Author: algen
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«The world is a cart careening off a mountain and hurtling with acceleration»
Interview with Breakthrough Prize winner Alexander Zamolodchikov about the quantum field theory and how it feels to be involved in a domain that is completely impossible to imagine and understand. We also discussed emigration and how, in the midst of Perestroika, he realized that things would not be good in Russia.
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Mutiny P.S.: nobody is ready to defend the existing political order
Has Yevgeny Prigozhin’s march on Moscow broken the «negative equilibrium» Russia has been stuck in for the last twenty years? Vladimir Gelman, political scientist, professor at the University of Helsinki, and author of the book on «bad governance» in contemporary Russia, analyzes the consequences of the failed mutiny and possible alternative scenarios.
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They will not be in power forever
A quota set by the Czech government for the reception of Russian and Belarusian dissidents is not even half used during the year. Czech analysts suggest ways to improve the program’s efficiency, arguing that the new scholars and journalists are valuable to the country and will help restore democracy after Eastern European dictatorships.
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How the USSR missed the IT revolution.
Episode 1: Cybernetics—
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Despite its reputation as a scientific and technological superpower, the Soviet Union missed every phase of the 20th century’s information technology revolution. The first episode was a ten-year delay in the conceptual cybernetic revolution. It did not prevent the creation of the first Soviet computers, but led to a lag in subsequent stages.
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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…
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«At first I thought it was a fake» — scientists on religious fundamentalism of the Institute of General Genetics director
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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…
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Victor Vakhshtayn continues the dialogue with Mikhail Sokolov
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Responding to Mikhail Sokolov’s points, Viktor Vakhshtayn continues his discussion of the obstacles that arise in transferring the results of sociological research obtained in one society to another.
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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.
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Sociologist Mikhail Sokolov responds to an interview with Victor Vakhshtayn
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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…
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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From high-ranking fakers today to Phystech’s shutdown tomorrow
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.
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«It is not only the Russian economy that is mobilizing for war, but also science»
Survey (Issue 2): How has the war affected Russian science and scientists? Although global science did not affected much, the war had a great impact on scientists themselves. They try to help their colleagues from Ukraine and Russia while remaining intransigent to the aggressor. Combining both is not always easy.
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Countries importing Russian fake dissertations
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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.
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How codes of the underworld leads to military aggression
Peacetime sociology cannot yet explain how a full-scale war became possible in twenty-first-century Europe. Sociologist Svetlana Stephenson discusses the reasons for the failure of democratic transition in Russia and the emergence of an aggressive militaristic state.
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Ukrainian scientists call for boycott of Russian science
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The Nature web-site reports about an open letter of Ukrainian scientists with an appeal to the world scientific community to boycott Russian science. The Russian scientific diaspora is discussing the topic in the RASA group.
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Where is artificial intelligence taking us?
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How should we perceive the new generation of AI systems, what to expect of them, and how will they change us? Scott Aaronson, an AI security specialist, talked about this in an interview to Sergei Nemalevich, a science journalist of Radio Liberty. It’s a good starting point for those who have not yet realized how…
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Masks: proven ineffectiveness or unproven effectiveness?
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According to the new Cochrane meta-analysis, the effectiveness of masks against the spread of respiratory infections has not yet been proven. However, they assess the reliability of this conclusion is low because the available research is inconclusive. Science journalist Ira Yakutenko explained in detail why this is the case. We can argue there until the…
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The RAS is winding down the fight against pseudoscience
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Machine translation The other day it turned out, according to the Club of Academicians “July 1”, that in December 2022 the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences decided «to transfer the functions of the RAS Commission on Combating Pseudoscience and the RAS Commission on Counteraction to Falsification of Scientific Research to the Expert Council…
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War and Language: The Russian Master’s Program in Prague
Charles University opens a Master’s program in Russian. Why it was in demand amidst the war, explains Zhanna Nemtsova, co-director of the Boris Nemtsov Academic Center at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University.
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The Marshall Plan for Ukrainian Science
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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.
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«Science has not noticed the loss of Russia»
T-invariant survey: how the war affected Russian science and scientists themselves. Historical rhymes with the scientific emigration of the 1920s, relations with Ukrainian colleagues, isolation of Russian universities, faint hopes and gloomy predictions.
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Why do we run the T-invariant
The T-invariant is a media with the mission to constantly remind us of timeless civilizational invariants, and to unite the community of people who hold them as living values.