre les mains du chef de l'Etat.
Sous le titre "La diplomatie du gaz carbonique", le journal Vremia Novostieï, expliquait vendredi, que la Russie "se devait d'envoyer un signal positif" à l'Europe en montrant qu'elle "peut être un partenaire loyal". Les Izvestia décrivent la décision de Moscou comme éminemment liée à la question de l'entrée dans l'OMC. "Chaque fois que notre président rencontrait des leaders européens, ces derniers évoquaient Kyoto. L'entrée dans l'OMC se profilait, mais le protocole constituait un obstacle."
L'approbation définitive par Moscou dépend maintenant du vote de la Douma, la Chambre basse du Parlement, qui pourrait se prononcer sur ce sujet "d'ici à la fin de l'année", selon une source officielle citée par les agences russes. Dominée aux deux tiers par le parti pro-Poutine, Russie unie, l'approbation de l'Assemblée ne fait guère de doute. Mais le premier ministre russe, Mikhaïl Fradkov, en visite jeudi aux Pays-Bas, a laissé entendre que le suspense pourrait encore durer. Il dit s'attendre à "un débat difficile".
Les émissions de gaz carboniques et à effet de serre de la Russie ont chuté de 32 % depuis 1990, la date de référence du protocole, ce qui laisse augurer des gains financiers pour Moscou lorsque le système de vente de "quotas" de pollution, prévu par le traité de Kyoto, sera mis en place. La Russie espère recueillir des investissements et entend encore négocier ces avantages.
La communauté scientifique russe est divisée sur les bienfaits de Kyoto, mais les signaux parvenant du Kremlin en faveur d'une ratification ont semblé, jeudi, faire taire de nombreuses réticences. Un expert de la Haute Ecole d'économie, le professeur Alexandre Goloub, expliquait qu'avec 60 % de son territoire situé dans des zones de permagel, cette couche constamment gelée sous la surface du sol, la Russie avait tout intérêt à lutter contre le réchauffement planétaire, "pour préserver nos oléoducs, sauver les villes du grand nord des inondations et réduire les feux de forêt en Sibérie".

Популярному российскому журналу "Наука и жизнь" исполняется 70 лет.

MOSCOW, October 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Nauka i Zhizn (Science and Life) popular science journal marks its 70th jubilee. The publication is economically fully independent and apolitical. According to Dmitry Zykov, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, the journal lives exclusively on its own proceeds from subscription, retailing and advertising.
"Over the past five years, the journal's circulation has grown from 35,000 to 45,000 copies, 75 percent of which is distributed on subscription not only at the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences but also among private persons," Zykov said.
Subscription to the journal continuously grows in Siberia, in the Far East, in Altai, Krasnodar Territory, and the Volga area where the journal has no competitors in the niche of popular science publications, Zykov pointed out.

Российские специалисты будут готовить пилотируемую экспедицию на Марс. В Институте медико-биологических проблем предполагается начать эксперимент "500 дней" . В течение этого времени 6 членов экипажа станут жить в автономном режиме на " марсианском корабле" , на котором будет установлена система жизнеобеспечения замкнутого цикла. За физическим и психологическим состоянием экипажа будут постоянно наблюдать врачи и ученые.

Des chercheurs russes prévoient de faire vivre 6 hommes dans un tube de métal pendant plus d'un an pour simuler les stress et les défis d'une mission martienne habitée. L'expérience de 500 jours, en cours de développement par l'institut russe des problèmes médicaux et biologiques, va isoler des volontaires dans une station spatiale simulée pour une durée équivalente à une mission habitée sur Mars.
Durant les 500 jours de l'étude, les 6 volontaires ne pourront recourir qu'à une quantité prédéfinie de fournitures. Environ 5 tonnes d'aliments et d'oxygène et 3 tonnes d'eau. Un médecin accompagnera les volontaires dans le module pour traiter les maladies et les blessures. Les volontaires ne seront autorisés à quitter l'expérience que s'ils présentent des symptômes sévères de stress psychologique. Cette simulation n'est pas réservée à des volontaires russes. La NASA a été invitée par les scientifiques russes à participer à cette expérience, mais l'agence spatiale américaine n'a pas encore donné de réponse.
Les astronautes de la NASA font des rotations de 6 mois à bord de la station spatiale internationale. Les Russes ont cependant proposé d'étendre les missions à 1 an. Ces derniers aimeraient que les expériences médicales et biologiques à bord de l'ISS servent à préparer les futurs vols à grande distance.
Le record de durée d'un équipage américain dans l'espace revient aux membres d'Expedition 4, Carl Walz et Dan Bursh, et s'établit à 196 jours. Le vétéran russe Valery Polyakov détient toujours le record du monde, avec 438 jours à bord de la station MIR entre 1994 et 1995.
À noter : l'équipage de la simulation de 500 jours sera uniquement composé de volontaires masculins…

Российская экспедиция под руководством члена-корреспондента Российской академии естественных наук (РАЕН) профессора Юрия Захарова установила точное расположение столицы Древнего государства Шангшунг - Шамбалы. Ранее считалось, что страна Шамбала - это всего лишь эзотерическое понятие, однако недавнее открытие, сделанное отечественными учеными, опровергло этот тезис, и теперь достоверно известно, что Шамбала - не только эзотерическое, но и географическое понятие.

A Russian expedition headed by a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Yuri Zakharov has established the exact location of the capital of the ancient state of Shambala – the mystical center revered by many religions and philosophers all over the World.
"We saw what no European had ever seen before," Zakharov claimed. Speaking at a press conference organized by the Russian Information Agency Novosti, Yuri Zakharov said that the expedition was unique. "Nothing similar has been done before," the researcher said. Shambala, called Shang Shung in Tibetan, is an ancient religious and philosophical center which is believed to border Persia and Tajikistan. The center of the country – its internal or hidden part was located near Mount Kailas in the Himalayas. The 6714-meter-high Mount Kailas is considered sacred by Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and the traditional Tibetan faith called Bon.
Zakharov said that before his trip many researchers had considered Shambala just an esoteric concept and that the recent discovery made by Russians proved that the ancient country really existed. The expedition headed by Zakharov traveled in the internal or hidden areas of Shambala. The scientists also managed to climb Mount Kailas to the altitude of 6200-6300 meters and fly the Russian flag there. Zakharov said that this was the highest altitude they could climb without special equipment. The scientist also stressed that the "de-mystification" of Shambala was not the goal of his expedition. "The main goal was to prove that Shambala is in reality a scientific concept," Zakharov said.

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