Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The Slow Process of Brain Death: the Crisis of Science and the State of Scientific Research in modern Russia


Белка в колесе - Google Search

Вручение президентских премий молодым учёным - 11 февраля 2014 года, 17:50  Москва, Кремль

Crisis of Russian Science - Google Search

  1. Russians face up to their outer-space crisis - Technology & science ...

    www.nbcnews.com/...science.../russians-face-their-spac...

    NBCNews.com
    Sep 28, 2012 - In the wake of a string of setbacks, Russia's top space officials acknowledge that the country's aerospace industry is in deep, deep trouble.
Crisis of Scientific Research in Russia - Google Search

The Continuing Crisis in Russian Science


Nearly a fifth of scientists are considering abandoning the U.S.


Science in the New Russia: Crisis, Aid, Reform
by Loren R Graham  (Author) , Irina Dezhina (Author) , Loren R. Graham  (Author)

Science in the New Russia: Crisis, Aid, Reform - Google Books

Front Cover
Indiana University Press, 2008 - History - 193 pages

The Russian science establishment was one of the largest in the world, boasting many Nobel prizes, a world-leading space program, and famous schools in mathematics, physics, and other fields. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the major financial supports for the scientific community were eliminated, with resulting "brain drain." The subsequent expansion of capitalism and globalization revealed that Russian science was ill adapted to compete with other countries in high technology. Science in the New Russia tells the dramatic story of the near collapse of Russian science in the mid-1990s and of subsequent domestic and international efforts to reform and reenergize scientific activity in Russia.
More »

Russian science odyssey

"The most important and persistent legacy of Soviet science is the seemingly dysfunctional separation between its three organizational “pyramids,” with theoretical and advanced research still dominated by the Russian Academy of Science and its research institutes (with similar academy structures in agriculture, medicine, and pedagogy); technical and applied research separated into economic or industrial branch ministries, much of which has been lost as enterprises have been privatized or experienced cuts in state funding; and a third pyramid of state universities and specialized professional institutes, which focus on undergraduate and graduate education but often with only weak research capacity. Finally, another enduring legacy was the pervasive militarization of science in the Soviet system, which bred yet more organizational barriers and lack of transparency."
...

"The most useful aspect of the volume for international readers will be the authors’ detailed descriptions and evaluations of the massive and historically unprecedented international assistance programs that sought first to support and then to transform post-Soviet science, higher education, and research. These programs, funded by an array of governments and multilateral organizations, amounted to several billion U.S. dollars (when related programs in energy, nuclear nonproliferation, and agricultural research are included), and offered support in the form of individual grants, international travel and long-term professional exchanges, the purchase of scientific equipment and publications, collaborative research projects, and institutional support."
...

"Efforts were also launched to disseminate new information technologies throughout Russian education and government and to restore state funding for scientific research, most notably through a series of massive federal grants for innovative university projects and investments in areas such as aerospace and aircraft design, biotechnology, and nanotechnology."
...

"A key turning point came after 2001, when the highest reaches of the political leadership seemed to recognize the necessity of a coherent science policy and adequate state or public investment for the competitiveness of the Russian economy and began ambitious efforts to better coordinate venture capital with technological innovation, as well as to link together the research capacity of Academy institutes with the educational programs of universities."
...

"Russian science might soon reclaim its status in the world community and thereby just possibly be able to more directly contribute to the resolution of our common scientific and technological challenges in the 21st century."

M.N.: I doubt it very much.

Sources of Scientific Creativity - Google Search

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Crisis of Social Sciences in Russia - Google Search

Is there Google in Russia? - Google Search

Monday, February 10, 2014

V. Putin: Три с половиной иероглифа



M.N.: V. Putin: Три с половиной иероглифа.



"Я и сам был такой когда-то: маленький, невинный, хороший и пушистый. А теперь меня всё кортизоном качают..."

А надо ли? Виагра в предсмертной агонии наврядли поможет...



"Но надо, чтобы это всё было пролонгировано, чтобы это продолжалось и в следующие годы, а может быть, и десятилетия."

M.N.: А надо ли? Виагра в предсмертной агонии наврядли поможет... Но главное: а надо ли?

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Заодно и поговорите...



1/3 Фото пресс-службы Президента РоссииВо время посещения австрийского Тирольского дома в Красной Поляне. С легендарным горнолыжником Карлом Шранцем.9 февраля 2014 года 
"Красный Тиролец"... А спинка-то - прямая как доска, застывшая... Болит, болит, вижу. А ты - расслабся, спортом займись, а лучше всего - сексом; хоть гейским, хоть анти-гейским, что больше нравится... Поможет... Если, конечно, всё ещё можешь. Виагру прими, или в баньку сходи с Януковичем - он большой и добрый. Заодно и поговорите. 

2/3 Фото пресс-службы Президента РоссииНа командных соревнованиях по фигурному катанию во Дворце зимнего спорта «Айсберг». Слева от Президента – Министр спорта Виталий Мутко, справа – президент Международного союза конькобежцев Оттавио Чинкванта.9 февраля 2014 года
Роджэр, Роджэр: мессидж понял. Сам такой. Читай Биона, лечи элиту, а то - сожрут...

Friday, February 7, 2014

Putin as a voyeur: "Приём от имени Президента России в честь гостей Олимпиады"



Приём от имени Президента России в честь гостей Олимпиады

Russian top official seemingly admitted to spying on hotel guests in their bathrooms!



Deputy Prime Minister Lets Slip Comment About Surveillance in Sochi Hotel Rooms

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An attempt to defend Russia from a wave of reports about faulty infrastructure in Sochi by pointing the finger at guests backfired when a top official seemingly admitted to spying on hotel guests in their bathrooms.
"We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said during a press conference on Thursday, seemingly unaware the statement would provoke more questions on how the footage was obtained in the first place.
When a reporter tried to ask a follow-up question, an aide led Kozak away, saying they were going to tour the Olympic media center, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Later on Thursday a spokesman for Kozak said that there is no surveillance in guests' hotel rooms, but that video cameras had been used while construction and cleaning activities were ongoing, and that his boss must have been referring to footage obtained at that time.
The spokesman did not explain how, if that were true, the footage Kozak referred to could have featured guests.
In the run up to the Winter Olympics, which officially starts on Feb. 7, Western journalists in the Black Sea resort have reported a lack of running warm water, doorknobs, collapsing curtains and stray dogs among the problems they encountered upon arrival.
Kozak, who was in charge of preparations for the Games, said he had no "claims against Western or Russian journalists who are doing their jobs," but added the Olympic project had been a great success, considering the facilities were built on an "open field."
"We've put 100,000 guests in rooms and only got 103 registered complaints and every one of those is being taken care of," Kozak said.
"There are some imperfections, but victors don't have to justify themselves," he said in an interview with television channel Rossia 24 on Thursday.