Strategic Missile Forces will gradually rearm with single-warhead mobile missile complexes RS-12m2 Topol-M mobile systems to the new RS-24 Yars. This was stated by the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Karakayev. According to him, the new complex on a par with the already accepted for service, "Topol" will be "based strike group SRF for the foreseeable future, until 2020.
Over the past period pilot alerting missiles 'Yars' has established itself as a reliable weapon, and therefore the decision on re-rolling groups for this type of missile systems. The first regiment with a new mobile missile system had been put on pilot combat duty in early 2010.
Meanwhile, Adopt the missiles of the Topol-M silo-based will continue. It is expected that by late 2010 for combat duty will arise sixth missile regiment, armed with stationary Topol. Work on upgrading missile regiments on missile system Topol-M 'steady bases will continue in 2011.
Development "Yars" deals Moscow. The missile will be capable of carrying nuclear warheads 3-4 individual guidance capacity of 150-300 kilotons each. Technical data missiles are classified. It is assumed that it can hit targets at a distance of 11,000 kilometers.
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/11/30/rvsn/
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges. 22.11.2010.
Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran’s nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control.
Their conclusion, while not definitive, begins to clear some of the fog around the Stuxnet worm, a malicious program detected earlier this year on computers, primarily in Iran but also India, Indonesia and other countries.
The paternity of the worm is still in dispute, but in recent weeks officials from Israel have broken into wide smiles when asked whether Israel was behind the attack, or knew who was. American officials have suggested it originated abroad.
The new forensic work narrows the range of targets and deciphers the worm’s plan of attack. Computer analysts say Stuxnet does its damage by making quick changes in the rotational speed of motors, shifting them rapidly up and down.
Changing the speed “sabotages the normal operation of the industrial control process,” Eric Chien, a researcher at the computer security company Symantec, wrote in a blog post.
Those fluctuations, nuclear analysts said in response to the report, are a recipe for disaster among the thousands of centrifuges spinning in Iran to enrich uranium, which can fuel reactors or bombs. Rapid changes can cause them to blow apart. Reports issued by international inspectors reveal that Iran has experienced many problems keeping its centrifuges running, with hundreds removed from active service since summer 2009.
“We don’t see direct confirmation” that the attack was meant to slow Iran’s nuclear work, David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington that tracks nuclear proliferation, said in an interview Thursday. “But it sure is a plausible interpretation of the available facts.”
Intelligence officials have said they believe that a series of covert programs are responsible for at least some of that decline. So when Iran reported earlier this year that it was battling the Stuxnet worm, many experts immediately suspected that it was a state-sponsored cyberattack.
Until last week, analysts had said only that Stuxnet was designed to infect certain kinds of Siemens equipment used in a wide variety of industrial sites around the world.
But a study released Friday by Mr. Chien, Nicolas Falliere and Liam O. Murchu at Symantec, concluded that the program’s real target was to take over frequency converters, a type of power supply that changes its output frequency to control the speed of a motor.
The worm’s code was found to attack converters made by two companies, Fararo Paya in Iran and Vacon in Finland. A separate study conducted by the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that finding, a senior government official said in an interview on Thursday.
Then, on Wednesday, Mr. Albright and a colleague, Andrea Stricker, released a report saying that when the worm ramped up the frequency of the electrical current supplying the centrifuges, they would spin faster and faster. The worm eventually makes the current hit 1,410 Hertz, or cycles per second — just enough, they reported, to send the centrifuges flying apart.
In a spooky flourish, Mr. Albright said in the interview, the worm ends the attack with a command to restore the current to the perfect operating frequency for the centrifuges — which, by that time, would presumably be destroyed.
“It’s striking how close it is to the standard value,” he said.
The computer analysis, his Wednesday report concluded, “makes a legitimate case that Stuxnet could indeed disrupt or destroy” Iranian centrifuge plants.
The latest evidence does not prove Iran was the target, and there have been no confirmed reports of industrial damage linked to Stuxnet. Converters are used to control a number of different machines, including lathes, saws and turbines, and they can be found in gas pipelines and chemical plants. But converters are also essential for nuclear centrifuges.
On Wednesday, the chief of the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity center in Virginia, Sean McGurk, told a Senate committee that the worm was a “game changer” because of the skill with which it was composed and the care with which it was geared toward attacking specific types of equipment.
Meanwhile, the search for other clues in the Stuxnet program continues — and so do the theories about its origins.
Ralph Langner, a German expert in industrial control systems who has examined the program and who was the first to suggest that the Stuxnet worm may have been aimed at Iran, noted in late September that a file inside the code was named “Myrtus.” That could be read as an allusion to Esther, and he and others speculated it was a reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them.
Writing on his Web site last week, Mr. Langner noted that a number of the data modules inside the program contained the date “Sept. 24, 2001,” clearly long before the program was written. He wrote that he believed the date was a message from the authors of the program, but did not know what it might mean.
Last month, researchers at Symantec also speculated that a string of numbers found in the program — 19790509 — while seeming random, might actually be significant. They speculated that it might refer to May 9, 1979, the day that Jewish-Iranian businessman Habib Elghanian was executed in Iran after being convicted of spying for Israel.
Interpreting what the clues might mean is a fascinating exercise for computer experts and conspiracy theorists, but it could also be a way to mislead investigators.
Indeed, according to one investigator, the creation date of the data modules might instead suggest that the original attack code in Stuxnet was written long before the program was actually distributed.
According to Tom Parker, a computer security specialist at Securicon LLC, a security consulting firm based in Washington, the Stuxnet payload appeared to have been written by a team of highly skilled programmers, while the “dropper” program that delivered the program reflected an amateur level of expertise. He said the fact that Stuxnet was detected and had spread widely in a number of countries was an indicator that it was a failed operation.
“The end target is going to be able to know they were the target, and the attacker won’t be able to use this technique again,” he said.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/world/middleeast/19stuxnet.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=stuxnet&st=cse
Their conclusion, while not definitive, begins to clear some of the fog around the Stuxnet worm, a malicious program detected earlier this year on computers, primarily in Iran but also India, Indonesia and other countries.
The paternity of the worm is still in dispute, but in recent weeks officials from Israel have broken into wide smiles when asked whether Israel was behind the attack, or knew who was. American officials have suggested it originated abroad.
The new forensic work narrows the range of targets and deciphers the worm’s plan of attack. Computer analysts say Stuxnet does its damage by making quick changes in the rotational speed of motors, shifting them rapidly up and down.
Changing the speed “sabotages the normal operation of the industrial control process,” Eric Chien, a researcher at the computer security company Symantec, wrote in a blog post.
Those fluctuations, nuclear analysts said in response to the report, are a recipe for disaster among the thousands of centrifuges spinning in Iran to enrich uranium, which can fuel reactors or bombs. Rapid changes can cause them to blow apart. Reports issued by international inspectors reveal that Iran has experienced many problems keeping its centrifuges running, with hundreds removed from active service since summer 2009.
“We don’t see direct confirmation” that the attack was meant to slow Iran’s nuclear work, David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington that tracks nuclear proliferation, said in an interview Thursday. “But it sure is a plausible interpretation of the available facts.”
Intelligence officials have said they believe that a series of covert programs are responsible for at least some of that decline. So when Iran reported earlier this year that it was battling the Stuxnet worm, many experts immediately suspected that it was a state-sponsored cyberattack.
Until last week, analysts had said only that Stuxnet was designed to infect certain kinds of Siemens equipment used in a wide variety of industrial sites around the world.
But a study released Friday by Mr. Chien, Nicolas Falliere and Liam O. Murchu at Symantec, concluded that the program’s real target was to take over frequency converters, a type of power supply that changes its output frequency to control the speed of a motor.
The worm’s code was found to attack converters made by two companies, Fararo Paya in Iran and Vacon in Finland. A separate study conducted by the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that finding, a senior government official said in an interview on Thursday.
Then, on Wednesday, Mr. Albright and a colleague, Andrea Stricker, released a report saying that when the worm ramped up the frequency of the electrical current supplying the centrifuges, they would spin faster and faster. The worm eventually makes the current hit 1,410 Hertz, or cycles per second — just enough, they reported, to send the centrifuges flying apart.
In a spooky flourish, Mr. Albright said in the interview, the worm ends the attack with a command to restore the current to the perfect operating frequency for the centrifuges — which, by that time, would presumably be destroyed.
“It’s striking how close it is to the standard value,” he said.
The computer analysis, his Wednesday report concluded, “makes a legitimate case that Stuxnet could indeed disrupt or destroy” Iranian centrifuge plants.
The latest evidence does not prove Iran was the target, and there have been no confirmed reports of industrial damage linked to Stuxnet. Converters are used to control a number of different machines, including lathes, saws and turbines, and they can be found in gas pipelines and chemical plants. But converters are also essential for nuclear centrifuges.
On Wednesday, the chief of the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity center in Virginia, Sean McGurk, told a Senate committee that the worm was a “game changer” because of the skill with which it was composed and the care with which it was geared toward attacking specific types of equipment.
Meanwhile, the search for other clues in the Stuxnet program continues — and so do the theories about its origins.
Ralph Langner, a German expert in industrial control systems who has examined the program and who was the first to suggest that the Stuxnet worm may have been aimed at Iran, noted in late September that a file inside the code was named “Myrtus.” That could be read as an allusion to Esther, and he and others speculated it was a reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them.
Writing on his Web site last week, Mr. Langner noted that a number of the data modules inside the program contained the date “Sept. 24, 2001,” clearly long before the program was written. He wrote that he believed the date was a message from the authors of the program, but did not know what it might mean.
Last month, researchers at Symantec also speculated that a string of numbers found in the program — 19790509 — while seeming random, might actually be significant. They speculated that it might refer to May 9, 1979, the day that Jewish-Iranian businessman Habib Elghanian was executed in Iran after being convicted of spying for Israel.
Interpreting what the clues might mean is a fascinating exercise for computer experts and conspiracy theorists, but it could also be a way to mislead investigators.
Indeed, according to one investigator, the creation date of the data modules might instead suggest that the original attack code in Stuxnet was written long before the program was actually distributed.
According to Tom Parker, a computer security specialist at Securicon LLC, a security consulting firm based in Washington, the Stuxnet payload appeared to have been written by a team of highly skilled programmers, while the “dropper” program that delivered the program reflected an amateur level of expertise. He said the fact that Stuxnet was detected and had spread widely in a number of countries was an indicator that it was a failed operation.
“The end target is going to be able to know they were the target, and the attacker won’t be able to use this technique again,” he said.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/world/middleeast/19stuxnet.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=stuxnet&st=cse
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Putin gave an account of the restoration in Russia after the summer fires. Work carried out in time. 01.11.2010.
Construction of dwelling houses to replace houses destroyed by wildland fires of the summer of 2010, is completed. On this November 1, said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, his words convey NIA "Nizhny Novgorod". The announcement was made in the village of Nizhny Novgorod Verhneya Vereya, in late July, is completely destroyed by fire.
"I set a task to complete all work on the construction of houses by November 1. It's done. All the houses are built, people have received housing and monetary compensation. There are several contentious issues, they are considered in court", - said Putin.
He thanked the builders and said he was satisfied with the quality of built environment. "In the Verhneya Vereya built over 400 houses, each of them with gas, electricity, sewerage and telephone. There are appliances, furniture available at a deep discount," - said the prime minister.
Putin noted that the amount of assistance to those whose property is destroyed by fire has been increased from 50 000 to 200 000 rubles (1220 to 4880 euro) per person. For each victim paid a million (24 400 euro).
In Vyksybsk District of Nizhny Novgorod region as a result of summer fires killed 22 people. The deputy head of the district was charged with negligence. Putin twice visited the Verhneya Vereya - inspected the village after a fire in July and followed the progress of work in September.
Fires in Russia have begun as a result of heat waves of summer 2010. In total, the fire covered more than 800 thousand hectares. Fire killed more than 50 people. In addition, Moscow suffered from smog, was recorded a sharp increase in mortality.
At the direction of Vladimir Putin, on-site construction of new homes for victims of the fire was set the camera to a recovery operation can be monitored live (http://premier.gov.ru/build/5.html?pos=0, other villages: http://premier.gov.ru/build/).
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/11/01/firerecovery/
"I set a task to complete all work on the construction of houses by November 1. It's done. All the houses are built, people have received housing and monetary compensation. There are several contentious issues, they are considered in court", - said Putin.
He thanked the builders and said he was satisfied with the quality of built environment. "In the Verhneya Vereya built over 400 houses, each of them with gas, electricity, sewerage and telephone. There are appliances, furniture available at a deep discount," - said the prime minister.
Putin noted that the amount of assistance to those whose property is destroyed by fire has been increased from 50 000 to 200 000 rubles (1220 to 4880 euro) per person. For each victim paid a million (24 400 euro).
In Vyksybsk District of Nizhny Novgorod region as a result of summer fires killed 22 people. The deputy head of the district was charged with negligence. Putin twice visited the Verhneya Vereya - inspected the village after a fire in July and followed the progress of work in September.
Fires in Russia have begun as a result of heat waves of summer 2010. In total, the fire covered more than 800 thousand hectares. Fire killed more than 50 people. In addition, Moscow suffered from smog, was recorded a sharp increase in mortality.
At the direction of Vladimir Putin, on-site construction of new homes for victims of the fire was set the camera to a recovery operation can be monitored live (http://premier.gov.ru/build/5.html?pos=0, other villages: http://premier.gov.ru/build/).
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/11/01/firerecovery/
Vietnam receives first Russian submarine in 2013. 02.11.2010.
The first diesel-electric submarine of Project 636 "Varshavyanka" for the Navy in Vietnam will be fully ready in 2013. On this, as reported by ITAR-TASS, said deputy general director of the Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering Sergei Smirnov. As expected, at the same time the submarine will be transferred to the customer. When did Vietnam get all bought from Russian submarine, was not specified.
Vietnam has purchased from Russia six submarines of Project 636 at the end of 2009. The deal amounted to 1,8 billion dollars. Engaged in fulfillment of the order "Admiralty Shipyards", which, as previously reported, will be able to pass the customer on one submarine a year through the production of connection to the public ships of Project 636. Thus, Vietnam may get the last of the submarines purchased in 2018.
Currently, Vietnam does not have the submarine fleet, submarines of Project 636 will be the first submarine in service with the country. In March 2010, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the navy would help Vietnam establish a point-based submarines. It is also possible that Russia will give Vietnam a loan that the country will spend on the creation of databases, the purchase of various ships and the establishment of naval aviation.
Displacement of submarines of Project 636 "Varshavyanka" is 3.95 tons. Submarines capable of speeds up to 20 knots, and the battery life of their voyage is 45 days. Project 636 boats have six torpedo tubes caliber of 533 millimeters, which can also be used for setting mines and launch cruise missiles.
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/10/29/submarine/
Vietnam has purchased from Russia six submarines of Project 636 at the end of 2009. The deal amounted to 1,8 billion dollars. Engaged in fulfillment of the order "Admiralty Shipyards", which, as previously reported, will be able to pass the customer on one submarine a year through the production of connection to the public ships of Project 636. Thus, Vietnam may get the last of the submarines purchased in 2018.
Currently, Vietnam does not have the submarine fleet, submarines of Project 636 will be the first submarine in service with the country. In March 2010, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the navy would help Vietnam establish a point-based submarines. It is also possible that Russia will give Vietnam a loan that the country will spend on the creation of databases, the purchase of various ships and the establishment of naval aviation.
Displacement of submarines of Project 636 "Varshavyanka" is 3.95 tons. Submarines capable of speeds up to 20 knots, and the battery life of their voyage is 45 days. Project 636 boats have six torpedo tubes caliber of 533 millimeters, which can also be used for setting mines and launch cruise missiles.
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/10/29/submarine/
Thursday, October 28, 2010
EU rumbling over German-French fiscal discipline push. 27.2010.
EU leaders are on edge over the prospect of a full-blown political shoving match when they gather for a summit this Thursday. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy have upset many of their partners with a call for EU treaty changes to enforce fiscal discipline.
Particularly alarming to some is Berlin’s demand to make it possible to suspend the voting rights of states which seriously violate key principles.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy says his role is to find consensus amid
the member states’ varying positions.
Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker, also Luxembourg’s prime minister, said the Franco-German deal over reform of the EU’s budget rules was unacceptable.
European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding (also of Luxembourg) said that reopening the Lisbon Treaty would be irresponsible.
Germany wants limited amendments to the treaty to allow for a permanent system to handle sovereign debt crises in countries that use the euro.
Merkel has threatened to block other reforms if no deal is reached on treaty alterations.
She did, however, bow to French demands to allow some political discretion over sanctions for deficit and debt deviants.
Analyst Daniel Gros, with the Centre for European Policy Studies, said: “It is very likely that other governments will see that the Germans have a point. Right now we do not have a procedure for restructuring the debt of a country in really big difficulties.”
At this Thursday and Friday’s talks in Brussels, EU leaders are expected to approve an agreement by a task force of finance ministers to impose sanctions on member states that violate budget deficit and debt limits.
Source: http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/27/eu-rumbling-over-german-french-fiscal-discipline-push/
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Russia. Reconstruction of the defense of Moscow in 1941. Russland. Rekonstruktion der Verteidigung Moskaus im Jahre 1941. 27.10.2010.
On Sunday, October 10, attended the reconstruction of the defense of Moscow in 1941. This is a historical and cultural event held every second Sunday of October. Various military-historical clubs restore events of one episode of the battle on the outskirts of Moscow.
Reconstruction itself is on the Borodino field a few miles from Mozhaisk (Russia, Moscow region).
In the summer I visited those places on a scooter, going to the museum building. Tour devoted to the 1812 war. Seen highly recommend it.
Photo report: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
Historical note: Mozhaiskaya line of defense.
Unfavorable development of hostilities in the region of Bryansk Vyazma and created a great risk of Moscow. In order to consolidate leadership of troops westward remaining troops Reserve Front was on Oct. 10 handed over to the Western Front, the commander of which this day was appointed Army General Georgy Zhukov (Konev, abandoned by his deputy).
Oct. 12 Western Front troops were subject to Mozhaisk line of defense. However, the position of the Western Front, who took up defensive positions on Mozhaisk lines remained exceptionally high. At the front of the Moscow Sea to Kaluga in the Western Front, there were only about 90 thousand people. Under these conditions, the Front Command has sought to tightly cover only the most important trends leading to Moscow: Volokolamsk, Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavetsky and Kaluga.
October 19 troops of the 43rd Army on Vereisky direction were subordinated to headquarters 33rd Army.
Already on October 13 fell Kaluga, October 16 - Borovsk, October 18 - Mozhaisk and Maloyaroslavets. Only the greatest tension forces managed to stop the enemy at the turn of the river Protva and Nara.
Oct. 16 began a general attack on the Wehrmacht Volokolamsk direction. Here particularly distinguished 316-th Infantry Division, Major-General I. Panfilov.
Despite the stubborn resistance to Soviet forces in late October 1941, German troops to the 4 th Army and 4-th tank group managed to bring down the connection of the Western Front with Mozhaisk line of defense almost throughout its length and gradually pressing them to Moscow. Fighting on the defensive line Mozhaisk lasted an average of 7-9 days, and at the direction of Volokolamsk 10-12 days. Although the Soviets have lost support in the face of engineering structures, to break the defensive line spent the time that the command of Red Army used to seal the combat formations of troops defending the capital.
Thus, to stabilize the defense on the distant outskirts of Moscow, failed, and fighting in late October, were already in the 80-100 km from Moscow.
German/Deutsch: Russland. Rekonstruktion der Verteidigung Moskaus im Jahre 1941.
Am Sonntag, 10. OKTOBER, nahmen an der Rekonstruktion der Verteidigung Moskaus im Jahre 1941. Dies ist eine historische und kulturelle Veranstaltung statt jeden zweiten Sonntag im Oktober. Verschiedene militär-historische Vereine wiederherstellen Ereignisse eine Episode der Schlacht am Stadtrand von Moskau.
Wiederaufbau selbst ist auf dem Feld Borodino ein paar Meilen von Moschaisk (Russland, Moskau Region).
Im Sommer besuchte ich die Orte auf einem Motorroller, geht auf das Museumsgebäude. Tour auf dem 1812 Krieg gewidmet. Gesehen sehr empfehlen.
Fotobericht: Teil 1, Teil 2, Teil 3, Teil 4.
Historische Anmerkung: Mozhaiskaya Verteidigungslinie.
Ungünstige Entwicklung der Feindseligkeiten in der Region Brjansk Wjasma und schuf ein großes Risiko von Moskau. Zur Konsolidierung Führung der Truppen nach Westen verbliebenen Truppen Reserve Front am 10. Oktober an die Westfront, der Kommandant von denen heute Armeegeneral Georgi Schukow ernannt wurde (Konew von seinem Stellvertreter aufgegeben) übergeben wurde.
12. Oktober Westfront Truppen unterlagen Verteidigungslinie Moschaisk. Allerdings blieb die Lage an der Westfront, dauerte, bis Verteidigungsstellungen auf Moschaisk Linien außergewöhnlich hoch. An der Vorderseite des Moskauer Meer nach Kaluga in der Westfront gab es nur etwa 90 Tausend Menschen. Unter diesen Bedingungen hat die Front Command suchte eng nur auf die wichtigsten Trends, die zu Moskau: Volokolamsk, Moschaisk, Maloyaroslavetsky und Kaluga.
19. Oktober Truppen der 43. Armee auf Werejskij Richtung wurden ins Hauptquartier 33. Armee unterstellt.
Bereits am 13. Oktober fiel Kaluga, 16. Oktober - Borovsk, 18. Oktober - Moschaisk und Malojaroslawez. Nur die größten Zugkräfte gelungen, den Feind an der Wende des Flusses Protwa und Nara zu stoppen.
16. Oktober begann ein allgemeiner Angriff auf die Wehrmacht Volokolamsk Richtung. Hier besonders auszeichnen 316-Infanterie-Division, Generalmajor I. Panfilow.
Trotz der hartnäckigen Widerstand gegen die sowjetischen Truppen Ende Oktober 1941 die deutschen Truppen auf der 4. Armee und 4-ten Tank-Gruppe verwaltet zur Senkung der Verbindung der Westfront mit Moschaisk Linie der Verteidigung fast seiner ganzen Länge nach und nach Drücken sie nach Moskau. Fighting in der Defensive Line Moschaisk dauerte im Durchschnitt 7-9 Tage, und bei der Leitung von Volokolamsk 10-12 Tage. Obwohl die Sowjets Unterstützung im Angesicht der Kunstbauten, die Verteidigungslinie durchbrechen verloren haben verbrachte die Zeit, dass der Befehl der Roten Armee auf die Kampfverbände der Truppen zur Verteidigung der Hauptstadt Dichtung verwendet.
So zur Stabilisierung der Verteidigung auf dem fernen Stadtrand von Moskau, gescheitert, und die Bekämpfung der Ende Oktober wurden bereits in der 80-100 km von Moskau entfernt.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Traveling on Saturday at the old hydropower stations. 01.06.2010.
On Saturday, traveling on a scooter. I went to the old hydropower stations. The station is very old and no longer works. All around very nicely.
More photos: http://mikhailworld.blogspot.com/2010/05/31052010.html
More photos: http://mikhailworld.blogspot.com/2010/05/31052010.html
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Russia, Sochi. Mountains! Skiing! Events beginning in February 2010. 18.02.2010.
In early February, was skiing in Sochi. It was wonderful!
I apologize for the bad quality. Photos at a phone.
I apologize for the bad quality. Photos at a phone.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Swiss swimmer was able to hold his breath about 20 minutes. 16.02.2010.
Swiss diver Peter Kolat was able to set a new world record for staying under water without air, the newspaper writes Swiss Info.
It is reported that 38-year-old athlete stayed under water 19 minutes 21 seconds. He said that "the first 12 minutes were not a problem."
The previous record belonged to the Italian Nicola Putignano, who hold their breath for 19 minutes and 2 seconds.
Achieving Swiss athlete falling into the Guinness Book of Records.
It should be noted that like the record set and a Russian swimmer Natalia Molchanov. In September last year it without breathing apparatus in flippers sank to a depth of 101 m. At the same time she managed to hold his breath for three and a half minutes.
Source: http://top.rbc.ru/society/15/02/2010/371130.shtml
It is reported that 38-year-old athlete stayed under water 19 minutes 21 seconds. He said that "the first 12 minutes were not a problem."
The previous record belonged to the Italian Nicola Putignano, who hold their breath for 19 minutes and 2 seconds.
Achieving Swiss athlete falling into the Guinness Book of Records.
It should be noted that like the record set and a Russian swimmer Natalia Molchanov. In September last year it without breathing apparatus in flippers sank to a depth of 101 m. At the same time she managed to hold his breath for three and a half minutes.
Source: http://top.rbc.ru/society/15/02/2010/371130.shtml
Chinese bypassed Russian skaters on 2,5 points. 16.02.2010.
Russian figure skaters, Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov took the third position after the performance of his short program "The Swan" in the tournament sporting couples at the XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 in Vancouver with a score of 74.16 points.
Thus, the backlog Russian athletes from the Chinese duo of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao (76.66 points) is 2.5 points. Second place the judge gave the German figure skaters Aliona Savchenko and Robert Szolkowy (75.96 points).
Source: http://top.rbc.ru/society/15/02/2010/370885.shtml
Thus, the backlog Russian athletes from the Chinese duo of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao (76.66 points) is 2.5 points. Second place the judge gave the German figure skaters Aliona Savchenko and Robert Szolkowy (75.96 points).
Source: http://top.rbc.ru/society/15/02/2010/370885.shtml
What you may not know about Presidents Day. CNN. 16.02.2010.
- Monday is a federal holiday but the name commonly used is not correct
- The day celebrates the nation's first president, George Washington
- While Lincoln's birthday is close to Washington's, it is not federally recognized
If you answered "Presidents Day," you're technically wrong.
The actual federal holiday is called "Washington's Birthday," after the nation's first president, George Washington.
According to the Gregorian calendar, adopted by England and its colonies after Washington was born, his birth date was February 22, 1732. (The Julian calendar has him born on February 11.) He is viewed as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history and was also much adored during his lifetime.
"In the earlier years, when it was celebrated, it was more than celebrating his birth, it was celebrating what we liked about Washington: He walked away from power, a very poignant lesson for people," said presidential historian Doug Wead.
It wasn't until 1885, though, that February 22 became designated a federal holiday to honor Washington.
Presidential historian C.L. Arbelbide wrote in a 2004 article in the National Archives publication "Prologue" that succeeding generations found "significant ways to periodically resurrect his memory," as evidenced by the laying of the Washington Monument's cornerstone in 1848.
"The numerous tributes continued to reaffirm George Washington's place as the original 'American Idol,' " Arbelbide wrote in the article titled "By George, IT IS Washington's Birthday!"
Wead, who was special assistant to President George H.W. Bush, said Americans later fell in love with another president with similar attributes.
Abraham Lincoln, born on February 12, 1809, became a popular figure after freeing the slaves and ending the Civil War. But it wasn't until his assassination in April 1865 that Americans began to see Lincoln in a different light.
"Lincoln, because he was assassinated, he overnight became a beloved figure and suddenly a genius," Wead said.
Although he was considered "a buffoon and dumb during his time," after his death, everything he said was re-read and studied, Wead said.
In 1968, Congress debated whether to combine the two president's birthdays into one holiday, but decided against it. The legislative body passed the Monday Holidays Act that year, which said existing federal holidays would now be observed on Mondays to give government workers a long weekend.
The bill went into effect in 1971 and deemed that "Washington's Birthday" would be moved from February 22 to the third Monday in February.
But even today, Congress does not necessarily celebrate the day with the official title. While the House and Senate celebrate February 15 as "Washington's Birthday" this year, their weeklong recess is known as "President's Day District Work Period."
Though his birthday is a federal holiday, not all states celebrate it on the same day. While Congress has the authority to create federal holidays, states and the private sector do not have to observe them.
With the confusion over whose birthday it is and when it is celebrated, many Americans have simply lost interest in the day's true meaning, Wead said. The reason? Presidential nostalgia has been replaced by criticism and controversy.
"We don't have that [nostalgia] anymore. Part of that is cynicism about presidents today -- Nixon, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Bush ... there's less respect," he said. "There was a lot of respect for Washington because he walked away from power. That was just unheard of."
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/15/presidents.day/index.html?hpt=C1
Bayh won't seek Senate re-election. CNN. 16.02.2010.
- Sen. Evan Bayh says, "Congress is not operating as it should"
- Bayh cites failure on jobs bill, deficit reduction panel as examples of broken system
- Indiana centrist is third Democratic senator to announce retirement
- Democrats must defend five open seats in midterm races; GOP will have six open seats
"Congress is not operating as it should," Bayh said at a news conference in Indianapolis, adding there's too much partisanship and "the people's business is not getting done."
Bayh said he loves public service but does "not love Congress" and is "not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology."
He cited the Senate's recent failure to pass a jobs bill and legislation that would have created a deficit reduction commission as evidence of what he characterized as a broken political system.
Bayh, a former two-term governor, was first elected to the Senate in 1998, taking 62 percent of the vote. He won re-election with 64 percent six years later.
In his two terms in the Senate, Bayh cut a centrist path and worked across party lines, which at times frustrated liberal Democrats.
"He hates the Senate, hates the left bloggers," a friend and longtime adviser to Bayh said. "They are getting their wish, pure Democrats in the minority."
While Bayh had been mulling retiring for a "good part of last year," he made his final decision not to seek re-election Friday, said another source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Bayh was scheduled to appear Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union With Candy Crowley," but his office canceled the appearance Friday afternoon.
Bayh is the third Democratic senator to announce he is retiring when the curtain drops on the 111th Congress. Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota previously said they would not seek re-election.
Democrats will have to defend five open seats in November as Roland Burris of Illinois and Ted Kaufman of Delaware have said they will not run for their own six-year terms. Burris was appointed to President Obama's former Senate seat, while Kaufman was appointed to Vice President Joe Biden's old seat.
Meanwhile, Republicans will be forced to defend six seats in the midterm elections. Sens. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Kit Bond of Missouri, Jim Bunning of Kentucky, George Voinovich of Ohio and Sam Brownback of Kansas are all retiring at the end of the year.
Sen. George LeMieux of Florida -- who replaced Sen. Mel Martinez after he resigned before the end of his term -- also will vacate his seat.
Former Republican Sen. Dan Coats recently announced a bid to challenge Bayh this year. Coats served from 1989 to 1999 but chose not to run for re-election. Bayh won that contest.
Former Rep. John Hostettler and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman also are bidding for the GOP Senate nomination in Indiana.
Bayh probably would have faced a difficult re-election due to the anti-incumbent political climate, but an Indianapolis Star/WTHR poll conducted in November indicated that 61 percent of Indiana voters approved of the job the senator he was doing, with 24 percent disapproving.
Bayh also had nearly $13 million in his campaign war chest.
He seemed to face the same frustration many former governors experience when they are elected to the Senate. Instead of being able to make singular decisions, they find themselves members of a slow-moving legislative body where political lines are dug deep.
"I'm an executive at heart," Bayh said. "I value my independence. I'm not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology. These traits may be useful in many walks of life, but they are not highly valued in Congress."
A source noted that Bayh is unclear about what his next step might be but said he would entertain the idea of becoming a university president, running a private business or heading up a charitable endeavor.
Another source added that Bayh could consider another bid for Indiana governor.
A White House source confirmed Bayh discussed his retirement with Obama well before announcing the decision.
However, a Democratic Party source said Bayh's announcement took national Democrats by surprise. The source added that Democratic Reps. Baron Hill and Brad Ellsworth and Evansville, Indiana, Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel all may consider making bids for the Democratic Senate nomination.
"I appreciate the support of those Hoosiers who have already encouraged me to run for Sen. Bayh's seat," Ellsworth said in a statement.
"The next step will be taking a few days to talk to my wife and to folks in Indiana about where I can best serve our state."
The deadline for a candidate to submit the required number of signatures to have his or her name placed on the Indiana primary ballot is noon Tuesday.
But if no candidate meets that goal -- and no Democrat is expected to do so -- then the Indiana Democratic Party will be able to choose its nominee.
Bayh, a centrist Democrat, reportedly was considered a possible running mate for Obama in 2008. Bayh's father, Birch, served three terms in Senate.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/15/bayh.retirement/index.html?hpt=T1
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Russian fifth-generation fighter made a second flight. 13.02.2010.
Fifth-generation fighter T-50 (PAK FA), completed the second test flight, Interfax reported with reference to the representatives of the military-industrial complex of Russia.Flight testing of fighter aircraft were held on Friday, February 12, at the airfield of Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO). The air fighter spent 57 minutes.
At the airport KnAAPO planned to perform a few more flights PAK FA (T-50), then the fighter moves to Zhukovsky near Moscow, where will the bulk of its flight tests. After the test will be held in the flight test center of the Defense Ministry in Akhtubinsk.
First flight PAK FA has committed 29 January 2010 and from the airport KnAAPO. Fighter spent in the air 47 minutes.
Specifications fifth-generation fighter T-50 still kept secret. Reported only that he can take off and landing on runways length of 300-400 meters, will be able to perform combat missions in any weather and time of day, and will differ maneuverability.
It is planned that the Defense Ministry will PAK FA, already in 2015, but did not specify on how many fighters in question.
Source: http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/02/12/pakfa/
Friday, February 12, 2010
Sochi 12.2009: Road Adler - Krasnaya Polyana. 12.02.2010.
Begins with a brief series of notes on a trip to Sochi in December 2009 and February 2010. I'll start with a video of the road from the airport Adler in the direction of Krasnaya Polyana.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Levitating magnet brings space physics to fusion. 25.01.2010.
Tests on an experimental machine that mimics a planet’s magnetic field show that it may offer an ‘alternative path’ to taming nuclear fusion for power generation.
A new experiment that reproduces the magnetic fields of the Earth and other planets has yielded its first significant results. The findings confirm that its unique approach has some potential to be developed as a new way of creating a power-producing plant based on nuclear fusion — the process that generates the sun’s prodigious output of energy.
Fusion has been a cherished goal of physicists and energy researchers for more than 50 years. That’s because it offers the possibility of nearly endless supplies of energy with no carbon emissions and far less radioactive waste than that produced by today’s nuclear plants, which are based on fission, the splitting of atoms (the opposite of fusion, which involves fusing two atoms together). But developing a fusion reactor that produces a net output of energy has proved to be more challenging than initially thought.
The new results come from an experimental fusion reactor at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center on the MIT campus, inspired by observations from space made by satellites. Called the Levitated Dipole Experiment, or LDX, a joint project of MIT and Columbia University, it uses a half-ton donut-shaped magnet about the size and shape of a large truck tire, made of superconducting wire coiled inside a stainless steel vessel. This magnet is suspended by a powerful electromagnetic field, and is used to control the motion of the 10-million-degree-hot electrically charged gas, or plasma, contained within its 16-foot-diameter outer chamber.
The results, published this week in the journal Nature Physics, confirm the counter-intuitive prediction that inside the device’s magnetic chamber, random turbulence causes the plasma to become more densely concentrated — a crucial step to getting atoms to fuse together — instead of becoming more spread out, as usually happens with turbulence. This “turbulent pinching” of the plasma has been observed in the way plasmas in space interact with the Earth’s and Jupiter’s magnetic fields, but has never before been recreated in the laboratory.
Most experiments in fusion around the world use one of two methods: tokamaks, which use a collection of coiled magnets surrounding a donut-shaped chamber to confine the plasma, or inertial fusion, using high-powered lasers to blast a tiny pellet of fuel at the device’s center. But LDX takes a different approach. “It’s the first experiment of its kind,” says MIT senior scientist Jay Kesner, MIT’s physics research group leader for LDX, who co-directs the project with Michael E. Mauel, professor of applied physics at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.
The results of the experiment show that this approach “could produce an alternative path to fusion,” Kesner says, though more research will be needed to determine whether it would be practical. For example, though the researchers have measured the plasma’s high density, new equipment still needs to be installed to measure its temperature, and ultimately a much larger version would have to be built and tested.
A new approach to a tough problem
Kesner cautions that the kind of fuel cycle planned for other types of fusion reactors such as tokamaks, which use a mixture of two forms of “heavy” hydrogen called deuterium and tritium, should be easier to achieve and will likely be the first to go into operation. The deuterium-deuterium fusion planned for devices based on the LDX design, if they ever become practical, would likely make this “a second-generation approach,” he says.
When operating, the huge LDX magnet is supported by the magnetic field from an electromagnet overhead, which is controlled continuously by a computer based on precision monitoring of its position using eight laser beams and detectors. The position of the half-ton magnet, which carries a current of one million amperes (compared to a typical home’s total capacity of 200 amperes) can be maintained this way to within half a millimeter. A cone-shaped support with springs is positioned under the magnet to catch it safely if anything goes wrong with the control system.
Levitation is crucial because the magnetic field used to confine the plasma would be disturbed by any objects in its way, such as any supports used to hold the magnet in place. In the experimental runs, they recreated the same conditions with and without the support system in place, and confirmed that the confinement of the plasma was dramatically increased in the levitated mode, with the supports removed. With the magnet levitated, the central peak of plasma density developed within a few hundredths of a second, and closely resembled those observed in planetary magnetospheres (such as the magnetic fields surrounding Earth and Jupiter).
Summarizing the difference between the two approaches, Kesner explains that in a tokamak, the hot plasma is confined inside a huge magnet, but in the LDX the magnet is inside the plasma. The whole concept, he says, was inspired by observations of planetary magnetospheres made by interplanetary spacecraft. In turn, he says, for planetary research the experiments in LDX can yield “a lot more subtle detail than you can get by launching satellites, and more cheaply.”
The work ahead
The MIT and Columbia scientists say that if the turbulence-induced density enhancement exhibited by the LDX could be scaled up to larger devices, it might enable them to recreate the conditions necessary to sustain fusion reactions, and thus may point the way toward abundant and sustainable production of fusion energy.
“Fusion energy could provide a long-term solution to the planet’s energy needs without contributing to global warming,” says Columbia’s Mauel.
The LDX project, led by Mauel and Kesner and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, has been through more than 10 years of design, construction and testing, and produced its first experimental results in its levitated configuration last year, which are being reported in the analysis published this week. A newly installed microwave interferometer array, developed by MIT graduate student Alex Boxer PhD ‘09, was used to make the precision measurements of the plasma concentrations that were used to observe the turbulent pinch.
“LDX is one of the most novel fusion plasma physics experiments underway today,” says Stewart Prager, director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Because of the unique geometry of the system, he says, “theoretical predictions indicate that the confinement of energy might be very favorable” for producing practical fusion power, but the theory needs to be confirmed in practice. “For these benefits to be realized, the somewhat bold theoretical predictions must be realized experimentally,” he says.
Source: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/fusion-ldx-0125.html
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