The article is devoted to the analysis of the processes of implementing artificial intelligence (hereinafter - AI) into the work of modern Russian scientific groups. The main question is the definition of AI by scientists in the context of ideas about science and how this understanding affects the ways of its inclusion in the work of laboratories. The study was conducted using methods of semi-structured interviews with laboratory heads and employees working with AI, as well as with programmers if any. Materials were collected in the spring of 2025 at universities and institutes in Tomsk. It is shown that ideas about artificial intelligence and the forms of its implementation into work differ significantly even within the same laboratory and between disciplines. Media resources or meetings with AI developers, and much less often scientific journals, become sources of knowledge about AI. Meetings with AI developers take place within the framework of "forcing innovation" on the part of the administrative structures of universities; trust in the tool in this case depends on the communicative abilities of AI specialists. The result for all teams was an understanding of the need for "data hygiene"; changes in the work of groups are associated with understanding what data is and how to work with it. Despite all the differences in the collected cases of six scientific groups, they are united by a wary attitude regarding the validity of AI tools and the problematization of responsibility for the results. Important concerns are the issues of publishing the results of such studies, especially in Russian journals, as well as the institutional norms of individual disciplines. This allows us to say that the system of production of scientific knowledge at this stage finds itself in a complex situation regarding the standards of application of AI as a research method. However, we see disciplinary differences in the ease of including AI in scientific work. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.
The work was carried out within the framework of the state assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation FSWR-2026-0009 “Artificial intelligence in the theory and practice of social anthropology: from writing academic texts to scenario planning”
This paper presents the first study of Seima-Turbino-style daggers from East Kazakhstan using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and SEM-EDS analyses. Different alloys used in the manufacture of the daggers were identified, which is preliminarily explained by the use of different ore sources. The hypothesis is discussed that metallurgists of the Seima-Turbino period intentionally extracted and added lead as an alloying metal. Copper-tin-lead alloys appear to be characteristic specifically of the West Altai metallurgical tradition within the vast Seima-Turbino distribution area. In addition, the study of one figured dagger pommel revealed, for the first time among Seima-Turbino bronzes, an alloy composed almost entirely of tin. The anomalously high tin content in the ram figurine may be explained by the proximity of the cassiterite sources of the Kalba Range and the abundance of tin among the culture's earliest miners.
This article examines Yerevan's cafe culture as a dynamic "existential milieu" from the early Soviet era to modern transformations. It conceptualizes the cafe as a permeable space transcending the classical concepts of the "public sphere" (J. Habermas) and the "third place" (R. Oldenburg), acting as a mechanism for preserving cultural continuity and ontological security (Giddens 1991) during radical historical ruptures. Methodology includes in-depth interviews, participant observation, and memoir analysis. The study reveals the cafe's role as a locus of relative stability during the 1990s crisis, when, amidst institutional and infrastructural collapse, these spaces ensured the preservation of the social fabric of the urban community. In contexts of physical displacement (resulting from the Armenian Genocide, migration waves of the 1920s-30s, and the 2023 Artsakh exodus), the cafe environment - including "refugee cafes" and establishments founded by repatriates - is transformed into a "home for those deprived of homeland." Through practices of domestication and the creation of mnemonic meta-spaces, these venues enable the reconstruction of everyday meanings lost along with the territory. In the stable 1960s-80s, the cafe acquired a different existential modality, becoming an autonomous "refuge" from state officialdom, balancing public loyalty with personal authenticity. Analysis shows that Yerevan's cafe culture, formed with the decisive participation of repatriates and seekers of existential asylum (ranging from refugees to internal emigrants), has established itself as a unique existential structure - a resource for social resilience and mnemonic reconstruction. It enabled the symbolic reproduction of "home," overcoming both ideological pressure and historical ruptures. The author declares no conflict of interests.
The Tlingit of Southeast Alaska had already used exchange equivalents before the arrival of Russians and other Europeans in the late 18th century. Their arrival led to a significant increase in trade, accompanied by the introduction of entirely new exchange items (metal goods, beads, clothing, tobacco, and so on). True, of the entire range of goods offered to the Tlingit, only European blankets became universal value equivalents from the 1830s onwards. Thanks to firearms obtained from British and American traders, the Tlingit were able to maintain their independence throughout the history of Russian America. Therefore, the Russians were never able to impose a rigid fur pricing system on them - the so-called Russian-American Company tax - as they did with the dependent Aleuts and Southern Alutiiq and, to some extent, with the inland Athapaskan and Eskimo groups of Western Alaska. As a result, the Tlingit were free to manipulate the prices of their furs when trading with Europeans, developing their own systems of trade equivalents. Although valuable furs, as Alaska's main wealth at the time, were often valued by the Russians in monetary terms, the currency itself did not become a universal equivalent due to a number of objective circumstances, and it rarely figured in exchange transactions with the Tlingit. The material presented in this article, including statistical calculations, may assist specialists in further research into the history, ethnography, and economy of Russian America. The author declares no conflict of interests.
