flickering pictures

Sand animation is the art of storytelling through continuously created and recreated images in sand, and there may be no one better at it than Kseniya Simonova. In the video above, she steals the show on Ukraine’s equivalent of the America’s Got Talent TV show, and has the judges and audience in tears as […]

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This isn’t the first time Russian president Vladimir Putin has flaunted his manliness for the cameras, and it seems likely that it was staged. Still, I don’t think George W. Bush would have had the guts to take down a tiger. From the Guardian:

While on a visit to a national park to observe […]

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From an overly sensationalist in article in Forbes magazine:

The first economic blow of the new Cold War between the West and Russia has been struck–although instead of aiming for the energy markets, Russia has decided to target the humble hen.

From September 1, Russia will reportedly ban poultry imports from 19 American producers, with the fate […]

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Though it’s not exactly independent, the tiny Republic of Kalmykia is a self-governing member state of the Russian Federation. Located just west of the Caspian Sea and not far from Ukraine, it’s a bit of an oddity in über-secular Russia for the prominence that Kalmykian leaders give to spirituality — all the more so […]

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You likely know that just before the Beijing Olympics, Russia invaded the neighbouring Republic of Georgia. The move earned widespread international condemnation, and the resulting war of words with the West has been making headlines for weeks.

You may not know that last July the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2014 Winter […]

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In response to international condemnation of its unilateral invasion of Georgia, Russia has given notice that it will suspend all military cooperation with NATO and its 26 member states. Standing up for nations’ rights everywhere, Russia has taken the position that the world has no business interfering in the affairs of a sovereign nation […]

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While the world looks China-ward, mesmerized by Beijing’s Olympic flash and dash, Russia has quietly mobilized its powerful military and invaded a neighbouring country.
Russia insists it stepped in to protect its citizens living in the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia, who have faced harassment and bombings by Georgian troops. Russian officials say they […]

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Russia plans to launch the world’s first floating nuclear power plant in 2010 — a two-reactor barge the size of a football field. The idea is to sail it around the Arctic Ocean bringing electricity to isolated coastal towns, where shipping coal or other fossil fuels is inefficient and unprofitable. The ship will […]

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Just what the title says. I’m not sure why, but these photos kinda make me just a little sad.
Via The Presurfer.

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Oh get out of the gutter.
Here’s another neat find by the aptly-named Cool Things in Random Places — a short piece on a Soviet-era borehole in Russia’s Murmansk region that’s an astounding 12.3 km deep (12 km the other way, and in most parts of the world you’re into the stratosphere). I like his […]

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