The Korea Herald

Rare image of distant exoplanet captured

Nov 20, 2012

Astronomers using an infrared telescope in Hawaii say they've captured a rare image of a "Super-Jupiter" around a massive distant star.Of the nearly 850 exoplanets discovered orbiting stars other than the sun, only a few have been captured in actual astronomical images.Most are detected by indirect means, since stars are much brighter than their planets and with traditional observational techniques the planet will be hidden in the glare of its host star.Obtaining an image of the planet orbiting
Having younger siblings leads to high blood pressure

Nov 20, 2012

Children who have younger siblings tend to have high blood pressure, according to U.S. researchers. A study suggested this is caused by competition with their siblings to attract their parents’ attention and feeling responsible for the younger ones. Also, it was revealed that their blood pressure continues to stay high into adulthood. The research was on 374 adult Bolivians in 200 families. The researchers studied connections among factors including siblings’ age and sex. Older sisters and broth
Paralyzed dogs walk after cell transplant

Nov 20, 2012

CAMBRIDGE, England (UPI) -- A revolutionary transplant operation has allowed paralyzed dogs to walk again and may also benefit paralyzed human patients, British scientists said.Researchers at the University of Cambridge said the pet dogs had all suffered serious damage to their spinal cords that left them unable to walk normally with their hind legs.After specialized cells from the dogs’ noses were transplanted to the damaged nerves, most of the pets recovered their lost mobility and some were a
The brains behind freestyle rap

Nov 19, 2012

Freestyle rap, an improvised style of the music genre associated with back-to-front baseball caps, baggy jeans and gold chains, has burst onto the science stage, shedding light on the workings of the brain.Researchers at the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders in the United States have examined freestyle rappers' brains to see which areas light up during the creative phase.The stream-of-consciousness singing style involves artists making up lyrics on the spot, guided
Candidates converge on science policy

Nov 18, 2012

All pledge to revive science ministry, improve research environment
Rocket component transported to Naro Center

Nov 18, 2012

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said that a newly-made Russian component of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, or the Naro rocket, arrived at its space center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province on Saturday.Naro’s adaptor block, the helium supply system that gives the thrust during the liftoff, was found to be defective, causing Korea to cancel its scheduled rocket launch last month.The block also led to defective rubber seals that held the helium during the injection into the fir
France bans access to 'end of world' refuge

Nov 18, 2012

France on Friday dashed the hopes of those who had planned to take refuge in one of the few places on Earth some believe will be spared when the world ends on December 21.Local officials banned access to the Pic de Bugarach, a mountain in the southwest where rumor has it the hilltop will open on the last day and aliens will emerge with spaceships to save nearby humans.Eric Freysselinard, the state's top representative in the area, said he was blocking access to the mountain for public safety rea
Mars radiation levels not lethal to humans

Nov 18, 2012

The Mars rover Curiosity found radiation levels on Mars are not lethal to humans, U.S. researchers say."Absolutely, astronauts can live in this environment," said Don Hassler, principal investigator for the rover's Radiation Assessment Detector, at a news conference Thursday.Hassler said characterizing the radiation on the surface of another planet has never been done before now, CNN reported.Researchers plan to collect radiation numbers over time to create a better assessment of exactly how muc
Astronomers see distant ‘born-again’ star

Nov 16, 2012

Astronomers say evidence of a dying sun-like star coming briefly back to life after throwing off its gassy shells shows the possible fate our own solar system.The “born-again” star, Abell 30, was captured in a composite of visible images from NASA‘s Hubble Space Telescope and X-ray data from the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and NASA‘s Chandra space telescopes, a release from the Paris headquarters of the ESA said Thursday.Astronomers know stars like our sun swell into red giants toward the
‘Homeless’ planet without a star found

Nov 15, 2012

MONTREAL (UPI) -- A “homeless” planet that is not orbiting a star and thus is free of any gravitation link has been discovered, Canadian and European astronomers are reporting.University of Montreal researchers and European colleagues said it is the first isolated planet of its kind ever to be observed.“Although theorists had established the existence of this type of very cold and young planet, one had never been observed until today,” astrophysicist Etienne Artigau said in a University of Montr
Men and women select different ideal heights

Nov 14, 2012

The first research on men and women’s different natural selection was done in Sweden. Short women and men of average height are more successful at reproduction, according to the study.Gert Stulp, with colleagues from Groningen, Amsterdam and Cambridge University, studied the number of children born to brothers and sisters in a large-scale American database containing data on thousands of residents of Wisconsin born in 1937 or 1938. “It turned out that by taking the height of just one person, we
'Love hormone' keeps men in relationship away from other women: study

Nov 14, 2012

A new study suggests that men are prompted by a hormone which keeps them distant from other attractive women.Rene Hurlemann, a researcher at the University of Bonn in Germany, said in a statement that “oxytocin,” a hormone which is known to contribute to pair-bonding, encourages men to expand their personal emotional barrier when attractive women are around.Hurlemann added that the barrier is activated only when those men are in relationships. Single men do not show such response even when they
Sky-gazers in awe of total eclipse

Nov 14, 2012

Sky-gazers in northern Australia donned protective glasses as the clouds parted Wednesday to allow them to witness one of nature‘s greatest phenomena -- a total eclipse of the sun.All eyes and cameras turned to the heavens over tropical north Queensland as the moon began moving between the Earth and the sun, like a small bite which gradually increases in size.Cloud cover threatened to spoil the party and huge cheers erupted when they parted to give tens of thousands of eclipse hunters a perfect
U.S. scientist claims humans’ intelligence declining

Nov 14, 2012

Human intelligence has been on the downtrend for thousands of years because of an accumulated genetic mutation harmful to “intelligence” genes, a U.S. geneticist has claimed.According to a study by Professor Gerald Crabtree, head of a genetics laboratory at Stanford University, intellectual powers of humankind peaked in times of hunter-gatherers, and started deteriorating since the introduction of agriculture.Crabtree argues that since the pressure of survival has lessened, natural selection on
Korea's launch of space rocket to be further delayed: officials

Nov 14, 2012

South Korea's planned launch of a space rocket will likely be further delayed, government officials said Wednesday, as the Russian replacement for a defective part in the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) is not expected to arrive here until the end of the week.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and its Launch Preparation Committee earlier said the launch of the KSLV-1 would take place before Nov. 24.The replacement of the defective part, however, will likely arrive here on Sa