The Korea Herald

Naro space rocket launch set for Jan. 30

Jan 24, 2013

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Thursday it has set Jan. 30 as the launch date of the country’s space rocket Naro-1.The ministry and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute held a meeting Thursday on how to monitor the weather conditions and possibility of collision with space debris on the day of the launch. The ministry said the exact time of the launch will be announced at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday after taking into consideration the weather and space conditions on the
Korea develops new flexible electrode using silver nanowire

Jan 24, 2013

A group of South Korean scientists has developed a new transparent, flexible electrode with silver nanowires instead of expensive and hard-to-find indium, paving the way for the development of better and cheaper display panels, the science ministry said Thursday.Transparent electrodes are a key component of organic light-emitting diode panels, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.Conventional electrodes or transparent conducting films use indium, a rare earth material t
S. Korea's Naro space rocket set to blast off on Jan. 30

Jan 24, 2013

South Korea will again seek to join the elite global space club next week with a third launch of its Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), the science ministry said Thursday.The space rocket, also known as Naro, will be launched Wednesday from the country's Naro Space Center, 480 kilometers south of Seoul, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said in a released statement. The decision came at a meeting of the Launch Preparation Committee."After reviewing launch preparations and wea
4 Korean think tanks listed in world rankings

Jan 23, 2013

Four Korean research institutions were recognized for being in the world’s top 150 think tanks, a report showed on Tuesday.The list released by an academic program at the University of Pennsylvania placed the government-affiliated Korea Institute for International Economic Policy at 55th. Three other Korean institutes made the 2012 Global GoTo Think Tank Index. The Korea Development Institute took 58th place, the East Asia Institute was 65th and the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Secu
Women look the oldest at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday: study

Jan 23, 2013

Women look their oldest at 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday, a new study claims.The research conducted by a tanning brand St. Tropez found that accumulated work stress coupled with plunging energy levels and effects of weekend drinking starts to take its toll by mid-week, according to British media.“It’s fascinating that 3:30 p.m. on a Wednesday is the time women look their oldest. Combine the highest stress levels of the week on a Wednesday with the natural mid-afternoon slump and it seems that’s why
Life on Mars may have been underground

Jan 23, 2013

Minerals once more than three miles below the martian surface are the strongest evidence yet the Red Planet may have supported life, researchers say.New research suggests ingredients for life have been present in the martian subsurface for much of the planet's history, they said.Scientists have been studying McLaughlin Crater, one of many martian craters where impacting meteors have acted like natural probes, bringing up rocks from far beneath the surface.Spectrometer data on those rocks from NA
Seoul to set definite date for launch of Naro space rocket

Jan 21, 2013

South Korea will this week set a more definite date for the liftoff of its Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), the government said Wednesday.The country's Launch Preparation Committee earlier set Jan.30-Feb. 8 as possible dates for what will be its third launch of KSLV-1, also known as Naro."The committee will be convened at 11 a.m. Thursday and select a launch date within the candidate dates after reviewing technical preparations and weather conditions," the Ministry of Education, Science an
‘Quadruple helix’ found as new DNA structure: study

Jan 21, 2013

Scientists at Cambridge University said they have found four-stranded DNA in human cells for the first time, noting the finding might possibly relate to cancer treatment. Since the discovery of DNA structure by James Watson and Francis Crick, people have commonly thought its structure to be a double helix. However, researchers at the Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry told journal Natural Chemistry that they have captured the existence of a "quadruple helix" at their lab. The researchers named
Mars image suggests ancient water flow

Jan 18, 2013

A European spacecraft has captured a striking image of a river-like structure on Mars believe formed when running water flowed in the distant martian past.A high-resolution stereo camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter photographed the 1,000-mile steep-sided channel running through the Promethei Terra Highlands, an ESA release said Thursday.Dubbed the Reull Vallis, it is believed to have been created in Mar's Hesperian period that ended between 3.5 and 1.89 billion years ago,
NASA, Europeans uniting to send spaceship to moon

Jan 17, 2013

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) ― NASA is teaming up with the European Space Agency to get astronauts beyond Earth’s orbit.Europe will provide the propulsion and power compartment for NASA’s new Orion crew capsule, officials said Wednesday. This so-called service module will be based on Europe’s supply ship used for the International Space Station.Orion’s first trip is an unmanned mission in 2017. Any extra European parts will be incorporated in the first manned mission of Orion in 2021.NASA’s huma
Curiosity readying to drill on Mars

Jan 17, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Scientists have zeroed in on a Martian target for the Curiosity rover to drill into a rock outcrop as flat as a pool table that’s expected to yield fresh insight into the red planet’s history.Running a tad behind schedule, Curiosity was due to arrive at the site in the next several days. After an inspection of the surroundings, the car-size rover will test its drill for the first time “probably in the next two weeks,” project manager Richard Cook of the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
Politics holds up science belt project

Jan 17, 2013

President-elect Park Geun-hye is looking to enhance the country’s science and technology competitiveness with the establishment of a powerful new ministry that will oversee research and development policies and industrialization of innovations. But it seems Park is already facing a major obstacle with the delay of a project to build a mega science and business complex that promised to house world-class basic science research organizations and related business facilities.The government is plannin
N.K. confirmed behind JoongAng Ilbo hacking

Jan 16, 2013

North Korea is responsible for last year’s cyber attack on a Seoul newspaper that crippled its server and Web site, South Korean police said Wednesday.The National Police Agency (NPA) said the hacking method and Internet protocol (IP) addresses used for the attack on the JoongAng Ilbo, one of the country’s major conservative media outlets, were either similar or identical to those used by the North in previous attacks.A drawing of a white cat grinning and covering its mouth was posted on the Web
Transition team hints at revising campaign promises

Jan 16, 2013

The transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye will look into whether her campaign pledges are “too comprehensive” or “overlap” with each other, a spokesman said, hinting at the possibility that the committee could attempt to revise promised projects.Questions have grown over whether Park will be able to implement all of the welfare and other expensive projects promised during her campaign amid concern that it will be difficult to raise the enormous amount of money necessary for them witho
Park to send special envoy to China next week

Jan 16, 2013

President-elect Park Geun-hye will send a delegation of special envoys to China next week to meet with China’s next leader Xi Jinping and other government officials, her spokesman said Wednesday.The delegation, led by Kim Moo-sung, a key official of Park’s presidential campaign last year, is scheduled to leave next Tuesday for a three-day visit that will include a courtesy call on Xi, spokesman Park Sun-kyoo told reporters at the presidential transition team’s office in Seoul.The other members o