April 18, 2019

Do Russian Robots Dream of Electric Ice?


Do Russian Robots Dream of Electric Ice?
Ice explosions. Ministry of Emergencies

Throwback Thursday

Commemorative stamp of Battle on the Ice
Commemorative stamp of Battle on the Ice. / Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Today, Russia commemorates Alexander Nevsky’s victory over the Teutonic Knights in the 1242 Battle on the Ice. Read Tamara Eidelman’s essay on how this battle was remembered under Stalin — Russian Life digital subscription required (subscribe here).

We Are All Robots on this Blessed Day

1. Dynamite me a river. Every spring, when the Amur River in Siberia unfreezes, there’s a risk that big chunks of ice flowing downstream will get stuck and cause floods. The Russian government has devised a clever solution: blow up the ice. Usually, ice explosions start around mid-April, but the Amur is thawing earlier and earlier due to global warming, so this year authorities started clearing the ice on April 3, and finished on April 12. To blow up the ice, workers plant explosives at regular intervals across the river, so the explosion resembles a grand fountain. You could say that winter’s going out with a bang (hope someone warned the fish).

Almost better than fireworks. / Video: Anna Liesowska
 

2. Beep boop, I’m a human. Last Saturday, a robot named Alyosha kicked off a soccer match in Moscow. The commentators oohed and aahed at his advanced “artificial intelligence.” Fear not, however, that robots will take over the world soon: as it happens, “Robot Alyosha” was merely a man in a costume, and the commentators were just joking. Actually, this isn’t the first time Robot Alyosha has made mischief in Russia. Last December, he fooled TV channel Rossia 24 at a youth robotics forum. Evidently he was looking to fool us again, but sadly for him, we humans, like artificial intelligence, learn from our mistakes.

3. We, Robots. Alyosha wasn’t the only robot who made a debut this past week. On Rossia 24 (yes, the same one duped by Robot Alyosha), a robot journalist named Alex delivered some news stories in, shall we say, a freakish manner. The Internet was not impressed. “They made a robot, it’s good, but why does he have a hangover?” wondered one Tweeter. Whatever your opinion on Robot Alex, he’s here to stay: his developers plan to train him to become a consultant. We just want to say that if this is the robot apocalypse, we’d honestly rather have Alyosha.

What’s with his mouth?! / Video: Россия 24
 

Blog Spotlight

Journey through the Arctic and experience the Northern Lights with Katrina Keegan, who visited Murmansk and wrote about it on April 9.

In Odder News

  • What’s daily life like in Pskov? One photographer documents it using only his smartphone.
  • Kazan residents learned an unusual lesson: Next time you think an earthquake’s happening, consider whether it might just be a really loud rap concert.
Belarusian rapper Max Korzh
Belarusian rapper Max Korzh made a thunderous debut in Kazan. / Instagram: maxkorzhmus
  • Speaking of rap: After soccer coach Leonid Slutsky went on a rant lambasting a rival coach, one Internet denizen set his remarks to a hip-hop beat. Lucky for us English speakers, Slutsky spoke in English, so the resulting humor is truly international.

“Here’s an itemized list of thirty years of disagreements.” / Video: Телекомпания ТБК

 

Quote of the Week

“It DOESN’T REALLY work.”

— One unimpressed Tweeter commenting on Robot Alyosha’s soccer debut

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

You Might Also Like

The Battle on the Ice
  • March 01, 2006

The Battle on the Ice

Alexander Nevsky's victory over the Livonians on Lake Chudskoye (Peipus) has taken on the status of legend in Russian history. But Nevsky may not be the best of Russian heroes.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955