Iranian becomes first woman to win top mathematics award

Maryam Mirzakhani, the first female mathematician to win the Fields Medal, the most prestigious honor in mathematics, said confidence is what it takes to make such achievements. “Confidence is what makes a big difference,” said the mathematician at a press conference at the 2014 International Congress of Mathematicians in Seoul on Wednesday. “It is not your talent, but about thinking that you can do it.” The Fields Medal is an award created to commemorate John Charles Fields, a world-renown Cana

Aug. 13, 2014

[Herald Interview] ‘3-D thinking’ key to sustainable future

The future has always been uncertain. And with the rapid advancements in technology, it is even harder to predict. This is why Lee Kwang-hyung, head of KAIST’s Graduate School of Future Strategy, called for the development of new scientific and technological skills to enable the next generation to think creatively by converging their knowledge in various fields.Through such “convergent thinking,” people and businesses can better picture the future as it becomes more complex and sophisticated, he

Aug. 13, 2014

[Herald Interview] ‘Korea must widen its view of future’

James Dator is dubbed as one of the inventors of futures studies, but what he has tried to do for the past 40 years is to persuade people that the future cannot be predicted.Instead he found that all images of the future can be clustered into four categories, which he calls continued growth, collapse, disciplined society, and transformation.In an interview with The Korea Herald, the futurologist warned against the dangers of sticking to the dominant image of continued growth, a view based on the

Aug. 13, 2014

Future strategy for leading IoT market

The history of mankind can be analyzed through its media of communication. We had 100,000 years of oral communication, 10,000 years of written communication, 1,000 years of printing and, finally, the digital era in the 21st century. With the rapid progress in ICT, almost all types of content are digitized and shared through the Internet. Therefore, we can also call the current digital era the Internet era. In 1982, IBM introduced its first PC, and TCP/IP Internet protocol was formally standardiz

Aug. 13, 2014

Robots to evolve to learn, feel

If we had to single out one recent technology that has significantly influenced human society, smartphones would undoubtedly be at the top of the list. Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Omnia hit the markets in 2007, which opened the doors to a new era of one smartphone per person. Their affordable and compact hardware provide the functions of wireless Internet, a camera and a phone. Application stores also grant the user functions and content of the individual’s choosing.Ten years since the introduc

Aug. 13, 2014

Virtual human technology to lead future health care

Korean people say that in your 20s, you should be able to chew on stones, an expression commonly used to link youth with health. But trying this while in your 30s will probably upset your stomach and doing so in your 40s, even by genuine mistake, will most likely force you to the hospital.Personally, I would say one’s 40s represents a turning point in life ― the age when one might begin to experience certain physiological changes, such as a sudden decline in sight, digestion and the ability to r

Aug. 13, 2014

Korea to broaden cultural appeal

In terms of culture, South Korea has long been the “small but flamboyant America in Asia.” After the end of World War II and the country’s liberation from Japan’s colonial rule, Korea quickly adapted to U.S. sociocultural values such as materialism, individualism and competition. Korea quickly took on and recreated American culture, from elements concerning everyday life such as fashion and the use of leisure time to all aspects of arts and culture including popular and high culture, in Asia. As

Aug. 13, 2014

IT to integrate people, objects, computers

In the future, information and communication will be so tightly integrated that multimedia communication and information services between people, objects and computers will become generalized, and possibly ignite a new chapter in space communications.Information and communication services of the future will most likely utilize a major network, linking people with various objects and computing resources, in order to provide three-dimensional experiences such as holograms.The following are some ch

Aug. 13, 2014

Wireless charging key to electric cars

The global automobile market is worth 2,000 trillion won ($1.9 trillion), which is three times larger than South Korea’s annual total exports. Although cars emerged as the greatest invention of the 19th century, they have become the greatest culprit behind energy waste and environmental degradation in the 21st century. Oil reserves that are economically feasible to drill for are being depleted at a rapid pace, while air pollution from car exhausts has reached intolerable levels. This has led to

Aug. 13, 2014

Big data to revolutionize science, business

A leadoff hitter who is too big to steal second base. A first baseman who can’t pitch due to elbow surgery. A starting pitcher with clubfoot, a congenital disfiguration of the feet. A batter in his forties, rejected by all other teams for his age but somehow ended up as seventh batter. This is probably the most dysfunctional baseball team anyone can think of.Is this team straight out of a comedy movie? No, this is the Oakland Athletics team roster from 2000-2003. During this period, the A’s made

Aug. 13, 2014

Kakao Talk eyes Middle East

Kakao Talk, South Korea’s largest mobile messenger, is taking aim at the Middle East by scaling up its Arabic language services.The mobile application was the most popular free mobile messenger in 2011 in some Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait and the UAE, according to Kakao. However, it was soon outpaced by global social networking service messengers, such as Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, and Naver’s Line. As part of its efforts to regain its footing in the

Aug. 11, 2014

Merck Korea joins campaign to help infertile couples

Merck Korea, the Korean branch of Germany-based chemical firm Merck Group, said Thursday that it would join “Take the Next Baby Steps,” an annual campaign cosponsored by its headquarters, to show its support for couples struggling with infertility. Designed to help raise more awareness on infertility, the campaign is cosponsored by the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction, the Korea Society for Reproductive Medicine and Merck Serono, the pharmaceutical business unit of Merck Group. It will ki

Aug. 10, 2014