The Korea Herald

The origin of “hobbits” is revealed: study

The brain size of extinct “hobbits” is bigger than previously thought, suggesting a new theory for identifying its ancestors, scientists suggested. An 18,000-year-old fossil of a “Homo floresiensis” was first unearthed on an Indonesian island. The species was dubbed “hobbit” because of its height of less than 1 meter. Scientists had mixed views upon its origins. Some claimed that it was a unique branch of the Homo erectus or Homo habilis, some of the earliest ancestors of modern humans. The othe

April 17, 2013

Wireless data traffic in S. Korea almost doubles

South Korea's wireless data traffic almost doubled in January from a year earlier in line with explosive growth in the country's smartphone-using population, data showed Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, wireless data traffic totaled 58,262 terabytes in January, compared with 29,748 terabytes a year earlier. One terabyte equals 1,024 gigabytes.The figure includes traffic on the third-generation network and WiFi offered by telecom operat

April 17, 2013

Antarctic summer ice melt accelerating: study

Researchers in Britain and Australia have claimed that Antarctic summer ice melting is occurring 10 times faster than it did 600 years ago.In 2008, Britain-French scientists examined a 362-meter long ice core from James Ross Island in Antarctica to figure out the past 1,000 years of temperature changes in the region.By reexamining the 2008 study, researchers at Australian National University and the British Antarctic Survey discovered that the temperature of the ice core was 1.6 degrees Celsius

April 16, 2013

Antarctic summer ice melt accelerating: study

A clue to treat chronic leukemia identified: study

A research team including a Korean scientist reportedly identified an oncogene that can lead to atypical chronic myelogenous leukemia.Atypical chronic myelogenous leukemia, or aCML, is a rare form of the disease that occurs in only 5 percent of all leukemia cases. It shares similar characteristics with typical chronic myelogenour leukemia, but lacks cancer characteristics. In the study, researchers analyzed the gene sequencing of some 650 patients suffering from aCML and other cancer-related ill

April 16, 2013

A clue to treat chronic leukemia identified: study

‘Giant rats’ plague Gimhae: TV station

A variety of deformed animals, including one-meter-long giant rats, are emerging in Korea, a local broadcaster claimed.SBS said it will take a look at how abnormal animals have appeared recently due to climate change in its current affairs show Hyeonjang 21 (At the Scene 21). A recent report by Korea Meteorological Administration indicated that climate in Korea is rapidly changing. According to the report, by 2100 summers will be six months long, and winters will be merely two months, a change w

April 15, 2013

"Libya frees S. Korean man held for spreading Christianity"

Libya has released a South Korean man two months after he was detained for allegedly being involved in Christian missionary work in the Libyan city of Benghazi, a Seoul official said Friday. The man, who is only identified by his surname Lee, was arrested on Feb. 10, along with three other foreign nationals, on suspicion of being a Christian missionary and distributing books about Christianity."Lee was released on April 11," the foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity. South

April 12, 2013

How thinking too much could give you gray hair

There is a joke that if an intelligent person thinks too much they develop gray hair, while a less intelligent person who thinks too much becomes bald. There is a legend that when Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI of France failed to evacuate and was due to be executed, she developed gray hair in just one night of mental suffering. However, does thinking too much really lead to the development of gray hair?Gray hairs are a symptom of aging. Most people start going gray in their 40s, but so

April 11, 2013

How thinking too much could give you gray hair

Doctors use brain scans to ‘see’ pain

Scientists reported Wednesday in a provocative new study that they were able to “see” pain on brain scans and, for the first time, measure its intensity and tell whether a drug was relieving it. Though the research is in its early stages, it opens the door to many possibilities.Scans might be used someday to tell when pain is hurting a baby, someone with dementia or a paralyzed person unable to talk. They might lead to new, less addictive pain medicines. They might even help verify claims for di

April 11, 2013

NASA unveils plan to capture asteroid

NASA unveiled its new plan on Wednesday to capture an asteroid for astronauts to explore.In 2019, a robotic spaceship will capture a 500-ton, 25-foot asteroid by unfolding a small section of the bag. The rock will be towed to a stable orbit near the moon through a thrust system generated by solar electric power.“This mission represents an unprecedented technological feat that will lead to new scientific discoveries and technological capabilities and help protect our home planet,” NASA chief Cha

April 11, 2013

Iranian scientist claims to have made ‘time machine’

A 27-year-old Iranian scientist claimed to have invented a “time machine” device that can predict the future, local media reported Thursday.Ali Razeghi, a managing director of Iran’s Center for Strategic Inventions, said the device runs by a complex set of algorithms to “predict details of the next five to eight years of the life of its users.” He claimed that the machine’s accuracy is 98 percent.He said the Iranian government will be able to predict future events such as military conflicts and

April 11, 2013

Research firm: PC sales plunge as Windows 8 flops

Two somber new reports show unprecedented declines in desktop and laptop sales during the first three months of the year _ signs that the personal computer market may never fully recover from a new generation of mobile devices.And it appears that a makeover of Microsoft's Windows operating system seems to have done more harm than good since the software was released in October.“This is horrific news for PCs,” said BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. “It's all about mobile computing now.”First-qu

April 11, 2013

Goodbye, MSN Messenger!

It is never easy to say goodbye.It is especially hard when it has been 14 years since people starting using Microsoft’s instant messaging service named Windows Live Messenger, better known as MSN Messenger.The U.S.-based software giant officially announced that it would be cutting the messenger service beginning April 8, merging it with Skype.Those still using the messenger see a message at the bottom of the program window that reads, “Move between instant messaging, voice and video. Upgrade to

April 10, 2013

Samsung, LG clash over police raid

Samsung Display on Wednesday denied that it had been investigated for technology espionage against its rival LG Display following reports that the police had raided its offices the day before.“Samsung is the only company in the world possessing OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology. Our concern is that our technology may be leaked, not vice versa,” Samsung Display chief executive Kim Ki-nam told reporters after a weekly Samsung executive meeting.On Tuesday, the cyber crime unit of Seoul

April 10, 2013

LG CNS launches electric car sharing service in Seoul

LG CNS, the IT arm of South Korean conglomerate LG, said Tuesday its affiliate has launched an electric vehicle sharing service for Seoul residents.Under the service operated by EverOn, an affiliate of LG CNS, drivers can rent the electric vehicles at posts in Seoul Station, Suseo Station and Sangam DMC Station around the clock, the company said in a press release.“EverOn plans to introduce more electric car models and expand renting posts in residential areas and near key landmarks,” said compa

April 10, 2013

Mobile takes business leaders into a new age

The era of the mobile enterprise has arrived. The use of those devices is now at a critical mass and it is just the beginning.Yet Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory company, says few organizations plan and manage mobility with a truly strategic or proactive approach. They are mostly reactive and tactical.For enterprises, mobility should not be about the device. Instead, it needs to be about figuring out what an organization can do differently and better now that its

April 10, 2013

Mobile takes business leaders into a new age

Face width linked to baseball skills: study

For male baseball players, having a wide face may mean they can hit more home runs, a new study suggested.Psychologists from the University of London looked at data concerning 104 Japanese professional baseball players, and found a correlation between the players’ facial width-to-height ratio and their batting power.The researchers analyzed the players’ game data in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and compared it to the width of the players’ faces. They found that players with relatively wider faces

April 10, 2013

‘Exercise genes,’ ‘lazy genes’ may exist: study

A study conducted by U.S. scientists claimed that certain genetic traits may induce people to be motivated to exercise and remain active. Researchers at the University of Missouri conducted an experiment in which they put rats in cage with a running wheel and observed how much each rat willingly ran on the wheels for six days.After the experiment, the researchers selected the top 26 runners and 26 slow rats and bred each group separately through 10 generations. When the “super runner” and “cou

April 10, 2013

‘Exercise genes,’ ‘lazy genes’ may exist: study

S. Korea to set up GPS jamming surveillance system

SEOUL -- Amid growing war threats from North Korea, South Korea plans to beef up its surveillance system against the North's provocative electronic jamming signals that have targeted civilian facilities in the past, sources said Wednesday. In addition to cyber attacks on South Korean networks, the North has been disrupting global positioning system (GPS) signals since 2010. GPS is a satellite-based navigation system widely used by planes, ships and vehicles.The latest attempt between April 2

April 10, 2013

Kakao eyes beyond messenger with new service

Kakao, the operator of its namesake mobile messenger Kakao Talk, on Tuesday unveiled a new mobile content platform as it seeks to bolster its revenue with new business models.The move comes roughly eight months after the homegrown start-up introduced a game platform in addition to the free-of-charge mobile messenger service that had garnered 84 million subscriptions as of the end of March.“Kakao Page” features around 8,000 features, including texts, videos and applications that can be downloaded

April 9, 2013

What to make of Apple’s apology

To a certain extent, it was gratifying for Koreans to watch Tim Cook, the head of Apple Inc., one of the world’s most valuable and quintessentially American companies, beg China’s pardon last week. It was a rare spectacle, and also something Koreans had sought years ago when they pounded Apple for its warranty policies. The terms had not gone down well since consumers have been used to getting their way with such services. Apple eventually relented to allow partial repairs and reduce the repair

April 9, 2013