Russia

The night sky is dotted with familiar faces, easy to spot thanks to their brightness. But a new object could soon outshine them all (bar the Moon, of course): A Russian CubeSat fitted with solar reflectors, named “Mayak” is due for launch mid-July.

If drones catch on like they seem they might, there stands to one day be quite a few unmanned vehicles buzzing about overhead. Russia is taking steps to manage all that potential new traffic, with its space agency announcing plans to test a nationwide monitoring network for drones. ​​

Aspiring amputees should check out this latest manned multirotor out of Russia. The Hoversurf Scorpion is a motorcycle-styled hoverbike with four high-speed props mounted right at leg-amputation level. And it's already flying high enough to bang the pilot's head on the rafters.

Russia's TsAGI is developing a new blended-wing heavy transport aircraft that is designed to carry up to 500 tonnes (492 tons) of cargo, yet only reaches an altitude of between three and 12 m (10 and 40 ft) over water and land.

Russia's famous Trans-Siberian Railway links Moscow to the country's huge eastern areas and serves as a gateway to China, Mongolia, and North Korea. Those making the journey will soon have the option of taking a pitstop in some odd-looking ​new wooden cabins designed by UK firm Kamvari Architects.

Russia has moved to update its nuclear arsenal with an extreme-range, massive payload ICBM designed specifically to defeat anti-missile systems. Capable of traversing the planet's poles and blowing up Texas in one hit, meet the RS-28 Sarmat, or Satan 2.

The ridiculously successful Pokémon Go may let players bag a Bulbasaur, but what if you want to nab a Napoleon? Moscow City Hall is taking cues from Nintendo's mobile hit for its own geolocation app, which lets players "catch" historical figures like Napoleon, Tchaikovsky and Ivan the Terrible.

We might be yet to see the Hyperloop in action, but that doesn't mean some international officials haven't already being inspired by the futuristic transport system. Russia is reportedly contemplating a Hyperloop-like project to connect the country from north to south, and east to west.

With its compact body tucked between ginormous off-road tires, the Sherp ATV might look too odd to be real. But the Russian vehicle is indeed real and it's one hell of a way to drive over anything short of a sheer cliff face.

Imagine taking a road trip from the UK to the US, via Russia. According to The Siberian Times, this might soon be possible.

A state-run Russian news site is reporting that the country has ambitions to build a huge, supersonic cargo plane capable of transporting tanks around the world in a matter of hours. Russia's military is giving itself roughly the next decade to figure it out.

Following an architectural competition, Rotterdam-based firm MVRDV has been given the nod to redevelop the historic Moscow Metallurgical Plant into a large and upmarket mixed-use development.