The US Patent and Trademark Office has denied Apple's application for a trademark to safeguard its widely popular iPad mini tablet, saying the case to own the phrase was too weak.Apple, however, has until July 24 to better explain how the iPad mini is different and unique from the larger-sized iPad to counter the rejection seen as largely a formality.The iPad mini mark "merely describes a feature or characteristic of applicant's good," said the rejection letter dated January 24 but that has only

March 31, 2013

A 1950s memo about UFOs is the most viewed public record in the history of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the agency’s website.The FBI on Monday uploaded a post about the so-called Hottel memo, a single-page report documented on March 22, 1950, by Guy Hottel, then head of FBI’s field office in Washington. It has been viewed nearly 1 million times since April 2011, when the bureau uploaded its public records.The Hottel memo relayed a story told to FBI agents about “flying

March 29, 2013

UFO sighting reports in the Texas ended in an anticlimactic way after the objects turned to be paper lanterns, U.S. media reported MondayAccording to the local sheriff’s office, the “fireballs in the sky” which incited UFO stir were actually Chinese paper lanterns from a nearby wedding.The “fireballs” were first reported to police around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. About a dozen locals and police officers responding to the report witnessed several orange lights moving slowly in the sky.Police contacted

March 29, 2013

A team of scientists from the U.S., U.K. and New Zealand said they that have identified ways in which genes increase the chance of someone becoming a heavy smoker.A study by Duke University did an analysis of previous studies find out which genes affected smoking behavior. They then tracked 1,000 people living in New Zealand from birth to age 38, to see if those with a high-risk genetic profile took up smoking more quickly as teenagers and found it harder to stop smoking.Those with a genetic pro

March 29, 2013

The Korean term for hemorrhoids originally referred to various diseases that occur in the anal area, including hemorrhoids, tears and fistulas, but the term usually refers to hemorrhoids.Hemorrhoids were believed to be caused by dilation of submucosal venous plexus in the anus, but more recent studies have shown that they are not simply caused by the dilated venous plexus, but due to protrusion of the so called “anal cushion” consisting of blood vessels, muscles and connective tissue.  Symptoms

March 28, 2013

Interest in “two-jaw operation” has been steadily growing among those who have bimaxillary protrusion, a dentofacial deformity commonly found among Asians where the upper and lower incisors emerge forward, making the teeth and lips protrude. The operation, however, is a surgical method neither designed to correct the facial distortion nor to improve a person’s facial image. It was actually devised to treat diverse functional inconvenience such as the misalignment of the teeth. A facial contourin

March 28, 2013

　 　LONDON -- A cyberbattle between a European spam-fighting group and a Dutch Web host may be the biggest public Internet battle in history, experts say.　Spam-fighting organization Spamhaus, with offices in London and Geneva, works with email providers around the globe to block spam from entering inboxes.　It has been in a battle in the last week with Dutch website hosting company Cyberbunker after adding it to its spam “blacklist,” CNET reported Wednesday.　Cyberbunker has based its business on a

March 28, 2013

A new study revealed that babies exposed to their parents arguing are more vulnerable to stress, even when they are asleep.“We were interested in whether a common source of early stress in children‘s lives -- conflict between parents -- is associated with how infants’ brains function,” said Alice Graham, a doctoral student involved in the study.Researchers at the University of Oregon tested the brains of 20 sleeping babies, exposing them to voices with four different kinds of emotions -- very a

March 28, 2013

Looking at a woman tottering on 10 cm high heels might make one wonder what could happen to her ankles or her back in the future.The damaging effects of high heels are well documented, but researchers have suggested a silver lining -- that wearing high heels could strengthen the ankles.A research team at Korea University studied the ankle joint movements and muscular strength of two groups of women -- those who wear high heels on a daily and those who do not. The average height of heels was 8 cm

March 28, 2013

People age 52 and older who are socially isolated are at higher risk of dying, than those not socially isolated, British researchers say.Andrew Steptoe, Aparna Shankar, Panayotes Demakakos and Jane Wardle of the University College London said they assessed social isolation in terms of contact with family and friends and participation in civic organizations in 6,500 men and women age 52 and older who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging in 2004-05. A standard questionnaire measure

March 28, 2013

Overweight/obese, “breakfast skipping,” teen girls who ate a high-protein breakfast reduced their unhealthy snacking later in the day, U.S. researchers say.Heather Leidy of the University of Missouri said the study involved 20 overweight or obese adolescent females ages 18-20 who either skipped breakfast, consumed a high-protein breakfast consisting of eggs and lean beef, or ate a normal-protein breakfast of ready-to-eat cereal. Each breakfast consisted of 350 calories and was matched for dietar

March 28, 2013

Researchers at Britain‘s Oxford University said bank notes from Denmark and Sweden have more bacteria than any other European cash.　Ian Thompson, professor of engineering science at Oxford, said his team found a piece of paper money in Europe carries an average 26,000 bacteria, while Danish krone were found to have an average 40,266 bacteria and Swedish kroner had an average 39,600 bacteria, The Local.se reported Wednesday.　Thompson and his fellow researchers said they found the euro was the cle

March 28, 2013

Unidentified shapes recently found in a small U.S. town are stirring talk of aliens, livescience.com reported Tuesday.According to the report, Peggy Gervase from Eden, New York found an unusual pattern -- which resembled large polka dots -– in snow covering a pond near her home. The shape is reminiscent of mysterious crop circles, which are regarded to some as evidence of extraterrestrial life forms.“I‘ve never seen this before in our pond... It’s eerie in a way, but cool in a way,” Gervase said

March 27, 2013

Imagine switching your own smartphone to work mode during the day and back to personal mode once you leave the office.In work mode, you can use all your business applications, meaning that you can access your email and employee database, while being able to file work-related expenses through wireless devices or laptops.This phenomenon is called bring your own device, shortened in the industrial scene as BYOD, and it is getting ready to take off in Korea.“With the introduction of the BYOD trend,

March 27, 2013

Google has picked 8,000 people in the U.S. who will have a chance to wear the company‘s new Internet-connected glasses, which are being described as the next breakthrough in mobile computing.Google Inc. began notifying contest winners Tuesday.The winners will have to pay $1,500 apiece if they want a test version of the product, called ``Google Glass.’‘ They also will have to travel to New York, Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay area to pick up the device, which isn’t expected to be available

March 27, 2013