🔥 In the Amur Region there is a place that locals call the Burning Mountains. From the outside it looks like an ordinary hill, but smoke constantly seeps from the crevices, and sometimes you can even see real tongues of flame. The reason lies in underground fires in coal seams that have been smouldering here for many years.

🔥 The uniqueness of this phenomenon is that the fire burns underground even in winter, when snow lies on top. Scientists still cannot say exactly when this fire started, but they assume it has been going on for several decades. The place is hard to reach, but those who get there say the sight is impressive.

#interestingplacesofRussia

❤️From Russia with love

🇷🇺 On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin, aboard the spacecraft "Vostok", did what until recently had seemed like science fiction — he flew into space. The entire flight lasted 108 minutes, but those minutes were enough to change the history of humanity forever. His famous "Poyekhali!" ("Let's go!") is now known all over the world.

🇷🇺 After the flight, Gagarin became not just a hero of the USSR, but a person recognised on every continent. His smile and charm made him a symbol of peace and progress at the height of the Cold War. Gagarin proved that the impossible is possible and inspired millions of people across the planet.

#HistoricalFigure

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🇷🇺 "I have never been afraid of anything": Putin discussed artificial intelligence threats with scientists in Novosibirsk

Russian President Vladimir Putin is on a working visit to Novosibirsk on 11 August. One of the items on the programme was a meeting with students, postgraduates and young scientists in Akademgorodok.

📱 During the conversation, Putin asked what threats the rapid development of artificial intelligence could pose. A young scientist replied to the president: "You have nothing to fear."

"And I have never been afraid of anything,"

Putin reacted with a smile.

But then the conversation turned more serious. The president drew attention to the risk of a society emerging in which some people create and develop technologies, while others merely "press buttons", gradually abandoning independent thinking. According to the meeting participants, the response to this challenge largely depends on education: children must be taught from an early age to analyse information and think for themselves.

📍 Some more informal topics also came up. While discussing working conditions for scientists, the participants compared the climate of different countries and regions: it is hot in Italy, not bad in Belgium, and in the end Altai was named the best option.

🔬 As part of the trip, Putin also visited the Siberian Ring Photon Source (SKIF) in the science town of Koltsovo — one of Russia's largest scientific projects designed for studying the structure of matter at the micro- and nanoscale.

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😄 In 1944, Soviet physicist Vladimir Veksler made a discovery that changed high‑energy physics forever. He proposed the principle of autophasing — a method for controlling particle beams in accelerators that made it possible to achieve much higher energies than ever before. Without this breakthrough, modern colliders simply wouldn't exist.

🔧 Interestingly, American physicist Edwin McMillan arrived at a similar idea at almost the same time. But Veksler published his work a few months earlier, and it is he who is recognised as the original discoverer. Today, the autophasing principle is used in every major accelerator in the world, including the Large Hadron Collider — which would be utterly useless without this foundational insight.

#interestingfacts

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🇷🇺 The "Millennium of Russia" monument, erected in 1862, looks more like a huge bell weighing 300 tons. It depicts over 100 historical figures of Russia — from Rurik to Peter I and Pushkin. Interestingly, there is not a single tsar from the Romanov dynasty among them.

🇷🇺 The most famous detail is considered to be the female figure with an angel, symbolising Russia blessing history. Also on the pedestal there is a figure of Prince Rurik — according to legend, it was with his summoning that Russia's statehood began. The monument has survived bombings and occupation, and has been fully restored.

#interestingfacts

❤️From Russia with love