For the first time in the world, an international group of researchers studied the structure of the KR2 rhodopsin protein under physiological conditions. This work, published in the journal Science Advances, could be a breakthrough in the treatment of widespread neurological diseases. Employees of the Center for Research on Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases at MIPT, as well as scientists from France and Germany, participated in the development.

In Obninsk, Kaluga Region, the court stopped the criminal prosecution of human rights activist Tatyana Kotlyar, who was accused of two counts of fictitious registration of foreign citizens in her apartment, 7x7 reports . This is the third trial of Kotlyar on charges of fictitious registration. Kotlyar said she was “not very happy” with the court’s decision, as she hoped that the “extreme necessity” of her actions would be recognized.

A narcologist will be tried in Barnaul for selling drugs together with an accomplice to repay loans and pay rent for an apartment. This was reported on the website of the Altai Territory Prosecutor's Office. The investigation established that a young woman born in 1992 and a man born in 1976 were laying out “bookmarks” around the city, the addresses of which were given to an accomplice for subsequent sale. In January, they were detained with a wholesale shipment of drugs.

The Basmanny Court of Moscow ordered Novaya Gazeta to remove an article about the FSB torture of a native of Kyrgyzstan who was detained after a house explosion in Magnitogorsk, according to the publication’s website. The court upheld the claim for the protection of business reputation, which the Federal Security Service (FSB) filed against Novaya Gazeta; in addition to removing the “defamatory” information, the publication must publish a refutation.

Two schoolchildren from Novosibirsk were called to the police because of the announcement of a collection of T-shirts dedicated to the anniversary of the shooting at the American Columbine school, Mediazona reports . The schoolboy produced T-shirts under the “Provocation” brand and sold them in the community of the same name on VKontakte.

Letters from soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, which were found in the basement of an old post office in Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk region, will be given to the recipients' relatives. Deputy of the city veterans council Svetlana Kolodkina told the Interfax agency about this. The messages, which had lain in the ground for almost 80 years, were discovered by workers when they built a store on the site of the old post office building. The bundle contained 75 letters dated 1943.

The Moscow Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service will conduct an unscheduled inspection of all pre-trial detention centers after the death of two prisoners of “Matrosskaya Tishina” (pre-trial detention center No. 1) from a drug overdose, RBC reports . As the department said in a statement, three prisoners were poisoned, and two died as a result. For this reason, all premises of the capital’s FSIN institutions will be checked for the presence of prohibited items.

Immersion in virtual reality (VR) helped reduce pain and improve cognitive abilities in elderly residents of the Malakhovka geriatric center in Moscow. The results of the “Such Things” experiment were reported in the project of nature therapy through virtual reality Virry.Life, which was developed by the British company of responsible ethical technologies Fountain Digital Labs.

A resident of Yekaterinburg, Daria Belyaeva, who, according to her, was diagnosed with a mental disorder, ordered an antidepressant via the Internet after consulting a doctor. Instead of medicine, the girl was charged with drug smuggling. Since 2016, bupropion, as the drug is called, has been excluded from the Russian drug register, and customs officials say that it may contain the substances of the narcotic ephedrone.

Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dmitry Kobylkin said that killer whales from the “whale prison” in Primorye must be released before July, Interfax reports . According to Kobylkin, the killer whales may not survive their second winter in Srednyaya Bay, where they are currently kept together with captured beluga whales.

The Kansk court in the Krasnoyarsk Territory sentenced two kindergarten teachers who stabbed children with pushpins as punishment, the regional Investigative Committee reports . The teachers were found guilty of torture (points “a”, “d”, “e” of part 2 of Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and failure to fulfill duties in raising minors (Article 156 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Omsk road workers repaired potholes on the road after a video appeared on social networks with a boy trying to fill them with dirt from the side of the road. The repair is reported by NGS55.ru. Employees of the city's road management and improvement department paved two deep holes in the driveway near the house. At the same time, the workers did not remove the pieces of asphalt remaining after the repair, but left them on the side of the road.

The Connection Charitable Foundation announced the launch of the Co-Creativity literary competition for the best poem, story or essay written by deaf-blind people. Authors with simultaneous hearing and visual impairments are expected to work in three categories - poetry, prose and journalism. Anyone can take part in the “Work about deaf-blindness” nomination. The best texts will be included in a collection that will be published as a result of the competition.

A criminal case has been opened in Stavropol due to the residence of two young children in an apartment littered with garbage, reports the press service of the regional Investigative Directorate. A city resident posted photos of a cluttered apartment on social networks. She said that her husband came to this apartment to install internet and was surprised by the unsanitary conditions in which their two children lived.

The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) reported that more than 100 thousand convicts were subject to the law, which equates a day of detention in a pre-trial detention center to a day and a half in a colony. 10.4 thousand people were released early from prison, 8.6 thousand of them from general regime correctional colonies. Also, the sentence was reduced for 85.9 thousand people who are in prison.