Siberian Huskies were specifically bred as working dogs

The Siberian Husky’s durable qualities weren’t discovered by accident. Their ancestors were bred to pull heavy loads across the frozen wastes of the Siberian arctic. Among the attributes needed to survive in such harsh surroundings are the thick coats that are typical of this breed.

The oldest breeds of dog

Siberian Huskies are descended for the original sled dog and are included among the oldest breeds of dog on the planet. This fact sees them entered on a popular list known as the 14 ancient dog breeds of the world.

Siberian Huskies have a unique colouring

Siberian Huskies have a more diverse set of colours than any other breed of dog. Many who picture the animals in their mind will typically see a white and grey coat but in fact, black, piebald and a reddish brown hue can also be found on many individual dogs.

Their eyes can also be blue, amber, brown or even a mix of any of these colours.

Siberian Huskies are ‘odour free’

This may be a disputed fact in some quarters but unlike some other dogs, Huskies are very particular about their behaviour and appearance.  As such they have a neutral smell and are very easy to house train.

This is just another reason why…

Siberian Huskies make ideal pets

The loving and gentle nature of the husky makes them ideal as a family pet. Many would be owners are put off by their size but they are so affectionate that they are perfect in a home setting with children or smaller animals.

However…

Siberian Huskies need exercise – lots of it!

That may seem like an obvious fact but it’s easy for any prospective domestic owners to underestimate just how much exercise a husky needs.

These are traditional working dogs and they remain faithful to their heritage. If they aren’t exercised regularly they will become restless in the home so walk them and give them space to run and when it snows, why not take them sledding?

The Siberian Husky has seen active service

As the animals’ reputation for hard work and loyalty grew, they were enlisted on many arctic expeditions and in 1933, US rear admiral Richard E. Byrd purchased 50 dogs in an attempt to take on a 16,000 mile journey around the Antarctic coast.

In the Second World War, they even saw active service as part of the US Army’s Arctic Search and Rescue Unit.

Further Reading

If you’ve enjoyed these Siberian husky facts then it’s worth looking for some in depth information on the subject. Amazon is always a good place to start and a brief search will reveal some excellent books that can tell you all about this incredible breed of dog.

Siberian husky facts is a post from: Siberian Light

Siberia has a long history of producing Russian diamonds. Diamond mining actually came to Russia quite late, because it wasn’t profitable to mine diamonds in large quantities throughout much of Russia’s history. However, when the Soviet Union decided in the 1940s that diamonds were essential for it’s rapidly growing post-war industry, the decision was made to throw the full weight of the Soviet machine behind diamond mining. Unsurprisingly, the Soviet leadership soon discovered that there was an insatiable demand in the outside world for diamonds, and that it could sell them for a lot of money abroad. It soon agreed a deal to secretly sell diamonds to De Beers, allowing them to continue to control the world market. By the late 1960s, diamonds brought in more foreign income than any other Soviet export.

For many many years, most Russian diamond was mined from the world famous Miry Diamond Mine, which was first discovered in 1955 by Soviet geologist Yuri Khabardin. This mine is famous for being the world’s deepest mine, let alone the world’s deepest diamond mine. You will no doubt have seen pictures of this mine circulating via ‘viral’ email, or on websites that chronicle the fantastic.

As you can see from the picture here, the Mirny mine was truly massive. It is 525 meters deep, and has a diameter of 1.2 kilometres. The open mine was closed in June 2001, after 44 years of operation, but enough diamond mining continues in underground tunnels to last, it is estimated, until beyond 2030.

Siberian diamond mining today remains concentrated in Yakutia, a region of north-central Siberia also known as the Republic of Sakha. Today, over 20% of the world’s diamonds come from this one Siberian region. Some of the main mines in operation today include the Udachny Mine, which is inside the Arctic Circle, and the Anabar Mine, where it is so cold that mining ceases entirely during the winter.

Siberian diamonds is a post from: Siberian Light

The hunt for diamonds on Russian soil began in earnest in the late 40s. Eventually, after years of research using sophisticated equipment, similarities were found between the geological features of Yakutia province and those of known diamond rich areas in South Africa. The search immediately began in earnest for kimberlite pipes in the area. Kimberlite pipes are formations that have a high probability of containing diamonds. In 1955 geologist Yuri Khabardin found such a foundation. This was named the Mirny Pipe – and shortly thereafter the Mirny Diamond Mine. Facing extreme weather conditions during the winter, engineers nevertheless succeeded in establishing a working mine, and producing large quantities of diamonds. In fact, many international experts were surprised or even skeptical of the volume produced as mining continued at the Mirny mine, with some believing that more than one mine must be in operation in the country.

Although the Russian Diamond mines were established to reliably supply diamonds for industrial use, plenty of gem grade stones were also produced. In fact, during the 60s these diamonds were the country’s most valuable export. The diamonds produced were generally small compared to those on the market, but the De Beers company still feared that the oversupply of the new Russian stones could damage their careful control on the international price of diamonds. To deal with this problem, De Beers made a secret deal to buy diamonds from Russia so that they could continue to control world supply.

The volume of small gem grade diamonds now held by De Beers meant that they actually had to change public perceptions of small diamonds in order to avoid a buildup of the Soviet diamonds in their vaults. Previously, large stones had been the popular choice for westerners. De Beers launched a massive advertising campaign to counteract this, promoting rings and jewelry made up of multiple smaller stones in preference to single large stones. As a result of this, the smaller diamonds became highly sought after. This is reflected by the fact that the size of an average stone fell to 0.28 carats in the mid 70s – down from an average of 1 carat per stone in the 40s.

Although De Beers was able to continue selling small Russian stones, as time went on they began to struggle to keep up with the pace of production from the Siberian mines, which were producing far more diamonds than could be explained given the size and scale of operations. The secrecy surrounding the Russian mines has made it hard to find reliable information even today. However it is worth noting that in parallel with their program of exploration and mining for diamonds, Russian scientists had been working on ways to synthesise diamonds in the laboratory. They had been producing abrasive grade industrial diamond powder since the 60s, but had continued to develop their technology to the point that they were able to produce marketable, clear gem quality lab created diamonds which stood up to examination from trained gemologists. It is said that these stones were not cost effective to produce, but one can imagine some Tesla-esque advance in the technology being used to produce diamonds at a profit. It’s interesting to note that the machines use to produce the current popular ‘Chemical Vapour Deposition’ diamonds in America were reportedly sourced from Russia in the 90s.

Since their creation, Russian diamond mines continued to expand, and the diamonds mined now account for a significant component of GDP – particularly in some areas. Almost all modern diamond production in Russia occurs in the Sakha Republic, with these stones accounting for up to 25% of annual world diamond production and valued at US$1.5 billion. Although an important part of the region’s economy, mining operations are not without some controversy and undesired side effects. Pollution caused by mining, including some nuclear explosions intended to expedite the diamond mining process, have affected the river systems which are relied on as part of the drinking water supply. Work to manage pollutants and improve the quality of water continues, particularly in the Lena river basin – the largest river system in Russia.

Russian Diamonds is a post from: Siberian Light

With a week still to go in August 2009, Russia has already seen three disasters that have been big enough to warrant global media attention, making August 2009 a bad month, even by the usual Russian standards:

• an explosion in a Siberian dam that killed at least 70, and has caused massive damage to the local economy;
• a suicide bomb attack that killed 20 in Ingushetia and re-emphasises the Russian government’s inability to impose order in the troubled North Caucuasus region;
• and a very public hunt for a missing, presumed hijacked freighter that so alarmed the Russian government that they sent the entire Atlantic fleet on a frantic hunt for it.

While thinking about Russia’s least favourite month, I stumbled across this graphical timeline of Russian disasters so far in the 21st Century. A quick count up of the totals reveals that, of the 28 disasters listed, 7 took place in August – a full 25%.

Does anyone have any rational explanation for Russia’s unfortunate sequence of Augusts? Are there some local factors that make Russia (or maybe even the rest of the world) more likely to suffer from a catastrophic event during the height of summer, or is it just a run of plain bad luck?

August: Russia's month of Disaster is a post from: Siberian Light

In an attempt to find out what really happened, film-makers George Carey and Teresa Cherfas packed up their cameras and headed out to Siberia.

On their journey they talk to everyone with a theory, from mystics and reindeer herders, to amateur sleuths and serious scientists.  Every one has a theory, ranging from the mundane and probably true (metorite explosion) to the wacky and probably not true (alien spacecraft and anti-matter explosions).

Close Encounters in Siberia, the resulting documentary, will be aired for the first time on UK channel More 4 tonight, and I assume it will make it to more far-flung parts of the world not long after.

Tunguska Documentary is a post from: Siberian Light

Engineers are also considering how they could build a bridge across the Bering Strait.  Or, to be more precise, a series of three bridges spanning the Bering Strait, via the Diomede Islands.

As with a tunnel, the challenge of buildng a bridge from Russia to Alaska would not be insignificant.  According to the Discovery Channel (via Fogonazos blog):

Ice breakup after each winter is violent and would destroy normal bridge piers, so the 55-mile-long bridge would need 220 piers, cone-shaped to resemble and function like the bow of an icebreaker ship, and weighing 50,000 tons each.

And that’s even before you consider the thousands of miles of roads and railway lines that would be needed to connect the bridge to any of the major Siberian or North American transport routes.

If you want to know more, the Discovery Channel has an excellent interactive guide, with plenty of diagrams and pictures.

How to build a bridge across the Bering Strait is a post from: Siberian Light

But not all was as it seemed.  Russian bloggers, taking exception to a Russian language BBC article about alcohol abuse in Izhevsk, decided to spam the BBC’s online poll:

Within hours, sometimes at a rate of two votes per second, more than 25,000 testified to being “regular” consumers of antifreeze and the like. Even after BBC computers zeroed out the results the next morning, the votes kept piling in, with over 90% blithely confirming suspicions that Russians are pretty much liquored up all the time.

People power, or cyber-terrorism?  You decide.

Update: Mmd Russia Blog has more, including details of a few other stories where Russian bloggers have flexed their muscles. 

90% of Russians drink anti-freeze is a post from: Siberian Light

Anzhela Adamova was a young man called Oleg Goncharov, who decided to take part in the beauty contest by joke. He went to a stylist and after that made a portfolio at a professional photographer.

Apparently, Adamova received more than 360 votes before (s)he was outed and disqualified.

Take a look at the photo – can you tell that Anzhela is really Oleg? I tell you what – that’s one hell of a stylist!

Anyway, the results of Miss Virtual Yakutia are available on the official site. Unsurprisingly, Miss Adamova doesn’t seem to be mentioned.

Miss Yakutia finalist was a man is a post from: Siberian Light

Notice the blur in the middle? I didn’t put it there – Google did. Click on this link to check for yourself.

Then scroll out a bit, using the controls of the left of the screen. Notice anything else?

Yep – the blurred out area is in the Russian Far East.

Anyone got any ideas about what’s been airbrushed out?

What's Google Maps hiding? is a post from: Siberian Light

Squirrels have bitten to death a stray dog which was barking at them in a Russian park, local media report.

Passers-by were too late to stop the attack by the black squirrels in a village in the far east, which reportedly lasted about a minute.

They are said to have scampered off at the sight of humans, some carrying pieces of flesh.

A pine cone shortage may have led the squirrels to seek other food sources, although scientists are sceptical.

[...] Komosmolskaya Pravda notes that in a previous incident this autumn chipmunks terrorised cats in a part of the territory.

Click here for more squirrel blogging at siberianlight.net.

Attack of the Killer Squirrels is a post from: Siberian Light