Koreans buy domestic phones, tablets abroad

An increasing number of Korean customers are ordering LG Nexus 4 smartphones and Samsung Nexus 10 tablets from the U.S., since they cost only about half of other up-to-date smartphones sold in Korea, according to news reports.Korean customers are willing to buy the newest smartphone and tablet from overseas despite the possible difficulties in customer services, local reports said Monday. With the increase in demand, many Koreans studying in the U.S. and Canada have posted offers online to rese

Nov. 6, 2012

British UFO groups losing interest

One of Britain's foremost organizations for UFO experts said a meeting next week will discuss the waning popularity of the search for extraterrestrial life.Dave Wood, chairman of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena, said a meeting next week will discuss the waning popularity of the search for UFOs and the shuttering of several other groups dedicated to their study, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday."It is certainly a possibility that in 10 years time, it will be a d

Nov. 6, 2012

Women aged 24-34, the most stressed people in U.K.

A British news report said women aged between 24 and 34 are more stressed than anyone else in the U.K., citing a new study.According to the report, women at that age are usually climbing the career ladder at work, caring for young kids at home and paying a mortgage.Sixty-seven percent of the people in the U.K. suffer from stress every week and on average, British people get stressed 208 times a year, according to the study by herbal stress remedy company Kalms which was conducted on 2,000 adults

Nov. 6, 2012

Cockatoo makes, uses tool to get food

A cockatoo from a species not known to use tools has been observed spontaneously making and using tools for reaching food, Austrian researchers say."Figaro," a Goffin's cockatoo raised in captivity near Vienna, uses his powerful beak to cut long splinters out of wooden beams or branches in its aviary to reach and rake in objects out of its reach, researchers report in the journal Current Biology."During our daily observation protocols, Figaro was playing with a small stone," study leader Alice A

Nov. 6, 2012

Microsoft, Apple tablets have most profit margins

Research firm IHS says Microsoft and Apple are garnering the highest profit margins for their tablets, followed to a lesser extent by Google and then Amazon.Microsoft Corp.‘s first self-made tablet, the Surface, costs about $267 in parts and labor when excluding its optional keyboard cover. It went on sale Oct. 26 priced at $499, for a profit margin of around 46 percent. Surface comes with a 10.6-inch (26.9-centimeter) screen measured diagonally, and can access the Internet only through Wi-Fi. T

Nov. 6, 2012

Mysterious whales seen in New Zealand

 A whale almost unknown to science was seen for the first time after a mother and a male calf were stranded and died on a New Zealand beach, scientists said.They were spade-toothed beaked whales, Mesoplodon traversii, a species previously known only from a few bones, researchers at the University of Auckland said."This is the first time this species -- a whale over 5 meters (16 feet) in length -- has ever been seen as a complete specimen and we were lucky enough to find two of them," Rochelle Co

Nov. 6, 2012

Sitting next to the bed helps baby fall asleep

From around six months infants sleep better if one of the parents sits next to the side of its cot, according to the association of German pediatricians.This "camping out" by one of the parents helps to calm the infant and should continue until the baby falls asleep. Then the parent may quietly leave the room.Another method is referred to as "controlled comforting," according to Monika Niehaus, a German pediatrician. In this case, parents react to a crying baby, but at increasing time intervals.

Nov. 5, 2012

Mysterious grid patterns in China’s deserts explained

A mysterious pattern in Western China’s sand dunes was recently found in the satellite images. It seems to be produced by the pinpointing of geographical research for nickel mines. A physicist at Italy’s Polytechnic University of Turin, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna discovered a mysterious grid of dots spanning 8 kilometers. In 2010, Sparavigna started investigating Google Earth satellite images of China’s Taklamakan desert to study the textures carved into the sand dunes by the wind. In the proces

Nov. 5, 2012

Apitherapy could cure Parkinson’s

Bee materials such as honey, royal jelly and bee venom have been useful in oriental medicine.Bee venom, especially, is widely known for being used the most in apitherapy, treating patients with arthritis and multiple sclerosis.Local scientists discovered that such bee material could also effectively treat Parkinson’s disease.A team headed by professor Bae Hyun-su of Kyung Hee University’s College of Oriental Medicine said that bee venom could help boost the immune system against the neurodegener

Nov. 4, 2012

Age of happiness for men

A British study revealed that men feel happiest at around the age of 37.Menswear brand “Jacamo” said it is stability, routine and long term commitment that satisfies the male species. The happiest time of a man’s life is around age 37 -- when they have climbed the career ladder and started a family, a new study has found. Phillip Hodson, fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy said “It would be logical to think that men would be happier when they are younger, when the

Nov. 4, 2012

Future health can be predicted by reaction to daily stressors

U.S. researchers have found that people’s reactions to daily stressors determine their heath consequences 10 years in the future. “Our research shows that how you react to what happens in your life today predicts your chronic health conditions and 10 years in the future and your future stress,” said David Almeida, a professor of human development and family studies. Almeida and his colleagues surveyed by phone 2,000 individuals every night for eight consecutive nights regarding what had happened

Nov. 4, 2012

NASA rover doesn’t detect methane on Mars

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Scientists say initial sampling of Mars‘ atmosphere by the NASA rover Curiosity did not definitively detect methane, a gas that can be a clue to determining if the red planet ever was hospitable to microbial life.Test results released Friday in a teleconference from Jet Propulsion Laboratory are not conclusive but are in line with past studies that found no regular methane on Mars.The results do stand in contrast to other research such as observations by Earth-based telescope

Nov. 4, 2012

British judges order Apple to rewrite Samsung statement

LONDON (AFP) ― U.S. tech giant Apple has until Saturday to re-write an “inaccurate” statement relating to its patent dispute with South Korean rival Samsung, British judges have ruled.A British court forced Apple on Oct. 18 to post a message on the company’s website stating that Samsung’s Galaxy tablet computers had not infringed the design of Apple’s iPad.But Samsung complained that the message did not comply with the court order because it included comments on other rulings in Germany and the

Nov. 2, 2012

Korean phones, cars thrive in U.S.

Korea’s handset and car makers are standing out in the U.S. market, as they posted an impressive increase in sales in the third quarter despite global economic slowdown. Korean handset makers took over the majority of the U.S. market share in long term evolution smartphone sales, Strategy Analytics said Friday.Korean smartphone manufacturers ― Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Pantech ― altogether sold about 5.7 million units out of 10.6 million LTE smartphones sold in U.S. in the third qu

Nov. 2, 2012

Scientists claim people’s bodies can ‘predict’ future events

People’s bodies are able to subconsciously anticipate important events before it actually occurs, American neuroscientists claimed.So-called presentiment -- when people are able to sense things before they happen without any clues -- actually exist, according to a study led by Northwestern University neuroscientist Julia Mossbridge. It remains unclear however, just how such anticipatory activity occurs, she added.Mossbridge’s study was based on hypothesis that physical responses changed seconds

Nov. 2, 2012

Math anxiety hits brain like physical pain

Anxiety about mathematics can create a response in the brain similar to when a person experiences physical pain, researchers at the University of Chicago say.Brain scans showed brain areas active when highly math-anxious people prepare to do math overlap with the same areas that register the threat of bodily harm or, in some cases, physical pain, they said.“For someone who has math anxiety, the anticipation of doing math prompts a similar brain reaction as when they experience pain -- say, burni

Nov. 2, 2012