“Dubna: Science, Community, Progress”: Science in Comic Strips: an Easy Way to Explain Complicated Things

On 17 June, the exhibition “Science in Comic Strips: an Easy Way to Explain Complicated Things” was opened at the JINR Universal Library. This exhibition is a joint project of DLNP and the Komikadze group. Elena Dubovik, the head of the Group of Scientific Communication (DLNP SciCom), shared with the reading-room audience the details of the experiment of the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems on educational visualization of its investigations. Five comic strips introduced at the meeting refer to studies performed by the DLNP Sector of Molecular Genetics of the Cell under the guidance of Elena Kravchenko, Candidate of Biology. 

“Naked Science”: Phantastic Extremophile Microbes from Tunnels of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory

An unusual telescope of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory in the Caucasus is located in deep tunnels under the four-kilometre-high Andyrchi mountain. Sunlight never reaches this place. What the telescope does here is “observing” distant stars. The rock shields detectors from the outside world and allows physicists to detect neutrinos, mysterious particles that hardly interact with matter. Besides cosmic fluxes of elusive neutrinos, scientists also find in the remote corners of the Baksan tunnels… curious forms of life ― earlier unknown microorganisms which have adapted to extreme environments there. These microbes can be helpful for medical and biotechnological research in the future.  

Yury Malyshkin is the winner of the 2022 RSF Grant Competition

Today, the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) has announced the winners of 2022 “youth” competitions within the RSF Presidential Programme. DLNP research scientist and postdoc Yury Malyshkin became the competition winner in the category “Self-motivated research conducted by young scientists” with the project “Development of the software complex for the complete simulation of physical processes in the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope”. We heartily congratulate Yury and wish him reaching new heights of success and bright scientific achievements!  

“Let your books go!”

About half of readers in Russia prefer printed books to e-books. A habit, pleasant tactile sensation, convenience (one can dog ear pages, underline phrases, read in a plane) ― these are the reasons of the evergreen popularity of printed books. What is more, with e-books one cannot swap books as a part of a bookcrossing community.

Video from the Opening of the Exhibition of Science Comics at Blokhinka

On Friday, 17 June 2022, the exhibition “Science in Comic Strips: an Easy Way to Explain Complicated Things” was opened at the JINR Universal Library. The organizers talked about an art experiment of the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems on educational visualization of its investigations.

A Crucial Stage of Preparing the DUNE Near Detector Successfully Passed

On Wednesday, 29 June 2022, the next important stage in the preparation of the project of the liquid-argon system of the Near Detector (ND-LAr DUNE) was completed, namely, the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) was successfully passed. It took two years to approach this stage: in 2020, the detector concept had to be approved, and in 2021―2022, the system readiness tested within the ND-LAr consortium, and the cost of works agreed upon.

Assembling Detector Strings at the LEGEND Facility

In this video, the first strings of detectors of enriched Ge-76 are being assembled in parallel at the LEGEND facility in Gran Sasso, Italy. Specialists of the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, LEGEND collaborators, assembled detector strings and manufactured high-purity nylon shrouds used to reduce the radiative background of the experiment. The complete system of the active argon veto, developed and manufactured by the joint team of scientists from JINR and the Technical University of Munich, was mounted. The automated detector assembly system was developed, transported to the Gran Sasso Laboratory and installed there by DLNP scientists.

Commissioning of the LEGEND experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory

Despite objective difficulties, DLNP JINR scientists took a decisive part in the installation of the first 60 kg of detectors of enriched Ge-76 in the LEGEND setup located at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (Italy). In addition to the direct assembling of detector strings, our specialists fabricated high-purity nylon mini-shrouds used to reduce the radioactive background of the experiment and for the first time performed the installation of the complete liquid argon instrumentation, developed and created by a joint team of scientists from JINR and the Technical University of Munich.

Commemorating Lev Iosifovich Lapidus

Today, on 22 June, it is the 95th anniversary of the birthday of Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, professor Lev Iosifovich Lapidus. L. I. Lapidus came to Dubna after graduating from MEPhI in 1950. He became one of those remarkable representatives of the first wave of physicists who promoted science establishing the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

Opening an Exhibition of Science Comic Strips at Blokhinka

How to explain basic research in a trustworthy and scientifically accurate way using a comic strip of five pictures? On Friday, 17 June, the exhibition “Science in Comic Strips: an Easy Way to Explain Complicated Things” will be opened at the JINR Universal Library. The organizers will be talking about an art experiment of our Laboratory on educational visualization of its investigations.

Assembly Equipment for the T2K Near Detector Active Target

Staff members at the DLNP Design Department (DD), along with the DLNP Experimental Department of Multiple Hadronic Processes (EDMHP), have manufactured the equipment for assembling the active target (new SuperFGD type) of the Near Detector ND280 in the T2K experiment (the project was approved by the JINR Programme Advisory Committee on Particle Physics in June 2021). The unique SuperFGD target comprises about two million scintillation cubes pierced in three directions by fibers spaced one centimetre. Young specialists at the DLNP Design Department conceived and compiled under the guidance of Nikolay Vasilevich Kirichkov a requirements specification where they put together all the possible parameters of designing the assembly equipment for the target of this kind. One of those who significantly contributed to the manufacture was Andrey Vladimirovich Shaykovsky, the head of the DD Group of Electrophysical Equipment.

Physicists Announce First Results from Daya Bay’s Final Dataset

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment has produced the most precise measurement yet of θ₁₃, a key parameter for understanding how neutrinos change their “flavor”.