The Reforum has published five tasks for the restoration of Russian science, proposed by T-invariant editor-in-chief Olga Orlova.
Olga Orlova
T-invariant opens a series of publications related to the second anniversary of the war with Ukraine. In the first investigation, we tell how the FSB of the Russian Federation launched the largest “case of scientists” in modern Russia, pursuing the signatories of an anti-war letter throughout the country.
In 2023, the FSB began subjecting dissenters to punitive psychiatry. Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Abramov left the psychiatric hospital after the examination and became familiar with the updated version of the charges. T-invariant spoke with the scientist about his life with the “extremist” label, his political views and the reasons for the security forces’ attack on the Russian supercomputer industry.
How did the idea come about to build an “island of academic intelligence” using Google Quantum? How to create conditions under which students will pursue science and not a career? Explains the initiator of the PhD program in quantum condensed matter physics QT Future at the University of Ljubljana Mikhail Feigelman.
Important Stories published a text by T-invariant editor-in-chief Olga Orlova about how the Israelis were left alone with the war. A third of students are at the front, small businesses are on the verge of collapse, volunteers are saving farmers.
The number of Israelis abducted during the terrorist attack on October 7, whose identities have been identified, has reached 210 people. However, it is not yet known how many people remain alive and how many are killed. In southern Israel, where fighting is still ongoing, small volunteer groups were searching for missing people. Zoologist Alexandra Panyutina worked in one of them. At the request of T-invariant, Alexandra tried to reconstruct the picture of the tragedy that occurred.
Why did the Higher School of Economics find itself in the worst position among all the new famous universities that emerged in post-Soviet Russia? At what point did the era of solidarity with state ideology begin at the university? Was the pressure on Yaroslav Kuzminov pressure on the university itself or on the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina? What are the reasons and consequences of including the HSE on the sanctions list? Explains former vice-rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Andrei Yakovlev.
On October 14-15, the annual RASA conference will be held in Chicago. This year it is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninov. We discussed what Rachmaninov’s creative experience of emigration teaches, why his works were banned and allowed to be performed again in the USSR, and whether classical music will stand the test of time in a conversation with the honorary speaker of the conference, the conductor who performed all of Rachmaninov’s works, professor, Director of the Orchestra Northwestern University Music Biehnen School Viktor Yampolsky. Interviewed by Olga Orlova.
What is the extent of ideologization of education in Russia? Why will it be impossible to carry out lustration in the field of education? What awaits researchers in Russia and Ukraine after the war? What are the prospects for economic reforms in Ukraine? T-invariant spoke with Sergei Guriev, Provost of Sciences Po University in Paris.
Three physicists were arrested in so called "Novosibirsk case". It wasn’t the first time. Previously, four scientists were also accused of treason in different years. All of the scientists accused in all these cases participated in the projects of the seventh framework program of the European Union "TransHyBerian" (coordinator — Von Karman Institute of Hydrodynamics, Belgium). However, the interlocutors and sources of T-invariant suggest that the contacts of scientists with China and Iran are only an excuse, not the reason for the arrests.
The military-industrial complex is one of the dirtiest industries in terms of its impact on climate and the environment, even in peacetime. It is especially harmful to the planet during active combat operations. Why was Russia not excluded from the global climate process after February 24, 2022? Climate policy experts Marianna Poberezhskaya and Olga Dobrovidova explain.
How science helps resist the archaic, explains Eugene Koonin, Senior Investigator at the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
How do random variability, heredity, and selection work in cultural evolution? Wars as fluctuations in cultural evolution, lessons from Franklin's missing expedition, hierarchy of prestige, copying of skills, level of trust and natural selection of ideas, competitive environments without wars — Alexander Markov talks about all this in episode 4 of the podcast «Invasion».
Is modern war in terms of cultural evolution the norm or the terrible exception? Was Steven Pinker wrong when he wrote his book «The Best in Us: Why There's Less Violence in the World»? Aleksandr Markov, doctor of biological sciences, argues in episode 3 of Olga Orlova's podcast «Invasion. Science in a Time of War.»
«I will not go back: I cannot work in a country that is at war with its neighbors,» Yelena Bunina, CEO of Russia's Yandex, wrote to colleagues in early March 2022 and did not return to Russia from vacation. Today, Elena Bunina, a professor at Bar Ilan University talks about the losses and gains of the past year.
The war caused the largest and fastest «brain drain» from Russia since the early 1990s. What is the peculiarity of this wave? T-invariant launches a series of videos titled «Philosophical Scooter». Первый выпуск: «Brain Drain: How Scientists Go to Israel». We discuss with Yakov Krasik, Professor, Department of Physics, Professor, Department of Physics, The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Why do we need an honest examination of science in Russia today? And is it really needed? Why has Russian society failed to demand for quality education in the humanities and social sciences? Why do we need Dissernet in a country where rational thinking is suppressed? Episode 2. The Invasion Podcast.
How Russian mathematics lost to the war. Is there any chance, in the conditions of external isolation, to preserve a living system of mathematical knowledge in Russia through international solidarity, personal connections, and secret online teaching?
Science during war with the voices of scientists from Ukraine. Why Ukrainian scientists are not given scientific visas to the USA and other countries? How to help scientists who stay to work in Ukraine? What kind of science is possible in Ukraine of the future? Episode 1. Podcast Invasion.