Heavy rains caused flooding across virtually the entire northeast coast of Spain. According to the Meteorological Service of Catalonia, more than 215 liters of water fell on the town of Alcanar in 14 hours per square meter. Strong jets of water transported cars and furniture to open areas in the Mediterranean Sea. Rescue services advise residents not to leave their homes unnecessarily, Spanish forecasters predict rainy weather until the end of the week.
The consequences of heavy rains in Spain & mdash; in the AiF.ru photo strip.
Director of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after AN Severtsov RAS Valentin Ilyachenko spoke about the reasons why certain species of animals disappear in Russia, reports 360.
According to the scientist, one of the reasons for the disappearance is a change of habitat. He noted that the species, recognized & nbsp; probably & nbsp; switched off, is very demanding on the place of residence.
Another reason why Ilyachenko called an immoderate extermination hunt, which Russia cannot control on its own, since, for example, birds that fly to hot territories, can exterminate d & # 39; other states.
Additionally, agriculture and climate change are affecting the animal population. In recent years, too, forest fires have occurred all over the world. The scientist pointed out that fires had also occurred before, and after them some species of animals were replaced by others. However, now the scale of the fires is different and the species just don't have time to adapt.
Ilyachenko noted that a new Russian Red Book list was approved last year, which will include around 500 species.
Previously, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation reported that 11 objects from the animal world in Russia are considered probably extinct.
The head of the Institute for Ecology and Sustainable Development at Dagestan State University, Alimurad Hajiyev, also said that about a quarter of the Red Book seals dead on the Caspian Sea coast were found skinless, & nbsp; all have traces of nets. All of these facts point to poaching.
Moscow's electric bus celebrated its third anniversary. The deputy mayor of the capital in the government and the head of the department of transport and road infrastructure development, Maxim Liksutov, have appreciated the work of this vehicle in the past, writes Evening Moscow.
Muscovites were initially afraid of a new type of transport and were surprised by it. Meanwhile, over the past three years, city dwellers have made this the greenest, most modern, and comfortable mode of transportation the future of the city.
Currently, more than 700 electric buses run on 59 urban routes, and Moscow is the leader in number of electric buses in Europe. In three years, these cars have traveled around 50 million kilometers and carried around 111 million passengers.
According to Liksutov, electric buses are 'green'. means of transport, and with their appearance there are less harmful emissions in the capital. The use of electric buses reduced the amount of dangerous substances in Moscow by 40,000 tons.
It is noteworthy that Moscow has stopped buying diesel buses, gradually increasing the number of eco-vehicles. In addition, new innovative models are being developed. Soon, electric accordion buses will appear in the capital, designed for a larger number of passengers. Testing of a hydrogen-powered electric bus, recognized as nature's safest vehicle, is also scheduled to begin. & Nbsp;
Earlier, the mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin spoke of the development of electric transport in the capital.
The Moscow City Duma also noted that creating the conditions for the development of electric transport in the city should be a priority.
The American company L3Harris Technologies carried out the first flight tests of the ARES electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft, currently in development for the United States Army. It can perform missions over 12,000 meters above sea level and fly up to 2pm. AiF.ru found out what type of aircraft it was and why it was needed. & Nbsp;
The name of the reconnaissance aircraft & mdash; ARES & mdash; stands for Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System. ARES made its first test flight on August 27 in Florida. The abbreviation ARES means that electronic warfare equipment can be carried on board. The technology demonstrator is currently being tested without electronic warfare equipment. It flies at an altitude of over 12,000 meters for 14 hours and activates long-range marksmanship to counter threats from a distance.
ARES is the prototype of a reconnaissance and electronic warfare aviation platform that could operate at higher altitudes and fly farther and longer than RC-planes. 12 Guardrail, MC-12 and EO-6C currently in service with the United States Army.
The prototype is based on the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet, which has a payload of 5.6 tonnes. This is a Canadian long-haul business jet. Its largest cabin in its class is divided into 3 sections to provide maximum comfort and privacy for 17 passengers. The Global 6500 has a range of 12,223 km and uses less fuel than its counterparts. It is powered by new specially designed Rolls-Royce Pearl engines.
The increased range of the ARES will reduce mission risks by eliminating the need to operate near difficult or closed borders, which is not possible with low-altitude and high-altitude detection systems. short distance.
The equipment for the new reconnaissance aircraft was carried out within the framework of the HADES (High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System) program. The prototype is equipped with a set of sensors that detect ground targets for artillery and ballistic missiles. The specification states that the ARES automatically transmits the coordinates of detected targets to ground artillery and missile units in real time. Thanks to this, the aircraft will help to use precision weapons at long range more effectively. & Nbsp;
L3Harris won the contract to build ARES in November 2020. The new aircraft will replace the aging Beechcraft RC-12X Guardrail turboprop aircraft, which are tactical electronic reconnaissance aircraft created by the US firm Beech Aircraft. The vehicle was adopted by the US military almost forty years ago and is now outdated in both operational and maintenance capabilities. Most planes are so exhausted that they have to periodically remove spare parts from decommissioned boards, which are stored in the 'graveyard'. plane from Davis Monten, Arizona.
The United States has a large number of aircraft that can perform both reconnaissance and electronic warfare functions. Currently, Beechcraft RC-12X Guardrail, Bombardier Challenger 650, Boeing P-8 Poseidon, Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, Lockheed P-3C CUP Orion are performing reconnaissance along the borders of Russia.
Also the Air Force and the US Navy traditionally have a large fleet of aircraft designed exclusively for electronic warfare. Over the years, machines of this type have included Douglas EA-1F Skyraider, Martin EB-57 Kanberra, Douglas EB-66 Destroyer, McDonnell Douglas EКA-3 Skywarrior, EF-111A Raven, Grumman EA-6B Prowler, EC-130Н & # 39; Compass Call & # 39; & # 39 ;, Lockheed EP-3E Orion Aries II, Douglas EC-24, Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, EA-18G Growler. Such a variety of specialized electronic warfare aircraft shows how much attention is paid to aeronautical reconnaissance and electronic warfare in the United States.
The Russian Army will soon receive heavy attacks from 'Platform' type unmanned aerial vehicles. They were created by research and production company Strela. AiF.ru understood the capabilities of these devices and their application.
Violent shock
Company Strela develops unmanned aerial vehicles up to 1700 kg, target loads for them, etc., both for civil and defense purposes.
The exact characteristics of the Platform until disclosed & ndash; maybe the project is under development or will be filed. Presumably, the new unmanned aerial vehicle was supposed to operate at a tactical depth – at a range of up to 20-30 kilometers. Also, it was speculated that the unmanned helicopter would be in demand in the Navy for reconnaissance and target designation. & Nbsp;
A year earlier, it was reported that the development of a helicopter-type strike drone weighing around 2.5 to 3 tons had started in Russia. Probably, it was about the 'Platform' or a similar machine. The drone was designed for the benefit of the RF Department of Defense. It was reported about the tactics of the drone, it was intended to be used in conjunction with manned helicopters.
Attempts to create heavy shock drones have been made in the past. For example, three years ago, JSC Industrial Automation Design Bureau began to develop an unmanned helicopter, it will be able to carry various weapons by weight. The vehicle weighs 500 kilograms. The unmanned helicopter is expected to be able to reach speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour and stay aloft for up to four hours. The drone will be able to carry a payload in the form of weapons or surveillance systems weighing up to 150 kilograms. In 2018, the developers have already assembled two prototypes of the drone, one of which has started testing.
Helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles have several advantages over aerial drones. In particular, these drones don't need long runways as they can take off and land vertically. In addition, helicopter drones can establish long-term observation of an object in hover mode.
Heavy load
The most important task of military drones & mdash; reconnaissance and surveillance from the air. They patrol the territory, guard the roads and can work as gunners and gunnery observers. These are, as a rule, small and inexpensive vehicles.
However, there are also drones that really know how to fight & ndash; strike with weapons on board & ndash; call this category heavy drums. Such drones drop bombs, fire missiles, and can crash into large planes. & Nbsp;
The drones are said to be heavy, weighing over a ton, with a range of over 24 hours and an altitude limit of up to 20 km. They can be both types of airplanes and helicopters. They are at least 100 times more expensive than small drones. However, attack drones are still at least 20 times cheaper than a fighter jet, by the way, if they get lost people don't die.
But despite the benefits of drones, some military experts are sure that the time for drones has not yet struck and drones are only effective against countries that have failed. have virtually no air force and air defense, or existing detection systems have been obsolete for a long time.
On September 2, users around the world reported a crash on Instagram. This is evidenced by data from the Downdetector service, which monitors the operation of large Internet resources. & Nbsp;
Thousands of complaints come from the United States, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Russia and other countries.
Over 60% of users complain about content loading issues, and the rest cannot log into their account or website. & nbsp;
One of the large-scale disruptions in the work of the social network occurred in late August. Then it mainly hit the users in the United States. & Nbsp;
Added, access to Instagram & nbsp; is scheduled to be closed for people who have not provided the date of birth in the profile, “ in order to develop new features to protect young users. ''
Weekly “Arguments and facts” № 35. What is the future of Siberia? 09/01/2021
Today Russia's contribution to world science is less than 2%. However, among the national discoveries, there are those that have influenced the whole world.
& # 39; 2021 is declared in & nbsp; Russia as the Year of Science and Science technologies. This means that our country has taken a course towards & nbsp; support for scientific research and the & nbsp; development & raquo ;, & nbsp; & ndash; underlined Doctor of Chemical Sciences Alexander Mazhuga during a & nbsp; meeting with & nbsp; young scientists. He spoke of the & nbsp; new synthesized aero & shy gel, developed by Russian chemists & nbsp; & ndash; employees of & shy; RCTU.
They succeeded in obtaining a light and transparent material which produces light. Aerogel-based materials can be used in & nbsp; & nbsp; as optical sensors, biosensors, energy saving light sources, plasma panels and & nbsp; & shy; OLED displays. The shy new luminescent airgel can compete with the LEDs in use today, which experts believe have serious shortcomings.
“ Russian scientists create unique projects, develop modern materials, and & nbsp; should & shy; learn more about them around the world, & nbsp; & ndash; considers a specialist in the operating department of the company “ Optic-Vision & # 39; & # 39; Mikhail Micharin.
The American company Kratos announced the success of the first flight of the promising tactical jet drone Air Wolf (“ Air Wolf ''). This is a series of inexpensive disposable and sacrificial devices. The drone can be launched using a pneumatic launcher from the ground or from a combat vehicle, that is, by literally shooting it into the air .
The tests included testing different types of payloads that the new aircraft drone could carry. It included the hardware on which the artificial intelligence system was installed. It ensures high efficiency of the drone and its autonomy.
Until last year, the Air Wolf tactical drone was developed under Project F, funded by a secret military client. Kratos says his Air Wolf drone was developed by Ghost Works, the company's advanced development arm. Kratos is also developing other drones. In particular, reusable drones are cheap enough to donate when needed. These include the XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned slave and the UTAP-22 Mako, which tested a prototype artificial intelligence system for slave drones. & Nbsp;
According to experts, Air Wolf is a variant of the MQM-178 target drone. It is the smallest aerial drone developed by Kratos, 3.3 meters long and 1.9 meters wide. The MQM-178 is launched from a pneumatic launcher and flies at speeds of up to 772 kilometers per hour at an altitude of approximately 10 and a half kilometers.
As Air Wolf takes off with a pneumatic rail launcher, the drone can be launched from the ground, a combat vehicle, or from a ship. At the same time, the launch of conventional drones requires a flat, stationary platform, as well as a small margin of time, and the stopping of a combat vehicle or a convoy for launch can be dangerous. This is why engineers are developing mobile and instant starting systems, especially pneumatic ones.
The drone is designed primarily for training and experimentation purposes to enable air and naval forces to test various weapon systems, aircraft, and anti-aircraft air defense systems. Additionally, disposable gliders can be used in combat conditions, for example, to deliver ammunition and supplies to detachments that are in hard-to-reach areas. We know the development of special drones, the task of which is & mdash; deliver the cargo (a USB stick with information or, for example, ammunition) to the point with the given coordinates, then self-destruct.
Disposable drones can also be used for civilian purposes. The use of drones by meteorologists and volcanologists is known. Meteorologists launch disposable drones into the epicenter of the typhoon to measure performance at different altitudes. The device dies in a typhoon while exploring its epicenter.
The first Air Wolf flight took place on August 25 at the Burns Flat test site in Oklahoma. The company claims to be one hundred percent successful, but does not provide further details “ for security reasons. '' The company also claims that its access to the Oklahoma test site helped speed up the initial demonstration of the drone's flight. The flight tests of vehicles owned by the US government have recently been limited. Various manufacturers have said that this limitation has recently caused delays in their aircraft development programs.
Interestingly, & nbsp; commentators on the web take note of the drone's odd name and insist it's time to stop attributing 'kids' drones to drones. names, especially in honor of animals.
A container with a nuclear reactor from a K-19 submarine was found at the radioactive waste landfill site in the Ambrosiev Gulf in the Kara Sea , the chief of the central state airmobile detachment “ Centrospas '' said on Facebook. EMERCOM of Russia Evgeny Lineitsev.
An expedition is currently underway in the Kara Sea to search for underwater radioactive objects. Representatives of the special units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the RF “ Centrospas & # 39; & # 39; and 'leader' with scientists from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, they examine the bottom using the Falcon remote control robot.
Lineytsev said the ship “Academician Mstislav Keldysh” reached set point and anchored in front of the entrance to Ambrosiev Bay, where, according to the plan of the expedition, work was to be done to search for the nuclear reactor container of the K-19 submarine. As part of the work, a sonar survey was performed and the object was found. The expedition will perform visual inspection, spectral analysis and sampling of plant material.
Over the years, many objects have been buried in the Four Bays of the Kara Sea after nuclear weapons testing on Novaya Zemlya, parts of the Lenin atomic icebreaker, including its nuclear reactor, and the nuclear submarine K-27. In the Novaya Zemlya depression alone, according to preliminary information from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, there are around 1,200 dangerous underwater radioactive objects.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations is engaged in the formation of a register of potentially dangerous underwater objects dumped in the internal waters and territorial sea of Russia in accordance with the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. .. To date, the register includes more than 24,000 isolated objects containing solid radioactive waste, toxic chemicals and ammunition. Most of the time they are located at depths of up to 500 meters.
In July, it was reported that the special-purpose nuclear submarine Belgorod; Project 09852, which carries Poseidon-type nuclear underwater vehicles, has entered Factory Sea Trials (ZHI) in the White Sea.
AiF.ru also wrote about what atomic scientists did not forgive academician Valery Legasov, who was a member of the government commission investigating the causes and eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.
The head of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Alexander Kozlov, said that the final ban on the production of disposable plastic products in Russia is expected to be introduced in 2024, reports TASS.
During a speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, he noted that it is proposed to introduce the ban gradually so that the production can be rebuilt.
Previously the director of the Russian ecological operator; (REO) Denis Butsaev said the production of disposable plastic products in Russia could be banned in two years.
Recall that the Ministry of Natural Resources sent a proposal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to ban the use of 28 types of disposable products and packaging. The list of these goods included products that were difficult to recover or not at all processed. The Ministry of Natural Resources believes that these products should be replaced by those that can be processed.
