The Tu142 was Russia’s answer to the American B52 that has been in service for 50+ years. Many Tu142’s are nearly as old as their American counterparts. Recently pushed back into service in international patrols as a show of renewed Russian military force, the aging Tupolev is the worlds’ fastest prop driven aircraft.

The recent crash of a Tu142 has been a major news item in Russia for several days. Late reports today blame the failure of one or more of its unusual engines.

Engine failure could have caused Friday’s crash of a Russian military Tu-142 plane in the Tatar Strait, the chief of the Russian General Staff said on Wednesday.

“The commission will complete the probe and find out,” Gen. Nikolai Makarov said.

The exact cause of the crash could be established only after black boxes from the plane are found.

Eleven people were on board the Pacific Fleet plane that went down during a combat training flight on Friday some 20 kilometers (12 miles) off the Tatar Strait, which separates mainland Russia from the Far East island of Sakhalin. (RIA Novotosi)

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Bakonur has been Russia’s main space port since the 50’s. It’s also the world’s busiest. When the US retires the Space Shuttle, Bakanor will become the center of all transport to the space station. Boston.com recently published a stunning collection of 26 photos from Baikonur.

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A newly discovered bacteria living in Russia’s lake Baikal could end the risk of environmental damage from oil spills.

During submersions to Baikal Russian scientists discovered very interesting microorganisms. They were found in samples and turned out to be promising for eliminating consequences of various ecological disasters.

Scientists claim that these microorganisms live on oil. Every year lake Baikal excretes about 4 tons of oil from bottom cracks, and said microbes eat it, thus saving the lake from being polluted, expedition members say. A lot of research work is required to determine conditions for these tiny creatures to live and to consume oil in other environments. (Russia IC)

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Unlikely as it may seem, two Brits are producing bumper crops of wheat on abandoned Southern Russian farmland. The soil and climate are very good and mechanized farming does the rest. (Click for Video)

In 2002 Richard Willows, a former commodities trader, and Colin Hinchley, a farmer in his own right, came to Russia and bought up land in the Penza region that no-one was farming.

They set up Heartlands Farm and began to apply modern farming techniques with hi-tech equipment.

The results have been astounding - a serious eye opener not just for them, but for the local authorities as well.

Colin Hinchley took us around his 67,000-acre farm and, as we walked through a one of his fields of rippling green wheat, he explained how they did it. (BBC)

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Moscow’s modern television tower is a famous landmark and tourist attraction. Often forgotten, the city’s earlier broadcast tower that was constructed in the 1920’s from a unique and innovative design by architect / engineer Vladimir Shukhov.  The tower was originally designed to be taller than the Eiffel Tower and use less than 1/3 the material thanks to its hyperboloid design.

“This is an architectural monument which, unfortunately, has been forgotten about for too long,” said Shchegolev. “Although we face severe restrictions on financing, we hope in the near future to find the funding to conduct an analysis and then maintain this monument of the engineering arts.” Prime Mi­nister Vladimir Putin agreed, saying that as the nation’s first television tower, “it is one of the symbols of our television broadcasting.”

Funding is to be made available for anti-corrosion work well as an expert analysis of what needs to be done to the surrounding site.

For Shukhov this is good news, but while conservation in Russia remains in its infancy, he is keen to ensure his foundation is able to play a role in the planned work - and other projects. “People often talk about helping preserve our heritage, but that’s all that happens,” he said. “In Europe people pay much more attention to this, but in Russia it is still a very new idea. We are losing a lot of important buildings because developers prefer to crash them down and build something new. We created the foundation not just because of the tower but for other cultural and historical projects. This is part of our history, and we want to show why it’s important that we protect it.”(Moscow News)

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In the last year Russia rocketed to Europe’s second largest car market. Along with foreign transplants, new homegrown production is growing. Marussia, a project to create a mass produced sports car has yielded a working prototype with a limite production run slated to begin this year

Marussia, Russia’s first street legal production sports car, is unveiled in Moscow. The safe and innovative Marussia can hug the road. Russian musician, comic actor and auto racer Nikolai Fomenko, who conceived the project, told a press conference at RIA Novosti that the current global financial crisis facilitated an innovative auto business. “Russia is a wonderful test site for launching innovative projects,” Fomenko said. (Russia Beyond the Headlines)

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A Russian company produces a unique personal propulsion craft for divers that is configured like a motorcycle. I’m certain that moving about from a seated postion beats being pulled by the arms as some propulsion units do.

The underwater motorcycle allows going underwater without any special equipment: the body of a motorcycle rider stays in water and the head – in a kind of helmet serving as a diving-bell and is equipped with an air supplying system. The electronic motors of the motorcycle let it move in all directions underwater.
Compared to some foreign analogues, such as, for instance, Breathing Observation Bubble/Scuba Scuta, the developers of the Russian Aqua Star used even glass for the helmet instead of spherical glass that distorts the diver’s visibility and makes the eyes get tired. The helmet of Aqua Star motorcycle also has an airflow system to prevent the glass steam up. (Russian IC)

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