Meteor impact may have started Ice Ages

(123rf)A huge meteor striking Earth 2.5 million years ago may have generated a massive tsunami and plunged the world into the Ice Ages, Australian researchers suggest.Scientists at the University of New South Wales say because the meteor -- more than a mile across - crashed into deep water in the southern Pacific Ocean, most researchers have discounted its potential for catastrophic impacts on coa

TechnologySept. 20, 2012

Koreans receive 0.24 spam messages a day

How many mobile phone spam texts do you receive a day? According to government data released on Wednesday, Koreans received an average of 0.24 spam messages per day during the first half of this year.The figure was a 42.9 percent drop from a year earlier and telecommunication officials said the fall came as a result of government and industry efforts to block junk messages.One of the measures the government has taken is to limit the number of forwarded messages to 500 a day.The data collected fr

Sept. 19, 2012

Economic blues push up lottery sales

Sales of lottery tickets in South Korea surged nearly 18 percent on-year in the first half of the year, data showed Wednesday, as more people sought to hit the jackpot amid a prolonged economic downturn.Lottery sales came to 1.62 trillion won ($1.45 billion) during the January-June period, up 17.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Finance Ministry.Total lottery proceeds reached 641 billion won in the six-month period, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier, while prize payou

Sept. 19, 2012

Prof. Chang opposes drastic chaebol reform

University of Cambridge professor Chang Ha-joon expressed skepticism over politicians’ move to introduce strong regulations for big business groups under the buzzword of “economic democratization.”In his lecture for chief executives of Samsung Group subsidiaries on Wednesday, Chang said that revamping the conglomerate sector is not a prerequisite for economic democratization.Concerning calls in the market for conglomerates’ business diversification, he said, “If they had not widened the scope of

Sept. 19, 2012

SK Hynix develops smaller, faster graphics chip

SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest chipmaker, said it has developed the industry’s first 4-gigabite DDR3 DRAM chip for graphics using a 20 nanometer-class processing technology.The double data rate, type-three synchronous dynamic random access memory chip can process 3.6 gigabytes of data per second via 16 lines of data channels at an operating speed of 1.8 Gbps.The company also noted that, when operating at 1.35 volts, the graphics chip consumes 30 percent less power than its 30 nanometer-cla

TechnologySept. 19, 2012

Kia Motors poised to export K9

Destinations include Middle East, China and Southeast AsiaKia Motors is considering exporting the K9 sedan in the coming months, having sold the premium sedan exclusively in the local market until now.The automaker’s first export destinations will likely be the Middle East, China and Southeast Asian countries, according to company executives. The K9 will be dubbed the Quoris in overseas market.“After targeting the Asian market later this year and early next year, we will fine-tune the timing of

IndustrySept. 19, 2012

NPS’ stake in top firms hits record high

Pension fund’s stake in 10 largest groups surpasses 4 percentThe National Pension Service saw its average stake in 10 major business groups’ subsidiaries, listed on the stock market, come to an all-time high of more than 4 percent.The pension fund, as a result, is expected to exercise its shareholder right in the conglomerate sector more actively, stock research analysts predicted.According to Chaebul.com, a conglomerate-tracking website, the average stake held by the NPS in 93 companies of the

IndustrySept. 19, 2012

‘Facebook powerful ad platform’

New media platforms have introduced new ways for companies to advertise their brands and products in this digital age of consumerism.Facebook looks to be the most “powerful” platform for effectively communicating and interacting with millions of users worldwide, said George Foo, chief operating officer of ihub Media Group, a social networking marketing agency based in Singapore. The company, which operates in eight countries, develops content applications such as games, characters and contests f

TechnologySept. 19, 2012

Four-river project offers answer to global challenges

This article was contributed by the Korea Water Resources Corp. to mark the opening of the 2012 World River Forum in Daegu on Wednesday. ― Ed. It may be fair to say that economic growth has been given priority over environmental conservation in many parts of the world. Since 2009, the four-river restoration project has been initiated as a part of the green growth imitative developed by the Korean government. The project is targeting the main rivers ― Han, Geum, Nakdong and Yeongsan ― of the peni

Sept. 19, 2012

Hanwha seeks global expansion in biosimilars

CEO envisions spin-off to create biotech firmIn June 2011, Hanwha Chemical, a listed Korean chemical company, made its first landmark deal to license its newly developed biosimilar compound to Merck, a global pharmaceutical giant.Merck will be further developing the “HD203” compound by Hanwha into a drug for joint pain.Hanwha attributed this overseas deal to Paul Coleman, CEO of the chemical company’s bio business unit, whose primary responsibility includes identifying global pharmaceutical comp

TechnologySept. 19, 2012

SPC Group shares love, hope with community

Following is the seventh in a series of articles featuring companies’ social contribution activities. ― Ed.SPC Group, a leading food company that runs bakery franchises such as Paris Croissant and Paris Baguette, has been making consistent efforts to support disabled children and underprivileged people.Since May this year, each SPC Group employee has donated 1,000 won per month, matched by the company for a fund, to contribute to Purme Foundation which supports disabled children. The money will

IndustrySept. 19, 2012

Sesame Street’s next chapter: Elmo talks back

Elmo, Big Bird and the rest of the ``Sesame Street'' crew have always talked to kids. Now, they'll try to have a two-way conversation with their pint-sized audience using Kinect, the motion and voice-sensing controller created by Microsoft.``Kinect Sesame Street TV,'' out Tuesday, is not exactly a video game, though it runs on the Xbox 360 video game system. There are no winners and losers, no rea

TechnologySept. 19, 2012

Sleep in Saturday, harder to awake Monday

People who sleep in on Saturday do not catch up on sleep lost during the week -- it makes them sleepier Monday morning, a U.S. researcher says.Dr. Gregory Carter, a sleep medicine specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the daily, or circadian, cycles guide the body‘s internal clock.People can delay their circadian clock by up to 1 hour by sleeping in 1 hour or more over the weekend, but the problem is that after sleeping in on weekends, the brain’s circ

TechnologySept. 19, 2012