The future is in technology: scientists talked about bio-settlements and tokamaks of the new generation
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- The future is in technology: scientists talked about bio-settlements and tokamaks of the new generation
The Forum of Future Technologies, dedicated to Bioeconomics, has ended in Moscow. The guests of the event were shown many developments based on the principles of wildlife. From a new generation tokamak model that reproduces processes in the Sun to a healthy lemonade. As part of the business program, the participants discussed the importance of preserving biological resources, the possibility of long-term space missions, the development of nuclear medicine in our country, as well as bio-settlement as a method of exploring the vast remote spaces of Russia. The most interesting events of the second day of the forum can be found in the Izvestia article.
Conservation of biodiversity
The final day of the Future Technologies Forum, which this year is dedicated to bioeconomics, began with the session "Biodiversity and National Centers of Genetic Resources". The participants talked about the importance of biological resources as the basis of a new technological order — a nature-like economy.
Experts stressed the need to preserve rare species of living organisms both in their natural habitat and in special collections.
— Biodiversity is the cornerstone of bioeconomy. By order of the president, we have created collections of organisms that are important for industry: agricultural plants and animals, industrial microorganisms and autochthonous grape varieties," said Yulia Dyakova, director of the Kurchatov Institute Research Center.
At the same time, it is important not only to preserve species, but also to study their unique properties, including at the genetic level. And modern technologies allow us to use this data to obtain valuable resources. For example, you can use the ability of algae to efficiently photosynthesize by creating installations for additional oxygen saturation in the air. And the resistance of some types of bacteria to alcohol and high temperatures can be useful for beer producers.
Bioeconomics is already a reality
During the forum, an exhibition was held in the halls of the World Trade Center, where participants could see specific biotechnological technologies and products. For example, at the stand of Moscow innovative companies, the guests were shown a universal sorbent with a wide range of applications, it is already used in industry.
— Our development can be used for purification of drinking water, liquid waste, removal of heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides and other pollutants. It is based on calcite contained in limestone. This material has a very large surface area — an order of magnitude larger than all known analogues. It can also be used in medicine to clean the gastrointestinal tract, splice bones, and as the basis of wound-healing bandages," said Nikita Piskunov, CEO of the Digital Integration Environment company.
At the Rosatom stand, attention was attracted by a glowing object resembling a flying saucer. This is a mock—up of a new generation tokamak, a device that uses processes similar to those that occur in the Sun to generate energy. In the future, green technology may replace nuclear reactors.
— This is a mock—up of the Tokamak TRT, Russia's flagship research project. In fact, this is an analogue of the international research facility ITER. It uses domestic high-temperature superconductors to generate a strong magnetic field of the order of 8 Tesla. This makes it competitive compared to foreign installations. A magnetic trap holds the plasma. Tokamak mechanisms are similar to processes in the Sun and can become the basis for nature—like energy," said Timofey Semenov, an expert at the ITER Center.
At the exhibition, one could find not only large-scale inventions based on fundamental physical principles, but also developments that are close to anyone. For example, the first healthy domestic lemonade, which you could even try.
— We use specially processed whey in our lemonades. We clean and lighten it, vitamins, minerals and lactose remain in it, and we remove fats and proteins. As a sweetener, we add natural jerusalem artichoke syrup and natural extracts of herbs that grow in Russia. These are linden, echinacea, and black elderberry, which also give useful properties to the drink," said Marina Anufrieva, a technologist and developer at ArtVkus.
Life in space
The day continued with the session "Beyond the Earth: Biotechnology and Space". Its moderator, Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, recalled that Russia has the richest experience of long-term human presence in outer space, which was obtained at the Soyuz, Mir and ISS space stations. This knowledge is necessary for deep space exploration, which must begin with the colonization of the moon.
Grigory Maksimov, Deputy Director General of Roscosmos, noted that the national Space project began at the beginning of the year, the cornerstone of which will be the development of manned space exploration.
— The creation of the Russian orbital Station will begin, which will ensure the presence of our astronauts in space in the next decade. The issues of vital activity outside the Earth were studied during experiments on the Bion spacecraft. Research in this direction will continue. Over the past five years, about 30 experiments in this field have been conducted on the ISS," he said.
Alexander Blagov, Vice President of the Kurchatov Institute, devoted his speech to nuclear energy technologies, which the institute has been working on for several decades. These are both power plants for new-generation spacecraft and nuclear power plants that will provide alien bases. As Mikhail Kovalchuk noted, such equipment may appear in the foreseeable future: "All the principles are known and tested. In fact, we need to turn systems that have already proven themselves into state-of-the-art systems based on new materials and computing systems." According to the scientist's forecast, a "lunar" nuclear power plant may appear in the next five to seven years.
The topic of the atom in the context of medicine was discussed at the session "Nuclear Technologies for Bioeconomics and Humans". Andrey Kaprin, Director General of the National Medical Research Center for Radiology at the Ministry of Health, said that since 2023, 18 "nuclear" pharmacies have been opened in Russia, which make radiopharmaceuticals available to patients.
— We hope to increase the range of radionuclides, which are in great demand. When we synthesize a new drug, it needs to be mass-produced. We expect that a special factory will be built for this purpose," the medic said.
An eco-friendly future
At the "Inspired by Nature" session, we discussed how nature-like technologies will help overcome the challenges associated with the sharp increase in global resource consumption.
— These technologies are based on the study of processes and mechanisms of nature, comprehension of natural models. Strategically, these methods are a response to the global crisis associated with a shortage of resources. It is nature—like technologies based on economical consumption that seem to be the solution to the problem," said Ekaterina Yatsishina, moderator of the session, Deputy Director of the Kurchatov Institute for Scientific Work.
According to her, the previous algorithms of the development of civilization led to the fact that in an insignificant period from the point of view of history, mankind has squandered a significant part of the resources received from nature.
— People are parasitizing the biosphere, not caring about tomorrow. Today it became clear that this is a dead end. Therefore, it is necessary to find new renewable energy sources, the development of which does not harm the environment. In fact, nature—like technologies mean a vector for desurcization — reducing dependence on resources," she added.
The eventful program of the day ended with the session "Bio-settlements: a new model of life". According to Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, the vast expanses of the Arctic, Siberia and the Russian Far East cannot be mastered using conventional methods involving the construction of thousands of kilometers of transport and energy infrastructure. An alternative in these territories may be bio-ecological settlements: compact, high-tech settlements in which a closed cycle of natural resource use is implemented.
— Our capabilities allow us to provide them with energy. And the biotechnological approach is to close the life cycle, ensure waste recycling and minimize the burden on the ecosystem," he said.
Compact low-power nuclear power plants can become the basis of the energy system of such settlements. A prototype of such a station was created at the Kurchatov Institute, and a mock—up is presented at the stand. And the isolation of eco-settlements can be overcome through unmanned technologies and satellite broadband Internet.
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