The Korea Herald

Samsung, LG unveil VoLTE smartphones

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday they have released smartphones that support the voice over Long-Term Evolution service.The release comes in line with the start of commercialized VoLTE services by local mobile carriers SK Telecom Co. and LG Uplus Corp.The VoLTE service, which offers voice calls through the fourth-generation LTE networks, enables clearer quality and faster connection than services on the existing third-generation network. Previously, LTE networks sup

Aug. 8, 2012

Global gaming exhibition to feature online blockbusters

Nexon, Blizzard will showcase new games at gamescom to open next week in GermanyGamescom, one of the world’s largest game premieres, is gearing up to feature new innovations in the sectors of mobile games, online games, console and PC games when it kicks off next Wednesday in Cologne, Germany.Scheduled for a five-day run, big name game firms like Nexon Europe, Blizzard Entertainment, Capcom, Electronics Arts and KONAMI will take part in the games exhibition, one of the top three such shows in th

Aug. 8, 2012

Global gaming exhibition to feature online blockbusters

Strawberry extract may help protect skin

Strawberry extract added to skin cell cultures protects against ultraviolet radiation and reduces DNA damage, Italian and Spanish researchers say.Lead author Maurizio Battino of the Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Italy and colleagues said the team prepared human skin cell cultures -- fibroblasts -- added strawberry extract in different concentrations -- 0.05, 0.25 and 0.5 milligram/milliliter, the only exception being the control extract.Using ultraviolet light, the samples were then exp

Aug. 8, 2012

Strawberry extract may help protect skin

Popcorn ingredient linked to Alzheimer's

Diacetyl, a flavoring used to produce the buttery flavor and aroma of microwave popcorn and other food, may be linked to Alzheimer’s, U.S. researchers say.Robert Vince, director of the Center for Drug Design at the University of Minnesota, and colleagues Swati More and Ashish Vartak said diacetyl has been the focus of research recently because it is linked to respiratory and other problems in workers at microwave popcorn and food-flavoring factories.In addition to microwave popcorn, diacetyl is

Aug. 8, 2012

Popcorn ingredient linked to Alzheimer's

Mystery of ‘monster’ stars solved

Astronomers in Germany say four “monster” sized stars in a nearby galaxy, but so far found nowhere else, are the result of “mergers” of stars in twin systems.The stars, as much as 300 times as massive as the sun, were discovered in 2010 in the giant star cluster R136 in the nearby galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud, astronomers said.Until that discovery, observations of the Milky Way and other galaxies had suggested the upper limit for stars formed in the present day universe was about 150 times

Aug. 8, 2012

Study shows parrots can reason like 3-year-olds

Certain species of parrots are able to deduce by exclusion, an ability equal to that of 3-year-olds, scientists found in a recent study.Christian Schloegl and his team of researchers from the University of Vienna conducted an experiment in which they made African grey parrots find food by inferring from given information about where it was.They first presented the parrots with two boxes -- one of which was filled with food, and the other of which was empty -- and shook them. The parrots reliably

Aug. 8, 2012

Study shows parrots can reason like 3-year-olds

Creatine helps treat depression: study

The dietary supplement creatine can enhance the efficacy of treatments for depression, research by a Korean team of scientists suggests.Creatine is an organic acid that occurs naturally in the body, but is taken as a dietary supplement by athletes as the compound facilitates energy delivery to muscle and brain cells. According to the research conducted by professor Lyoo In-kyoon of Seoul National University’s College of Medicine in collaboration with the Catholic University of Korea researchers,

Aug. 7, 2012

Ancient bridge unearthed in China

A 2,000-year-old wooden bridge found in Shaanxi province, home of the famous Terracotta Army, may have been the world's biggest at that time, scientists say.Remnants of the bridge's piers were unearthed in a suburb of Xi'an, the province's capital, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.The bridge is estimated to have been almost 1,000 feet long and 65 feet wide, Li Yufang, a researcher at

Aug. 7, 2012

Scientists find eating behavior gene

Findings of animal experiments could lead to new treatment for obesityA Korean team of scientists has discovered genes closely involved in regulating feeding behavior, opening new possibilities for treating obesity and metabolic disorders. Led by Yu Kweon, principal researcher at Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s Aging Research Center, the team found that the fruit fly gene minibrain, or mnb, and mammalian functional equivalent DYRK1a gene control the expression of neuro

Aug. 7, 2012

'Apewoman’ to return to Mexico

The remains of carnival attraction and “Apewoman” Julia Pastrana will be returned to her native Mexico, Oslo University in Norway said. Her body has been kept in Norway since the 1920s for research purposes, but a letter from Oslo University to Mexico‘s Ministry of Education, published in the scientific journal Uniforum, announced plans for a return to her home country for burial, the Norwegian news agency The Local reported Monday.Pastrana was a dancer, born in 1834 in Mexico with hypertrichosi

Aug. 7, 2012

Woman donates kidney, saves five lives

A single mother of four children from North Carolina, donated her kidney and ultimately saved five lives.Honica Brittman, 35, decided to donate her kidney after seeing her family member struggle to get a kidney. She found a program named “kidney swap,” where there is a waiting list of people who need a kidney. When someone on the waiting list receives a kidney, the recipient’s loved one donates their kidney to someone else on the waiting list. Brittman started the chain reaction by donating her

Aug. 7, 2012

Alcohol may help prevent osteoporosis

Women in menopause who drink about two small glasses of wine a day have less of a risk of developing weaker bones, U.S. researchers say. Researchers at Boston University Medical Center said their study involved 40 healthy postmenopausal women of an average age of 56. The authors measured factors that relate to osteoporosis -- body fails to form enough new bone, when too much old bone is reabsorbed by the body, or both -- in postmenopausal women who were consuming alcohol. They were tested after

Aug. 7, 2012

Families help ADHD students in college

College students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder need support from family members and university staff to succeed, a U.S. researcher says.Kristy Morgan, a recent doctoral graduate in student affairs and higher education at Kansas State University in Leavenworth, said ADHD affects 1 percent to 4 percent of college students and the transition from high school to college is the most difficult. Morgan interviewed eight freshmen -- four men and four women -- to talk about their transiti

Aug. 7, 2012

Apple pulling its YouTube app from iOS 6

Apple Inc. has removed its YouTube app from its latest beta version of iOS 6, with the Cupertino, Calif., company saying its license from Google has expired.The app will not be included in the next version of its mobile operating system for the iPhone and iPad, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.Since the iPhone went on sale in 2007, Apple‘s YouTube app has come pre-installed on the company’s mobile devices.It‘s the latest sign of a growing gulf in the relations between Apple and Google, wh

Aug. 7, 2012

Apple pulling its YouTube app from iOS 6

Korea, U.S. open joint particle acceleration center

The Korea-U.S. Cooperation Center for Accelerator Science will begin operations on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Monday. The center is located within the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, and is established as part of an agreement signed in June by the U.S. organization and Korea’s Institute for Basic Science to collaborate on research using particle accelerators. The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory operates the world’s secon

Aug. 6, 2012

KARI upbeat about rocket project

Space agency chief says lessons from two failed attempts to help successful launch of KSLV-1 in OctoberThe chief of Korea’s aerospace agency expressed optimism ahead of the launch of the nation’s first space vehicle slated for October. “Everything is under control and I’m sure we’ll have a successful launch in October,” Kim Seung-jo, president of Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said in an interview with The Korea Herald. Korea failed in its previous two attempts to launch its own rocket in 2

Aug. 6, 2012

KT, Microsoft to support HTML5 app developers

KT and Microsoft Korea announced on Monday that they will collaborate to promote the development of HTML5-based applications.Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies, KT and MS will seek and support Korean app developers for the World Wide Web, including venture tech start-ups and self-employed entrepreneurs.Korea’s Internet network conglomerate and the global software giant will also provide software and IT education to potential developers as part of efforts to boost the

Aug. 6, 2012

Korea expected to become 4th-largest mobile ad market

Global ad spending to top $6b this yearKorea is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest mobile advertising market this year.In a report by eMarketer, a U.S. IT research firm, spending for mobile advertisements in Korea is estimated to reach over $450 million this year, up about 40 percent from $320 million in 2011.Korea will follow the U.S., Japan and the U.K. in terms of ad spending. The U.S., the world’s largest ad market, will maintain the top position with ad spending to reach some $2.

Aug. 6, 2012

NASA rover lands on Mars after plummet

A photo of Mars sent by Curiosity rover moments after it landed on the planet. (NASA)In a show of technological wizardry, the robotic explorer Curiosity blazed through the pink skies of Mars, steering itself to a gentle landing inside a giant crater for the most ambitious dig yet into the red planet's past.A chorus of cheers and applause echoed through the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Sunday

Aug. 6, 2012

Samsung set to release Galaxy Note 10.1 in U.S.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics may release its Android tablet PC, Galaxy Note 10.1, in U.S. markets in the middle of this month.The speculation came after American tech and electronics website CNET unveiled a recent press invitation issued by Samsung Electronics at New York’s Lincoln Center on Aug. 15.In the invitation, the main graphic outlines a product that closely matches the specifications of the company’s 10.1-inch Android tablet PC, CNET reported.Free-style doodles on the invitation also

Aug. 5, 2012

Samsung set to release Galaxy Note 10.1 in U.S.