Back at the height of the Cold War, the United States and Russia would vigorously compete to achieve the next greatest milestone in scientific achievement and exploratory bravado – best illustrated of course by the race to put a man in space. Lest you think these competitive ambitions for new conquests have died down since the fall of the Berlin wall, think again. As we learned from the pseudo-fictional submarine dive to the floor of the Arctic Ocean to plant a Russian flag, Russia is still very interested in proving that they can be the first to arrive to a difficult objective. Regardless of what you may think about the Arctic claim politically, most agree that it was an impressive feat of engineering, headed up by the photogenic veteran, explorer, expedition leader, and nationalist duma member Artur Chilingarov. Chilingarov was back in the news this week, with yet another ambitious and bold expedition, this time not to plant a flag but to set a world record for the deepest freshwater dive aboard a mini-submarine. However, things did not go according to plan, and the submarines had to turn back before reaching their goal of 1,680 meters. That didn’t stop the crew, however, from claiming to the media that a new record had been set, causing awkward embarrassment when Chilingarov had to retract the statements. The Guardian is carrying the best coverage:

But Russian experts said there was little possibility the scientists would find new or exotic life on the bottom of the lake, preferring instead to hail the dive as the latest example of Russia’s resurgence.