Декабрь 2006 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Novosibirsk academic: Russia will face a gigantic deficit of labor resources
• La partie russe de ISS bientôt équipée d'un nouveau module scientifique
• Elsevier announces new publishing partnership with the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Des virus grippaux venus du froid
• La Légion d'Honneur pour Vladimir Fortov, savant russe
• Bringing in Siberian research from the cold
• Mongolian Entombment Studied In Novosibirsk
• Russian capabilities benefit the hydrogen economy
• Russian Scientists Made Archeological Findings In Egypt
• Des scientifiques en route vers l'Antarctique
• Large genome protects from mutations

22-23 ноября в новосибирском Академгородке обсуждалась проблема иностранных мигрантов. Обсуждение проходило в рамках научно-практического семинара "Иностранные мигранты на сибирском рынке труда".

The problem of foreign migrants was discussed in the Novosibirsk Academic Campus November 22-23 in the framework of the scientific-practical seminar "Foreign Migrants on the Siberian Labor Market."
A REGNUM correspondent reports that all the speakers were unanimous that the problem of foreign migrants on the labor market is one of the most topical problems for both the present and the future. Academic, the director of the Institute of Economy and Industrial Production of the Russian Science Academy Valery Kuleshov said that quite different people are interested in this problem: students, scientists, economists, and politicians. In Oct 2006 the Commerce and Industry Chamber and the Russian Academy of Sciences held a conference on demographic and migration problems. Very soon, on Dec 4, the Department of Social Sciences of the RAS will also discuss this problem.
You can speak about this problem and see its real scale only if you are involved in the process yourself, says Kuleshov. He told the audience that several hundreds of migrants worked in the Academic Campus from the spring to the autumn 2006. They painted houses, repaired roads, scavenged the streets for 70 hours a week before the holiday - the 50th anniversary of the Siberian Division of the RSA. "Just to know that there are foreign migrants in the country and to come across them at your every step are two quite different stories. But still, foreign migrants are a news to us," says Kuleshov.
In the Soviet times, there were few foreign migrants and there were inter-state agreements about them. The biggest supplier of labor force was Vietnam: from 70,000 to 90,000 Vietnamese worked in the country at that time. In Kemerovo alone their number amounted to 5,000-7,000, mostly women working in light industry. In the European part of the country, foreign migrants were employed in construction. But all of them worked under very close regime: they lived in special hostels wherefrom they were taken to work. They had almost no contacts with our citizens, and nobody knew anything about them.
Today, we deal with the problem of millions and even tens of millions labor migrants. "The problem has grown manifold, but it's not the point. The point is that the institution of foreign migrants is growing together with the institution of economy, together with the growing living standard. There are more and more vacancies for professions that aborigines worldwide regard as not prestigious and leave for foreign workers." In fact, the country's population is decreasing, and this is one of the reasons why we should urgently do something to effectively use our labor resources, says Kuleshov. "Our key problem is low labor productivity, but in the countries where this index is 2-3 times higher, the problem of migration and foreign workers employment is still existent and is even bigger. Simply, their problem is 30 and more years old and they already have a relevant policy."
The situation will continue to worsen and, unless Russia revises its model of economic development, it will face a gigantic deficit of labor resources. "In Russia labor productivity grows much slower than GDP or even the wages, which proves that economy growth is low."
Labor productivity growth is a way to compensate for the lack of own labor resources and to access foreign labor resources. "However, Russia's weakest point is that we don't know exactly how many labor resources we need. If we knew that we need, say, 60mln people, we would know what to do with the problem of foreign labor force. In the past, the state set labor resource balances of different levels - both static and dynamic. Today, we do nothing in this direction."
Concerning Siberia, Kuleshov says that in 1989 the population of the Siberia and Far East Federal Region was 21.1mln people, in 2002 - 20.1mln, in 2005 - 19.8mln. From 1989 till 2005 the population of the Far East dropped by 1.4mln to 6.6mln people. "Young people keep leaving the region in search for better climate and more money," Kuleshov says, quoting President Putin. Meanwhile, during the same period the population of Southern Federal Region grew by 2.4mln, of Moscow and Moscow region by 1.5mln people.
This generates many other problems, like the lack of labor resources. More and more manufacturing enterprises are running short of highly-qualified personnel and, therefore, cannot develop their productions. The State Statistical Service forecasts that in 10 years Russia's population will drop to 130mln people, labor will become the hardest-to-get resource, and Siberia and European Russia will start to fight for migrants.
"This deficit is especially acute in the rich eastern regions and the only way-out is to quickly develop the local social-economic infrastructure," says Kuleshov. "Only then can we hope for some redistribution of the population. However, the migration flows move strictly from the east to the west and can hardly be changed. Of course, there are many suggestions how to do it. The cooperation with the CIS is one of the ways-out, while dosed and controlled migration from neighboring countries should be one of the key measures - and that's exactly what we are doing now."
Kuleshov points to the Asian vector of migration. The problem is that for such a huge country as Russia expected population growth and density is not enough for developing or, at least, preserving own geopolitical space. This problem is especially acute for eastern Russia. "In Sept I was in Vladivostok for a week and in Oct in Khabarovsk also for a week. While in Novosibirsk region most of foreign migrants are from Central Asia, there they are from China and while in Novosibirsk they number thousands, there they number many tens of thousands. In the Far East Chinese live in enclaves, they have their own markers and have replaced our citizens."
Kuleshov says that it is necessary to regulate migration flows. Recently the Government revised labor quota for migrants from the countries Russia is on visa terms with. The quota has been reduced to 20,000 people. Today, the Government is drafting a document that will set quota for non-visa migrants too. "Official statistics say that from 7mln to 12mln foreigners work in Russia at present - 10%-15% of the country's economically active population. What planning, forecast, distribution are we talking about if we have a range of 5mln? If we have 5mln-7mln people, we need one regime, but if we have 12mln people - the regime should be quite different. In fact, we don't know exactly how many foreigners work in our country today. In Moscow, there are from 1mln to 3mln foreign migrants: either 1mln or 3, or even 4, and only 800,000 are registered," says Kuleshov.
The conclusion is banal. First, it is necessary to improve control. Second, employers should be conscientious. "Of all people they know the best how many people they employ and, if they register only 10%-12% of them, it means that they conceal the rest and mislead us." Third, the Russian authorities should work out a long-term complex strategy of how to use foreign migrants on the labor markets. "But we won't be able to work out an effective strategy unless we know how many labor resources we need. "What?" "How many?" and "Where?" are the three main questions we can't answer for sure yet."

Российская часть МКС к 2009 году будет оборудована новым модулем, предназначенным для лабораторных исследований.

La partie russe de la Station spatiale internationale (ISS) sera équipée dès 2009 d'un nouveau module avec un laboratoire destiné à diversifier ses activités scientifiques, a annoncé mercredi la société de construction spatiale russe RKK Energuia.
"L'agence spatiale russe (Roskosmos) et RKK Energuia ont signé un contrat d'Etat sur la création d'un module avec un laboratoire multi-fonctions", a indiqué Energuia sur son site officiel.
Le nouveau module permettra de "développer les possibilités scientifiques du segment russe de l'ISS et d'augmenter l'efficacité économique de son utilisation avec une diversification de ses services", selon cette source.
"Sa mise sur orbite et son introduction dans le segment est prévue en 2009", poursuit le texte.
Le laboratoire sera notamment équipé d'appareils élaborés par l'agence spatiale européenne, dont un télémanipulateur Era et le système de gestion de données Dms-R.

С января 2007 года издательство "Эльзевир" и Российская академия наук начинают совместный выпуск журнала "Физическая мезомеханика" (Physical Mesomechanics). Это единственное в своем роде международное издание для публикации результатов теоретических и экспериментальных исследований и обзоров в области физической мезомеханики, а также физики твердого тела, материаловедения, геодинамики.

Amsterdam, 22 November 2006 - Elsevier today announced a partnership with the Russian Academy of Sciences to publish Physical Mesomechanics beginning in January 2007. Physical Mesomechanics (http://www-psb.ad-sbras.nsc.ru/english/FIZME.HTM) is a unique, international journal published quarterly with the results of theoretical and experimental investigations and reviews in physical mesomechanics, as well as solid state physics, materials science, geodynamics, non-destructive testing methods and other fields in which mesomechanics can be efficiently used. The English-language journal accepts papers on a range of topics from structural, physical, mechanical properties of materials, computer methods of physical mesomechanics of heterogeneous media to non-destructive testing methods.
"The field of mesomechanics is growing rapidly. Publishing the journal on Elsevier's ScienceDirect platform will serve the journal well and support its scientific community" commented Editor-in-Chief Professor Panin. "Physical Mesomechanics is very important in today's world where modern, advanced materials (nanostructured ones in particular) are to be developed and research plays a key role in improving the quality".
Professor N.L. Dobretsov, Chairman of the Presidium of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said "We are pleased that another of our journals has found a home with Elsevier. The collaboration on this journal shows the commitment of both the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Elsevier to further develop science in Russia. We endeavour to further develop this mutually fruitful relationship".
Elsevier Publishing Director Anne Kitson added "We are delighted and excited by this new collaboration with the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, working with the Physical Mesomechanics journal and look forward to developing this partnership to achieve our shared goal of extending the global reach and visibility of this important research field".

Группа российских, израильских и американских ученых провела исследования, в ходе которых было выдвинуто предположение, что вирусы гриппа могут сохраняться в течение многих месяцев и даже лет в покрытых льдом водоемах. В образцах льда, взятых из трех сибирских озер, на которых останавливаются перелетные птицы, были обнаружены фрагменты вирусной РНК. Генетический анализ показал сходство с вирусом H1, который циркулировал в 1930-е и 1960-е годы.

Les virus grippaux peuvent-ils survivre plusieurs mois, voire plusieurs années, dans des lacs gelés? C'est ce que suggère une étude menée par des chercheurs américains, russes et israéliens. Scott Rogers et ses collègues ont retrouvé de l'ARN viral, le support de l'information génétique des virus, dans des échantillons de glace issus de trois lacs de Sibérie, là où s'arrêtent les oiseaux migrateurs, qui gèlent et dégèlent chaque année.
Les chercheurs ont même retrouvé un fragment d'ARN viral qui code pour la fabrication de l'hémagglutinine, une protéine de surface qui permet au virus de s'accrocher aux cellules de l'hôte. D'après les analyses génétiques cette protéine était apparentée à un virus grippal H1 en circulation dans les années 30 puis dans les années 60.
Ces données, publiées dans le Journal of Virology, suggèrent que des virus de la grippe déposés dans les fientes des oiseaux au printemps peuvent se conserver dans la glace et refaire surface lorsque le lac dégèle. Plus au nord, où les glaces perdurent plusieurs années, des virus seraient alors conservés sur une plus longue période.
Reste à savoir si ce ne sont que des fragments d'ARN qui subsistent ou des virus ayant gardé tout leur pouvoir infectieux. Cela dépend beaucoup des conditions de congélation. Rogers et ses collègues poursuivent leurs recherches et s'intéressent maintenant à des lacs d'Alaska et du Canada.

Академик Владимир Фортов награжден Орденом Почетного легиона за научные достижения и вклад в развитие сотрудничества между двумя странами. Всемирную известность российскому исследователю принесли работы в области физики плазмы экстремально высоких давлений и температур. Он руководит академическим Институтом теплофизики экстремальных состояний, Отделением энергетики, машиностроения, механики и процессов управления Российской академии наук.

Claudie Haigneré, ancienne Ministre de la Recherche, a remis la Légion d'Honneur à l'Académicien russe Vladimir Fortov. Cette cérémonie s'est déroulée le 21 novembre 2006 au Cnes à Paris, en présence de Jean-Jacques Dordain, directeur général de Esa, Yannick d'Escatha, président du Cnes et Denis Maugars, président de l'Onera.
La qualité des recherches de Vladimir Fortov, notamment sur les plasmas et les hautes énergies, le mène à l'Académie des Sciences de Russie en 1991, à l'âge de 45 ans. De 1993 à 1998, il organise le soutien à la science et à la technologie russes, puis en tant que vice Premier Ministre, il s'attache à développer les coopérations internationales avec la recherche occidentale. Citons une expérience franco-russe sur les plasmas poussérieux préparée par le Gremi d'Orléans et menée par Claudie Haigneré à bord de l'ISS en 2001, en compagnie de cosmonautes de la Cité des Etoiles. Dans le domaine spatial encore, il participe au projet spatial Vega (Russie, France, Allemagne, Hongrie) concernant la comète de Halley et à l'historique mission spatiale Deep Impact.
Avec Jean-Pierre Taran de l'Onera, Vladimir Fortov s'est impliqué dans la collaboration sur les écoulements réactifs hypersoniques, entre Russie et CE. Enfin, il a co-présidé avec Jacques Blamont, père de la collaboration spatiale franco-russe, le premier congrès aérospatial européen Eucass (Moscou, 2005).
Si cette distinction honore l'excellence scientifique, l'engagement, les qualités de l'homme, elle célèbre l'ouverture aux coopérations avec la Russie dans les domaines de l'espace et de la physique de base. Est-ce un hasard si la convention internationale du réacteur de fusion ITER a été signée le matin même, à quelques pas d'ici ?

Два года назад в Сибирском регионе в рамках Шестой программы ЕС "Технологии информационного сообщества" началась реализация проекта SITE (Сибирь, информационные технологии и Европа) по развитию сотрудничества между российскими и европейскими исследователями в области информационных технологий. Что же было сделано за это время?

Some 250 Siberian research institutes were out of bounds to foreigners until recently. Now scientists from the EU and Russia can collaborate freely in ICT research, thanks to a unique project establishing strong working links between the world's largest trading bloc and its largest country.
During or after World War Two, Russian factories and research centres moved en masse to Siberia. Many were involved in secret military research, and it was not until the early 1990s that outsiders could visit these regions.
"The federal district of Sibirsky - part of Siberia - is home to some 66,400 researchers. Yet when our project began in July 2004, there was little contact between them and the EU," says Petra Reiter of the IST project SITE. "Our goal was to make the work of these researchers more visible for Europeans and to support them in the IST programme."
The Russian partner, the Association for Engineering Education of Russia (AEER), set up an online database of Siberian IT research teams with strong potential in IST. European users of the database can look up researchers in categories from embedded systems to e-health. Reiter notes that the Sibirsky region is particularly strong in e-health research and provision, no doubt because of its huge size (over five million square kilometres) and the physical difficulty of linking patients with doctors.
In the Sibirsky region, the SITE project developed a multilevel support network of 64 local and regional contact points for IST. Top of the pyramid is the Tomsk Polytechnic University, representing the AEER. Then come the eight Sibirsky regional contact points for IST, where the staff received training on the EU's Framework research and IST programmes from lead project partner Singleimage. They also learned where and how to find research partners in Europe, and how to write a European project proposal.
Lastly, so-called European offices were set up in 56 different research organisations in Siberia. Selection criteria for these offices included English-language skills and the quality of internet connections. Personnel in these offices were trained on IST by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency using eTraining methods. Guided by the regional centres, these offices now collect research papers and maintain IST-related websites and newsletters.
The European offices also encourage Sibirsky researchers to submit papers to IST conferences and establish contacts with European research centres. Aided by SITE, some 22 Siberian researchers have already attended IST events and submitted research papers. These events also included 'brokerage' assistance, developing contacts between European and Siberian research teams.
Recent contacts have resulted in the setting up of eleven research teams, and the submission of proposals for IST research under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) for European research. Although none passed the European Commission's review stage, Reiter notes that the work of the project has generated a level of scientific collaboration that no one imagined possible just a few years ago. She believes that this collaboration is sustainable (certain regional contact points will continue after the project ends in December 2006), and that some of the latest proposals for IST research under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) will be accepted.
"Setting up contacts between Europe and Russia is a long process," explains Reiter. "Siberian researchers are hesitant - for historical, economic and cultural reasons - about engaging in the targeted research typical of the IST programme. Our project extends a helping hand to a region with tremendous research potential, which is as yet untapped."
At IST 2006 in Helsinki, the project team will host a workshop on 23 November to enable European researchers to discover the innovative research potential of their Russian colleagues, including those from the Sibirsky region. 'Spotlight on Russia in IST' will feature a new map of ICT expertise in Russia. Four Siberian researchers will also highlight their work in the field, including a cybernetics expert from Tomsk and the manager of a European office in Krasnoyarsk.

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