“Dubna. Birth of the World” on “Russia-Cultura” TV-channel

Culture, 24 December 2021

On the eve of the New Year holidays, the “Russia-Cultura” TV channel will broadcast a series of documentaries “Dubna. Birth of the World” dedicated to Dubna as a world scientific centre and the development of JINR from the very beginning to the present day. Documentaries will be shown from 27 to 30 December at 9:30 PM. All broadcasts will be also available on Smotrim.ru.

Monday, 27 December, at 9:30 PM. The first documentary “Inception”

In 1946, a real threat of atomic bombing was hanging over our country destroyed and tortured by the recently ended war. The USA, a former ally of Russia, was making no secret of its plans. The time for atomic blackmail was coming. The Soviet Government were doing everything possible to prevent a new war and deprive the enemy of atomic hegemony. Igor Kurchatov convinced the authorities to construct new facilities for fundamental scientific research. The decision of building the most powerful in the world synchrocyclotron was made. When a gigantic construction started in the north of the Moscow region, Dubna was not on the map yet, but its great scientific future was already predetermined.

Tuesday, 28 December, at 9:30 PM. The second documentary “Strong Interactions”

A famous Soviet physicist Georgy Nikolaevich Flerov was once asked, “Which of the experiments conducted in Dubna is the brightest?” And he answered, “The most striking experiment is Dubna itself.” Dubna scientists were building their own world in their laboratories – a microworld. Being lords of protons, electrons, neutrons, they were sure that they could create their own world on earth as well. The microworld on a certain piece of territory but with people from different countries, with different views, religions, habits working together for the benefit of science, for humankind. The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research was established in Dubna. The city got rid of the iron shield of secrecy and became open to scientists from different countries. A marvellous moral atmosphere of true democracy and creative freedom was established. A close creative friendship of scientists with writers and poets, directors and actors began. Dubna was a centre of public attention. Dubna was a legislator of the style and lifestyle of the thaw.

Wednesday, 29 December, at 9:30 PM. The third documentary “Time of the Titans”

Dubna grew from the atomic project. Then, circumstances changed and the city began an independent peaceful, fundamental scientific life. Georgy Nikolaevich Flerov wrote a letter to Stalin during the war, in which he put his life at risk, “If you don’t listen to me right now, you will regret it later”. He wrote about the emergency to begin work on creating the Soviet’s atomic weapons. He was heard and it stopped the American nuclear blackmail in time. Coryphaei, the people whose names Dubna is proud of today, became famous not only for outstanding scientific achievements but, first of all, for great personal traits such as courage, honesty, commitment to their beliefs. Meshcheryakov, Veksler, Blokhintsev, Frank, Flerov, Bogoliubov were impressive brain power of Dubna. The time of the Coryphaeis, the time of the Titans. A Nobel laureate Ilya Frank said that the result was “the composition of working minds”. In Dubna, that composition gave a result tending to infinity. Any scientific task could be solved, any dream could come true. The grandiose scientific achievements of Dubna are associated with the names of its great scientists.

Thursday, 30 December, at 9:30 PM. The fourth documentary “Breakthrough into the Future”

Humankind is anticipating new scientific discoveries which can change people’s ideas about the universe. People are confident that scientists will soon reveal the innermost secrets of nature and answer questions about the origin and development of the Universe, about the birth of organic and intelligent life. Scientists will explain the nature of antimatter, dark energy, and dark matter. What can Dubna offer the world? What breakthroughs will it make? It is already obvious today that scientists of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research are opening a new splendid page in their history. The construction of the new NICA accelerator complex is being completed. “A real time machine,” scientists say, “We are recreating conditions of the first moment of the universe.” Seven thousand collisions every second. The birth of two thousand charged particles in each collision. All these 3D images will be captured. The flight time and the trajectory curvature in the magnetic field will be measured, pulses and energy distributions will be restored. A stream of research data in unreal five petabytes. The largest deep underwater neutrino telescope in the Northern hemisphere has been launched on lake Baikal. It is an international project, but Russia is its developer, creator, and chief scientific coordinator. Scientists are conducting unique research in astrobiology, genetics, and medicine. Dubna gives the example of solving difficult scientific tasks in collaboration. It is possible to respect each other despite the differences. It is possible to live side by side without hurting or offending anyone, sharing research opportunities and work results. Scientists give us hope that one day the whole world will be like Dubna.


The “Russia-Cultura” TV channel is a federal educational TV channel in Russia created on the initiative of Dmitry Likhachev, Mstislav Rostropovich, and other figures of science and art. The TV channel broadcasts without advertising.