Removing 600 kilos of enriched U-235: the story of how, in 1994, the United States secretly removed from Kazakhstan enough purified uranium to make 24 nuclear weapons. (Full article with one photo.) Russian bomb-grade uranium is now being used in U.S. power plants.
posted by exogenous on Sep 21, 2009 - 50 comments

Riding with the first cowboys – in 3500 BC. Horses were tamed a millennium earlier than previously thought. [Via]
posted by homunculus on Mar 6, 2009 - 14 comments

The Fatherland of Apples Orion Magazine chronicles "[t]he origins of a favorite fruit and the race to save its native habitat." More about the origins of the apple and wild apples by Michael Pollan, Jake Fleming (PowerPoint), William J. Bramlage (PDF), Linda McCandless (with the germplasm repository catalog here (PDF)) and Barrie Edward Juniper (Google Books preview).
posted by cog_nate on Jun 20, 2008 - 15 comments

Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig provides a fascinating glimpse of the people and places of 5 of the "-stan" countries of Central Asia. You can see more work and current projects on his flickr page. Noteworthy photo essays: Arsan Baths in Almatry, Soviet Roadside Bus Stops (seen here before), and his recent The Wheelbarrow Operators of Monrovia.
posted by madamjujujive on Apr 11, 2007 - 16 comments

Russia's discomfort with its Muslim minority stems from a fear that the higher-than-average fertility of the Muslim population (6-10 children children per woman among Muslims vs 1.5 per woman among non-Muslims) will make the ethnic Russians of eastern-orthodox persuasion a minority within the state. [More Inside]
posted by gregb1007 on Jan 8, 2007 - 43 comments

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is the newest movie from Ali G creator Sacha Baron Cohen. Unfortunately, it seems to have sparked an honest-to-God diplomatic incident.
posted by EarBucket on Sep 14, 2006 - 51 comments

Fourteen infants in Kazakhstan hospitals have been found to have HIV. The chief of the regional anti-AIDS center blamed degenerate parents. Not a bad guess; certainly drug use and prostitution have been the major driving force behind the spread of HIV into Central Asia. In this case, however, the victims were probably infected by tainted blood, a problem largely solved in developed countries but still problematic in much of the world. Attitudes like the official's in this case are a big part of the problem.
posted by thirteenkiller on Jul 23, 2006 - 22 comments

It's a hard life for Kazakh opposition leaders. Even if you didn't have to worry about the government all up in your grill, or the police picking on your relatives, there would still be people (totally unrelated to the government, of course) trying to kill you over business disputes, or something. No wonder the last guy killed himself.
posted by thirteenkiller on Feb 20, 2006 - 8 comments

Borat Strikes back after being threatened by the Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry. I like his website? Do you like his website? Previously mentioned in this post.
posted by reverenddrjice on Nov 25, 2005 - 14 comments

Borat likes you. Do you like Borat? Not everyone does. Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry is threatening to sue to prevent the country from being presented in a "derogatory way" by the caricature, a brainchild of UK comedian Sacha Boren Cohen, aka Ali G. [more inside, dziękuję]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 17, 2005 - 37 comments

Road trip to venus!

The Venus Express was launched on Nov. 9th, 2005 from Baikonur, the historic spaceport in Kazakhstan. It is the first Venus probe sent by the ESA , and you can follow it's progress on the six month journey to the planet.

Exploration of Venus begin in 1962 with Mariner 2, the first space probe to fly by another planet and other flights, including the Russian Venera 7, which was the first probe to land on another planet. The Soviets took quite an interest in Venus and dominated the exploration of the planet through the '70s and '80s. A lot of the images recorded by those early craft have been reprocessed with modern technology.

In the early '90s the Magellan spacecraft spent several years mapping the surface of Venus, providing us many, many, many images and 3D maps of the planet.

As for Venus Express, it's goal is to spend two years making detailed studys of the planet's clouds and atmosphere.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Nov 13, 2005 - 19 comments

Roman Vassilenko, the press secretary for the Embassy of Kazakhstan, wants to clear up few misconceptions about his country. Women are not kept in cages. The national sport is not shooting a dog and then having a party. You cannot earn a living being a Gypsy catcher Wine is not made from fermented horse urine.
This is a response to Borat, a character from "Da Ali G Show." Previously discussed here, and here.
posted by garethspor on Sep 15, 2004 - 15 comments

Kazakhstan Tolkeinistas viewed as subversives by the local authorities. A Elbereth Gilthoniel! WTF, penna miriel?!
posted by MrBaliHai on Jan 20, 2002 - 3 comments