Everything about this video of a Russian power plant exploding off in the distance and lighting the sky a range of colors seems too perfect. The car that caught the video happened to have a dashboard mounted camera, and the driver seems to be listening to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” playing just softly enough to make this video not unlike a teaser to some nuclear holocaust movie. Extremely unsettling.

After twenty years and 2.2 miles of drilling, a Russian scientific team has reported that they have breached the ice cap above Lake Vostok some 3,768 meters beneath Antarctica. Though many had theorized the existence of lakes beneath the antarctic ice since the 19th century, conclusive proof of one did not exist until 1993 when satellite data confirmed that an ancient fresh water lake did indeed exist. Untouched for nearly 15 million years, breaching Lake Vostok could have wide ranging effects on our understanding of life itself.

Alright, I am perfectly willing to concede that this crow isn’t actually snowboarding. I accept that it’s much more likely that it is simply trying to eat something out of the cap it’s riding on. However, that doesn’t explain why the bird keeps taking the cap to the apex of the roof, why it seems to stop pecking once it starts moving, or how the crow seems pretty cheesed when the ride ends. The evidence is against it, but in my heart I know that this bird is kicking sweet moves on fresh powder.

The Russian Phobos-Grunt space probe has really had a rough run of things. The craft was originally intended to land on the Martian moon Phobos and return a soil sample by 2014. Instead, Phobos-Grunt has been stuck in orbit since it was launched in early November. Today, the probe made an uncontrolled re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean just before 1:00 P.M. E.S.T..

If you’re like me and have lived your entire life in the United States, odds are most of your impressions of Russia come from Cold War-era movies: A bleak sky with people huddling about while some kind of droning chant plays in the background, endless military parades in front of harsh leaders, general dreariness. This amazing little time lapse video from zweizwei completely shatters that image, showing a colorful and bustling metropolis of Moscow. Go on and take a watch if you think your view of Russia could use a bit of a refresher. See the video, after the break.

Today saw the successful first flight of a Russian-made Soyuz rocket from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch site in popular French South American colonial holding French Guiana. The liftoff was the first time a Soyuz rocket has blasted off from any location other than the six launchpads operated by the Russian Space Agency, and took place in a newly constructed facility at the Guiana Space Centre (GSC).

For the ESA, the flight bolsters the status of the GSC as a major player in space flight. It also works to cement relations between Russia and the ESA, giving both organizations access to an extremely reliable launch vehicle in the Soyuz and an ideal equatorial launch site. So ideal that the Soyuz realized a nearly 50% boost in efficiency thanks to the Earth’s spin, allowing the rocket to carry three tons into space instead of the normal 1.7 tons when launched from the traditional home of the rocket.

According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, the Russian space agency has determined what caused the crash of an automated Progress resupply ships en route to the International Space Station. If true, this could head off a scenario in which the ISS would have to be unmanned due to the limited 200 day rating on the Soyuz spaceships currently docked at the station.

The Russian article states that the committee assigned to investigating the crash has determined that a malfunction in the rocket’s third engine caused the crash. Specifically, a fault with the engine’s gas generator. This is fast work, especially considered that the committee was formed only four days ago. However, the article does not say if the problem has been resolved in future rocket launches.

Despite these recent problems, the Universe Today notes that Russian rockets have an otherwise sterling launch record. Since their introduction, the cargo-carrying Soyuz-U has 745 success and 21 failures, and the manned Soyuz-FG has had all of its 25 launches reach orbit successfully. With a lead on the source of the problem, all eyes will surely be on a commercial launch scheduled for October 8. If that and subsequent launches go well, then it could be smooth sailing for the ISS.

(via Universe Today, image via Wikipedia)

The International Space Station is slated for a watery death, sunk into one of Earth’s oceans. The Russian Space Agency has announced its intention to sink the ISS sometime after 2020, once it has reached the end of its operable time. The decision to sink the ISS was made because leaving it in space would pose a risk of debris left in orbit and such “space junk” can be problematic.

The ISS was launched in 1998 and was intended to operate for 15 years (until 2013) however, an agreement was recently reached that should keep it functioning until 2020. By sinking into oceanic oblivion the ISS will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Russian space station Mir, which was sunk into the Pacific Ocean in 2001 after 15 years in space.

Russia has announced plans to build eight floating nuclear reactors — the first of their kind — to enhance the country’s efforts to explore the Arctic for oil and gas reserves. The arctic is currently more navigable than it has ever been due to the melting of ice, which was previously an impediment to traversing the region. The arctic may be the last natural stronghold of oil and gas reserves in the world, so accessibility and control of the region is of high interest.

The floating power plants are designed to each create enough electricity for 45,000 people, and will have the extra option of purifying sea water into fresh water. With a cost of approximately $335 million each, Russia intends to produce the floating nuclear reactors for mass production. Countries like China, Algeria and Indonesia have expressed interest in purchasing the reactors. The first power plant should be completed sometime next year, and will be deployed to Russia’s Kamchatka region in the far east.

Fifty years ago, a Russian man of humble origins was the first human to ever travel into space. Yuri Gagarin quickly became a household name and a celebrated hero in the Soviet Union pulled ahead of the United States in the Space Race. Though he would never fly to space again, Gagarin offered humanity its first glimpse of the endless universe from his own perspective.

Four days after his flight, Gagarin told the world about the Earth as seen form space.

I would like to tell you a little bit about what I observed.

The view of the Earth from an altitude of 175-300 km is very sharp. The Earth’s surface looks approximately the same as seen from a high-flying jet plane. Clearly distinctive are large mountain ranges, large rivers, large forest areas, shorelines and islands.

The clouds which cover the Earths’ surface are very visible, and their shadow on the Earth can be seen distinctly. The color of the sky is completely black. The stars on this black background seem to be somewhat brighter and clearer. The Earth is surrounded by a characteristic blue halo. This halo is particularly visible at the horizon. From a light-blue coloring, the sky blends into a beautiful deep blue, then dark blue, violet, and finally complete black.

When I left the Earth’s shadow, the Sun’s rays penetrated the Earth’s atmosphere. At this point, the Earth’s horizon was dark blue, violet and finally black.

The transition into the Earth’s shadow took place very rapidly. Darkness comes instantly and nothing can be seen. Obviously, the spaceship passed over the ocean during this period of time. If the spaceship would have passed over large cities, then I would have probably been able to see the lights of those cities. The stars were well visible.

Gagarin goes on to say that flying to Venus and Mars is his greatest dream, but Gagarin would die in 1969 just months before men would land on the moon. A lifelong pilot, Gagarin died when the plane he was flying — his first flight since 1961 — crashed. He was honored by his country and  the crew of Apollo 11, when astronauts left one of Gagarin’s medals on the moon.

Read on below to see a short video of Gagarin’s liftoff on that historical flight.