Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
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The second day of the TechnoArt science and art festival was no less eventful than the first. At lunchtime, a lecture-film analysis was held: Tamara Chuchuk, a graduate of the Physics Department of NSU, senior laboratory assistant at the G. I. Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about the inventions and scientific predictions that were covered in the 1985 film Guest from the Future based on the book of the same name by science fiction writer Kir Bulychev. After all, we are already partly in the future from which Alice flew in. Which inventions and discoveries have been realized, and which are never destined to come true? Robots, voice assistants, control of brain biocurrents – what has become familiar to us? And what is yet to be mastered?
Can, for example, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren start actively launching satellites into space while still in school? Tamara Chuchuk believes that, despite all the difficulties in understanding physics by schoolchildren, this is entirely possible:
— My classmate, who graduated from university a year and a half ago, has already launched a satellite. Therefore, it seems to me that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who are passionate about science, may well start launching satellites into space much earlier.
What about the famous myelophone and the ability to read each other's thoughts?
— Have you ever noticed that your thoughts sometimes seem to synchronize with the thoughts of another person? In general, this can be explained by simple laws of physics. Let's take the force of an ampere, which acts on two wires with current, and if the current in both conductors flows in the same direction, then the conductors are attracted to each other. The same is with our thoughts; people who think in the same direction are attracted to each other in every sense, — says Tamara.
After lunch, the guests' attention was drawn to the lecture "Catch Me If You Can" by Tamara Shakirova, a research fellow at the Institute of Nuclear Physics SB RAS. Unlike the first presentation, when Tamara Chuchuk analyzed fantastic or already-realized inventions from the point of view of physics, Shakirova's lecture focused exclusively on real scientific achievements that allow "traveling" in time. She spoke about methods of dating objects using accelerator mass spectrometry, which allows determining the age of finds with an accuracy of several thousand years. These technologies open up opportunities for scientists to better understand the history of the Earth and the development of life on it.
The process of using an accelerator mass spectrometer to study the age of objects can be imagined as one of the most modern and accurate "time machines". By the way, NSU is home to the only Center for Collective Use in Russia, the "NSU-NNC Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Center". Using this equipment, scientists can calculate the age of various objects with high accuracy. It all starts with specialists taking a sample – be it a piece of bone, wood or other organic matter – and carefully cleaning it from contaminants. Then the sample undergoes chemical treatment and is then burned, releasing carbon dioxide containing carbon 12 and carbon 14, which is necessary for calculations.
— How does carbon fourteen spread, and why is it so important to us? It oxidizes in the atmosphere, turns into carbon dioxide and through photosynthesis gets into organic compounds — trees, plants, fruits, etc. And then along the food chain it gets to animals and people who get it with food. It is also found in seas and oceans, because it can dissolve in water. When an animal or organic matter lives, it continuously absorbs this carbon fourteen; its concentration is always maintained at the same level as in the atmosphere. But when the organism dies, its intake from the atmosphere stops. And since carbon fourteen is radioactive and decays, it decreases in the same bones or dead trees. If we know how much carbon is in the atmosphere and how much is contained in the bones of an animal or bark, we can calculate when this animal lived and establish the exact date, — says Tamara.
After Tamara Shakirova's lecture, it became clear that incredibly complex and precise scientific developments can become a kind of "time machine". While science fiction continues to give us dreams of traveling to the past and future, real science is already finding ways to delve into our past and reveal its secrets using technologies that until recently seemed impossible.
But one thing remains constant: scientific achievements, although they offer incredible opportunities, require attention to detail, responsibility and a desire to seek answers to questions that concern humanity.
TechnoArt-2025 has once again demonstrated that science and art can go hand in hand, opening up new horizons both in the world of knowledge and in the world of prospects.
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