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March 2023

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RASA statement in support of Professor Konstantin Sonin

The Board of Directors of RASA (Russian American Science Association) expresses full and unconditional support to a valued member of our association Professor Konstantin Sonin of the University of Chicago, in connection with a recent reports that a criminal case has been opened against him in Russia on suspicion of publicly disseminating of allegedly «false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces».
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The Wildlings are already here. Awaiting the White Walkers

Scientists were shocked by a talk at a theological conference by Alexander Kudryavtsev, director of the Institute of General Genetics, in which he actually renounced the science he was supposed to be engaged in. «I will give my vision of the world,» the speaker begins and utters a manifesto of religious fundamentalism that leads to militarism.

Free University

Date of incident: March 31, 2023
Type of violation: persecution, violation of autonomy
Institution: Free University

Summary: In 2021, the organizers registered the Free University NGO in Latvia. On March 31, 2023, the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation recognized the activity of the educational project as "undesirable". Russian laws make it possible to bring citizens to administrative and then criminal liability for any "participation in the activities" of such organizations.

Sources: T -invariant, Free University
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Fear of the Stochastic Parrot

Why does it make no sense to stop training ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence models? Denis Tulinov, author of the telegram channel «Vagus nerve», discusses in his column for T-invariant.

«At first I thought it was a fake» — scientists on religious fundamentalism of the Institute of General Genetics director

A.M. Kudryavtsev, corresponding member of the RAS, director of the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the RAS, made a blatantly fundamentalist presentation at a theological conference. He claimed that mutations are caused by sins, that human lifespans are shortening because biblical characters lived for hundreds of years, and that Russia is forced to war because people in neighboring countries have multiplied too much. «At first I thought it was a fake,» write without collusion in response to the obscurantism Acad. Alexei Khokhlov and bioinformatician Alexander Panchin. There is also a response from the head of the RAS Commission
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Creating Russia outside of Russia

The coming down of the Iron Curtain makes it more difficult to understand what is happening in Russia, and there is a growing need for specialists in Russian studies in Europe. Historian Marek Příhoda spoke about the new Russian-language Master's program at Charles University and the specifics of the Czech vision of Russia.

Sociologist Mikhail Sokolov responds to an interview with Victor Vakhshtayn

Mikhail Sokolov has posted detailed remarks following an interview with Victor Vakhshtayn published by T-invariant. Spoiler alert: «Russian social scientists … do not need to abandon Russian material in the past by erasing it along with the part of their lives dedicated to collecting it. If you understand how the mental maps of the social sciences are arranged, … you can, hopefully, avoid such sacrifices.»
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«Russian World» as a synonym for Russian military aggression

What are the ideological, historical, mythological, and psychological reasons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We talk about this in a podcast interview with the author of the book The End of the Russian World? On the Ideological Foundations of Russian Aggression, Polish diplomat and publicist Piotr Skwieczynski.
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George Kistiakowsky — the Unknown Father of the American Bomb

His ideal was a quiet university job, but life made him a "merchant of death." Georgy Kistyakowsky's name does not appear in a history textbook. But it was his knowledge that helped turn the tide of World War II and influenced the policies of one of the two superpowers. Though it wasn't even his homeland.

Oleg Orlov

Date of incident: March 21, 2023
Type of violation: accusation of repeated discrediting of the Russian Army
Institution: Memorial. Human Rights Center
Summary: As Interfax reported on March 21: “A criminal case has been opened against former board member of the liquidated International Memorial Society (convicted as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) Oleg Orlov for re-discrediting the Russian Armed Forces”. The case was initiated under Article 280.3 Part 1 (on the repeated discrediting). The maximum punishment provided for this crime is imprisonment for a term of up to three years. A prohibition of departure was chosen as a preventive action.

Sources:: Interfax, FB Center Memorial.
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The unreachable self-sufficiency

What won't allow to build in isolation a mathematics comparable in power and diversity with the Soviet one? The intellectual generation gap, giving rise to gerontocracy, marginalization, and the spread of pseudoscientific schools, suggests Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ilya Shkredov.

Moscow Aviation Institute

Date of incident: March 20, 2023
Type of violation: coercion to sign a summons to the military enlistment office to receive a diploma
Institution: Moscow Aviation Institute

Brief: Students of the Moscow Aviation Institute who graduated from the specialist's programs reported that they are being refused diplomas until they sign the summons to the military registration and enlistment office. One of the students said that along with the diploma, it is required to sign a summons in the office where diplomas are issued, and he sits as a military commissar. This takes place in the branch of the institute on the Taganskaya metro station.
Source: Radio Liberty, RBC
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Steampunk and a Thinking Crystal

Artificial Intelligence is preparing to supplant copyright. It radically changes the notion of «copy» underlying copyright protection. In fact, the «copy» is hardly distinguishable from the new «original». Will the copyright, born in the age of steam engines, withstand?

Penza State University

Date of incident: March 16, 2023
Type of violation: coercion to sign a summons to the military enlistment office to receive a diploma
Institution: Penza State University

Summary: In March 2023, Andrey Surkov, military commissar of the Penza Region, announced that Penza State University graduates will receive subpoenas along with their diplomas to be registered in their military specialty.. An agreement has been reached only with this university. Surkov said that the call for military training is over - there are more than 140 people. At the same time, Surkov said that the following agendas would be annulled.
Source: telegram channel Idel.Realii
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«The strike is directed at a wrong target»

Breaking international ties with Russian scientists will lead to results directly opposite to those hoped for by Ukrainian scientists who called for such a boycott in their open letter, says Alexei Oskolski, a member of the Coordinating Council of T-invariant.

Viktor Novogorsky

Date of incident: March 15, 2023
Violation type: expulsion
Institution: Mari State University

Summary: Third-year student Viktor Novogorsky was expelled from the Mari State University. Failure was cited as the official reason. However, the Mari Ushem organization believes that the student was expelled due to his participation in the activities of this organization, aimed at raising the self-awareness of the Mari people.

Source: Idel.Realities

Konstantin Miroshnikov

Date of incident: March 15, 2023
Type of violation: dismissal
Institution: Moscow International University

Synopsis: Konstantin Miroshnikov, teacher of the Introduction to Journalism course and former employee of Echo of Moscow radio station, was dismissed by agreement of the parties from Moscow International University. The dismissal was the result of denunciations. According to the author of one of the denunciations, Miroshnikov gave students a report on the topic “A journalist and his activities.” When grading, the opinions of the teacher and the student regarding the text about the VGTRK employee differed, a denunciation was written against the teacher, and Konstantin Miroshnikov was fired.

Source: Radio Liberty
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Two brave and a chatbot

An international boycott of scientists for their government's war? Even anti-war-minded people are divided over such measures. Many do not risk speaking out about it. So in addition to the scientists' answers, we asked questions to the artificial intelligence. At least it doesn't have emotions to suppress.

Berlin Wall 2

Ukrainian scientists have appealed to the international community to boycott their Russian colleagues. However, such a boycott conflicts with a number of important legal and ethical principles, and in practical terms may do more harm than good in countering Russian aggression.

Nikita Menshov

Date of incident: March 11, 2023
Type of violation: arrest
Institution: Ural State Law University

Summary: Freshman Nikita Menshov has become a new defendant in a criminal case of high treason. On March 11, at 5:35 am, Menshov was detained in Vladikavkaz by a patrol of the police department No. 2 of the Zaterechny district for 15 days for "obscene language." But on March 25, he was not released. On May 11, TASS, citing the secret service, claimed that Menshov was suspected of trying to go over to the side of the enemy. The agency calls it an "attempt" to commit treason.

Source: BBC Russian

SOVA Center

Date of incident: March 10, 2023
Type of violation: violation of autonomy
Institution: Information and Analytical SOVA Center

Brief: On March 10, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit to liquidate Information and Analysis SOVA Center. The lawsuit was filed as a result of an unscheduled inspection that took place in the organization from January 9 to February 4. “Violations” the department considered the participation of SOVA in events outside of Moscow - seminars and round tables in the Russian regions, as well as online conferences of the OSCE. All these “violations” were confirmed by employees of the Ministry of Justice with screenshots from SOVA website. The organization is currently appealing this decision.

Source: OVD-Info
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Europe’s «Strait Gate» to the Future

Despite the energy crisis, the European Union is not abandoning its Green Deal and is increasing efforts to develop environmentally friendly, cheap and non-dependent on Russian hydrocarbons energy. Russia's foreign policy has played a significant role in this process.

Elena Kabakova

Date of incident: March 7, 2023
Type of violation: fine
Institution: Pyatigorsk State University

Summary: The court fined Elena Kabakova, an associate professor at Pyatigorsk State University, 30,000 rubles under an article about discrediting the army because of her pacifist statements in a conversation with students.
Source: Caucasian Knot

Countries importing Russian fake dissertations

Prof. Andrei Rostovtsev listed the countries whose citizens, according to Dissernet, actively use the opportunity to receive academic degrees in Russia for falsified dissertations. China is in first place, followed by most Third World countries, and there are even some European countries on the list. And for instance, Tajikistan successfully sells Russian-language forgeries to Iranians.

© 2023 Т-инвариант / T-invariant