Май 2007 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Des céramiques pour la conservation et l'enfouissement des déchets radioactifs
• Geochemists Take Calculi Off The Heart
• La deuxième vie du polyéthylène téréphtalate
• Les Russes autour de la Lune avant les Américains ?
• Ancient Microbes Living in Frozen Antarctic Soil May Be Model for Life on Mars, According to the Journal Astrobiology
• Russian Breakthrough Reported In Radio Telescopes And Electromagnetic Weapons
• Russia to build nuclear reactor for Burma
• La Z-machine fait un pas en direction de la fusion contrôlée !
• Gödel Prize for Natural Proofs
• Researchers Find Meteorite Fragments In Altai
• First Russian nanotechnology center to open in 2008

Группой ученых из Томска, Екатеринбурга, Нижнего Новгорода и Москвы разработана серия уникальных компактных генераторов, способных выдавать энергетические импульсы, максимальная мощность которых достигает сотен и даже тысяч мегаватт. Это сопоставимо с мощностью энергоблока современной атомной электростанции. Только новые приборы - источники не электроэнергии, а электромагнитного излучения. Главная их особенность - очень большая мощность в импульсе при длительности, не превышающей миллиардных долей секунды. Но генерироваться эти импульсы могут с достаточно высокой частотой.

MOSCOW - A group of Russian scientists from Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow have developed a series of unique compact generators capable of producing high-energy pulses of hundreds and even thousands of megawatts.
This compares with the capacity of a major Soviet hydropower station on the Dnieper or an energy unit at a modern nuclear power plant.
The new generators are sources of electromagnetic radiation rather than electricity. Their main feature is a capacity to produce enormous power in a matter of nanoseconds. The impulses can be generated with a very high frequency.
Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Gennady Mesyats recalled that the first high-current electron accelerators were developed in the U.S.S.R. in the 1960s. Ten years later, Soviet scientists learnt to generate powerful microwave nanosecond pulses. The current generators have no counterparts in the world. In effect, Russian scientists have made a breakthrough in what is called relativist high-precision electronics.
The pulse is primarily of interest for fundamental research. Reporting these results to the RAS Presidium at the beginning of this year, scientists emphasized that sources with super radiation effects can be broadly used in long-range high-resolution impulse-based radiolocation and in studies of non-thermal impact of powerful electromagnetic fields on radio electronic components and different biological species.
Super-powerful pulse generators can test the reliability of radio electronic devices and the immunity of energy facilities to different impacts. They can imitate the interference caused by a lightning and even by a nuclear blast. Their tiny size and unique physical properties make their sphere of application extremely wide.
The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a product of a nuclear explosion. It puts out of action even those electronic control systems that have withstood the shockwave and reduces expensive smart weapons to scrap metal. There are different ways of generating electromagnetic pulses - for example, it can be produced by explosion-induced pressure on a magnetic field.
Physicist Andrei Sakharov was the first to propose using this principle in a bomb in the 1950s. Today, records in the size of an induced magnetic field, maximum current and properties of such "radiators" belong to Russian scientists. They surpass foreign counterparts by 10 times. Depending on what facilities the EMP is directed at, the damage radius can be from several hundred meters to kilometers. Without creating a shock wave and inflicting visible damage, it destroys all enemy electronic equipment. Moreover, unlike electronic countermeasures, electromagnetic weapons are capable of damaging radio electronic components even if they are switched off.
At present, the infrastructure and troops of many countries are stuffed with electronic equipment. It will be the main target for electromagnetic weapons. The destructive effect is produced by the high acceleration of the magnetic and electrical components of the EMP.
They induce voltage changes ranging from 100 volts to 10,000 volts in circuit networks and terminals of radio electronic equipment. The ensuing massive sparking of cable jackets, their contact to frame and the ground, and breakdowns in connectors put the equipment out of action and lead to fires and explosions. To understand this effect better, it is enough to imagine what will happen to your TV-set if there is a power surge - it will simply melt.
The Americans were the first to use such weapons in combat, for instance in Yugoslavia. Some analysts believe that electromagnetic bombs would have given the United States a vital advantage in the early stages of the war in Iraq. They could have disabled not only Baghdad's control and communications systems, but also electronic components of missiles, even those located in deep bunkers. But the U.S. command chose not to use electromagnetic bombs for fear that they might disrupt its own radio electronic equipment in the area.
Today, many countries have electromagnetic weapons. Military experts predict a victory in future wars to those who will be ahead in electromagnetic radiation. In many cases, not only the military-industrial complexes but also different civilian organizations, research institutes and universities conduct studies in this field, thereby increasing the threat of radio electronic terrorism. For example, a broadband high-energy and compact wave source is sold without any restrictions. In several fractions of a second, it can burn down all electronic equipment at an electric power station, substation or control tower.
A short intensive pulse can instantly paralyze data bases, financial centers and industrial equipment.

Российское агентство по атомной энергетике (Росатом) заявило, что достигнута договоренность о строительстве ядерного исследовательского реактора для Бирмы. Реактор будет иметь мощность 10 мегаватт для производства низкообогащенного урана, а также мощности для обработки и хранения ядерных отходов. Комплекс будет находиться под контролем МАГАТЭ, а в российских институтах пройдут обучение 350 бирманских студентов.

Russia's atomic energy agency, Rosatom, said yesterday that it had agreed to build a nuclear research reactor for military-ruled Burma, which has been branded by the US as an "outpost of tyranny".
In a statement, Rosatom said the nuclear research facility will have a 10-megawatt reactor with low-enriched uranium - the type used for light-water nuclear power reactors - as well as facilities for processing and storing nuclear wastes. The facility would be under International Atomic Energy Agency control, while up to 350 students from Burma would be trained in Russian institutes in related technology.
The deal, which revives stalled 2001 plans, could be seen as a first step towards helping Burma develop a nuclear energy programme, and comes as Russia steps up its efforts to secure fresh deals to build nuclear power plans plants abroad, in countries including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, India and Morocco.
But Moscow's decision to provide even low-level nuclear technology to one of Asia's most reviled regimes - even with the promise of IAEA supervision - is likely to provoke criticism from Washington, and efforts by Burma's highly active exile movement to stoke fears of the emergence of another rogue nuclear state.
However, Robert Karniol, Asia Pacific Editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, said the pursuit of nuclear weapons is far beyond the current financial and technological capacity of Burma's regime, which acceded to the non-proliferation treaty in 1992.
"Nuclear weapons bring a lot of punch on the international stage, and I'm sure that somewhere in their dreams they think it might be nice to get a bit of respect," he said. "But it would require will, technical skills and access to massive investment."
Burma's military junta is treated as virtual pariah by many western governments, including the US, for its repressive rule, its refusal to honour the results of a 1990 election, and its prolonged detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's Nobel Peace Prize winning democracy advocate.
The generals' mismanagement - coupled with western trade and investment sanctions - has crippled the economy, while the long-suffering population endures chronic power shortages - if they live in the few areas that get any state power at all.
According to official statistics, Burma produced just 1,775 megawatts of power for its 53m people last year, a fraction of the 26,000 megawatts that neighbouring Thailand produced for its own 63m people.

"Z-машина", крупнейший в мире генератор рентгеновских лучей, находится в Национальной лаборатории Сандия (США) и предназначена для создания высоких температур и давлений.
Одна из возможностей этой технологии - управляемый термоядерный синтез. Для этого необходимо создать в небольшом объеме огромную плотность энергии за счет импульса тока в несколько миллионов ампер, причем импульсы должны повторяться достаточно часто и долго. До сих пор средств для достижения таких показателей у ученых не было, но ситуация может коренным образом измениться благодаря совместной разработке российских ученых из Института сильноточной электроники СО РАН (Томск) и ученых из лабораторий Sandia. С помощью новой системы - разрядника для линейных трансформаторов - эффективность использования энергии электрического разряда удалось повысить на 50%. До сих пор показатель эффективности достигал лишь 15%.

La Z-machine sera-t-elle la clé de la technologie de la fusion contrôlée dans un avenir proche ? Une coopération du laboratoire Américain Sandia à Albuquerque et du laboratoire Russe HCEI à  Tomsk  explore cette possibilité. Un dispositif électrique, mis au point par les chercheurs du HCEI en liaison avec leurs collègues de Sandia, a été testé expérimentalement et à l'aide de simulation informatique. En liaison avec la Z-machine, il permettrait de fournir, toutes les 10 secondes, des décharges suffisamment puissantes pour maintenir le processus de fusion. 
Le sort de l'humanité dans les prochaines dizaines d'années dépendra à coup sûr d'une source d'énergie quasi inépuisable et bon marché. La fusion contrôlée est donc l'objet de recherches intensives depuis près de 50 ans. La méthode dite de fusion inertielle fait encore l'objet d'études au laboratoire Sandia mais il faut bien dire que, depuis quelque temps, c'est plutôt la méthode basée sur le confinement magnétique qui avait la préférence et qui était porteuse de plus d'espoir. Le type de décharge que le Linear Transformer Driver, ou LTD, permet d'obtenir toutes les dix secondes serait alors le moyen de faire fusionner des capsules d'hydrogène à un rythme suffisant avec la Z-machine pour enfin réaliser un réacteur à fusion crédible. On en reviendrait donc aux machines basées sur le confinement inertiel.
Le circuit testé, qualifié de révolutionnaire, a déjà été capable de produire des décharges toutes les 10,2 secondes plus de 11 000 fois sans aucun problème. En fait, son rôle est analogue à celui des bougies dans un moteur à explosion. Celui-ci est formé de 20 dispositifs montés en parallèle et formant un anneau. C'est sous une forme plus puissante qu'il serait théoriquement possible de changer la Z-machine en un véritable réacteur à fusion contrôlée.
Gerry Yonas, le Vice président du laboratoire Sandia et l'ancien directeur du groupe travaillant sur la Z-machine, est enthousiaste. Selon lui, les résultats déjà obtenus sont une réussite extraordinaire. Une révolution dans la production d'énergie mondiale pourrait bien se produire dans moins de 20 ans.
On devrait en savoir plus sur les résultats de ces expériences avec le LTD lors du prochain symposium IEEE sur la fusion contrôlée en Juin 2007 à Albuquerque.

Курт Гёдель - австрийский математик и логик, премия его имени присуждается с 1993 года совместно двумя организациями: SIGACT ACM (Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computing Theory) и EATCS (European Association for Theoretical Computer Science). Ею награждают за важнейшие статьи по теоретической информатике. Лауреатами премии Гёделя 2007 года стали Александр Разборов (Математический институт им. Стеклова РАН) и Стивен Рудих (Университет Карнеги-Меллон, Пенсильвания, США) за работу о так называемых "естественных доказательствах".

And speaking of awards... On the heels of congratulating the winners of the Intel Young Scientists, we should also recognize the contributions of Alexander Razborov and Steven Rudich who will be receiving the 2007 Gödel Prize for outstanding papers in theoretical computer science at the upcoming ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing.
The award is actually for a paper entitled Natural Proofs originally presented in 1994, where Razborov and Rudich explained that a wide class of proof techniques cannot be used to resolve P vs. NP Problem - a classic question on the limits of proof and computation that has resisted resolution over the years. The problem applies to solving complex mathematical problems common in safeguarding ATM security, passwords, cryptography, authentication, access control, and e-commerce.
Their findings address a problem that is widely considered the most important question in computing theory. It has been designated as one of seven Prize Problems by the Clay Mathematics Institute, which has allocated $1 million for solving each problem. It asks - if it is easy to check that a solution to a problem is correct, is it also easy to solve the problem? This problem is posed to determine whether questions exist whose answer can be quickly checked, but which require an impossibly long time to solve.
The paper proves that there is no so-called "Natural Proof" that certain computational problems often used in cryptography are hard to solve. Such cryptographic methods are critical to electronic commerce, and though these methods are widely thought to be unbreakable, the findings imply that there are no Natural Proofs for their security.
Razborov is a mathematician and computational theorist at the Russian Academy of Science Steklov Mathematical Institute. Rudich is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. The Gödel Prize, which includes an award of $5000, recognizes major contributions to mathematical logic and the foundations of computer science.

В Алтайском крае экспедиция общественного всероссийского научно-исследовательского объединения "Космопоиск" обнаружила место падения метеорита. Всего в Алтайском крае, начиная с 1840 года, когда был зарегистрирован первый случай, до настоящего времени упало около 20 метеоритов. Четыре из них - уже в 21 веке.

NOVOSIBIRSK - A group of Russian researchers looking for a meteorite that fell in January in the Altai Territory in southern Siberia has found an extraterrestrial substance which could be meteorite fragments, a coordinator said Monday. "We have collected about 50 samples, and vitreous threads (traces of comet substance) were discovered in the first of them using a microscope," Vadim Chernobrov of Kosmopoisk (space search) said.
"We will reach the meteorite site in a few days, but rocks which are probably meteorite fragments have already been found," Chernobrov said.
He said only laboratory testing could establish the rocks' origin, adding that there were many volunteers involved in the operation from Moscow, Novosibirsk, Kostroma and local areas. He said all finds will be given to a museum.
Earlier, it was reported that January 10, local motorists and residents witnessed the impact of a fiery ball, which eventually ended in a loud sound resembling an explosion.
"Witnesses called us. This must have been a meteorite," a senior scientist from the Barnaul planetarium said.
Natalya Pavlova said that since a fallen meteorite was discovered in 1840, some 20 meteorites, including 4 in the 21st century, have been registered in the area.

Санкт-Петербургский госуниверситет в рамках договора с Минобрнауки РФ открывает Центр нанотехнологий. Одна из ключевых задач Центра - систематизация работ в области новых материалов.

St Petersburg State University (SPSU) is to inaugurate Russia's first Center for Nano-Scale Technologies, Professor Igor Gorlinsky, Director of the Project, and Pro-Rector for Research, told the news agency Itar-Tass today.
The overall cost of the project is estimated at 130 million roubles (approx US $5 million). Speaking of the key tasks of the Center, the scientist singled out "the systematization of work in the field of new materials".
"The new scientific center will attain its rated capacity in the second quarter of 2008," Gorlinsky said. "Before the end of 2007, it is planned to complete building work to prepare premises for a new scientific diagnosis complex, and acquire electronic microscopy apparatus for research into nano-scale technologies," he specified.
The establishment of the nanotechnology center as part of the SPSU is the first phase of work in preparation for participation in a future Federal purpose-oriented programme for the development of nanotechnologies in Russia, University staff maintain.

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