Russia Claims To Have Registered World’s First COVID-19 Vaccine

New submitter Hmmmmmm shares a report from CNBC: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of what Russia claims to be the first vaccine for the coronavirus in the world and said one of his daughters had already taken it. “Although I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity and, I repeat, has passed all the necessary…

Who was the 1st woman in space?

On June 16, 1963, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova launched solo aboard a Soviet Vostok 6 rocket, becoming the first-ever woman in space. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-first-woman-in-space…

Putin Declares State of Emergency After Massive Fuel Leak Pollutes River in the Arctic Circle

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in the city of Norilsk after a massive oil spill in the Arctic region. An estimated 20,000 tons of fuel from a power plant spilled onto a road, and a large part made its way into an river on May 29. From a report: A “considerable amount” of the oil seeped into…

Russia’s Soyuz Rocket Production On Hold Due To Coronavirus

Russian officials said they’ve halted manufacturing of the country’s workhorse Soyuz rocket, which most recently flew on April 9 to carry three astronauts to the ISS in a launch that was essentially unaffected by the pandemic. Space.com reports: The news of the pandemic’s impact on its production comes from an English-language transcript released on April 10 by Russia’s government of a…

Forbes: Hack on Putin’s Intelligence Agency Finds Weapon to Exploit IoT Vulnerabilities

“Red faces in Red Square, again,” writes a Forbes cybersecurity correspondent:
Last July, I reported on the hacking of SyTech, an FSB contractor working on internet surveillance tech. Now, reports have emerged from Russia of another shocking security breach within the FSB ecosystem. This one has exposed “a new weapon ordered by the security service,” one that can be used to execute…

Russia Claims New Missile is 27 Times Faster Than Sound

“A new intercontinental weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound became operational Friday, Russia’s defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin,” according to the Associated Press: Putin has described the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite. The new Russian weapon and a similar system being developed…

Russia To Upgrade Homegrown Encyclopedia After Putin Pans Wikipedia

Russia is to set up a new online site for its national encyclopedia after President Vladimir Putin said Wikipedia was unreliable and should be replaced. From a report: The move will ensure people can find “reliable information that is constantly updated on the basis of scientifically verified sources of knowledge,” a government resolution said. Putin last month proposed replacing the crowd-sourced…

Putin Signs Law Making Russian Apps Mandatory On Smartphones, Computers

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed legislation requiring all smartphones, computers and smart TV sets sold in the country to come pre-installed with Russian software. Reuters reports: The law, which will come into force on July 1 next year, has been met with resistance by some electronics retailers, who say the legislation was adopted without consulting them. The law has…

Russia Says New Weapon Blew Up In Nuclear Accident Last Week

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: The failed missile test that ended in an explosion killing five atomic scientists last week on Russia’s White Sea involved a small nuclear power source, according to a top official at the institute where they worked. The men “tragically died while testing a new special device,” Alexei Likhachev, the chief executive officer of…