ORLANDO, Florida ― Imagine a bowl of steaming soup with succulent morsels severed from the tail of a cruelly slaughtered manatee.It sounds awful but isn’t far-fetched. Sharks are served in restaurants around the world in fin soup, even though about one-third of the 450 species are threatened with extinction. And there’s no way for diners to know the type of shark they are consuming.To find that out, shark-attack survivors associated with the Pew Environment Group, working with the Discovery Chan

A French lake that transformed into a deep shade of red has surprised many tourists. The color change is a natural phenomenon believed to stem from the salt crystals surrounding the lake in Camargue, southern France. The sight was captured by a Russian photographer Sam Dobson, who stumbled across the scene by chance while driving through France. “I’d read a lot of things about Camargue but I’d never heard anything about this,” he said. Sam went on: “The salty crystals can be seen everywhere. Eve

The Australian government reportedly decided to remove Korean language from the major foreign languages officially taught in Australian schools.News reports said the Korean Education Centre and Korean Cultural Office located in Sidney said on Friday the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority decided to exclude Korean from the foreign language list.ACARA, an independent organization under the Australian government, takes charge of curriculum assessment and evaluation for schools

Junsu, a member of JYJ, and former member of Asia’s leading K-pop idol group DVXQ, is releasing an English single album according to his management agency.Well-known as a singer, stage actor and songwriter, Junsu on Aug. 23 will release his English single “UNCOMMITED,” which will also contain an English version of his previous solo track “Tarantallegra.” “In his recently released solo album ‘Tarantallegra,’ Junsu focused on presenting his musical sense and ability as well as performance. However

Top car designers Peter Schreyer and Chris Bangle bring big changesThe following is the fifth in a series of articles on design prepared in anticipation of the Herald Design Forum on Sept. 19-21. ― Ed.The monotone roads of Seoul have been getting some touches of color in the past few years. Yes, black, gray and silver still make up the majority of car colors, but vivid shades and stripes of colors such as mint blue, baby yellow and red are being spotted more often than before. Sales of the BMW m

WASHINGTON ― Against the drumbeat of bad news on obesity and diabetes among children, researchers have uncovered a cause for cautious optimism: a steady and significant improvement in the cholesterol profiles of American kids over the last 20 years.The proportion of young people ages 6 to 19 with high total cholesterol dropped 28 percent between the two time periods sampled in the report, from 11.3 percent in 1988-94 down to 8.1 percent in 2007-10, the new study found.At the same time, the avera

Blood vessels are literally the vessels through which our blood flows. There are essential substances such as nutrients and oxygen in the blood, and the vessels function as a carrier of these substances throughout the body. Therefore, it is easy to understand that the blood has to flow smoothly for a healthy life. Blood vessels can be narrowed or obstructed due to many reasons including aging, disease, diet and smoking. If so, the body sends an SOS signal and in severe cases, the person’s life i

Of all the obstacles athletes have had to overcome to compete in the Olympics, perhaps the most controversial has been the gender test.Originally designed to prevent men from competing in women’s events, it is based on the premise that competitors can be sorted into two categories via established scientific rules. But the biological boundaries of gender aren’t always clear.Consider the Spanish hurdler Maria Jose Martinez-Patino. A gender test revealed that she had a Y chromosome, which normally

SEATTLE ― Women with metastatic breast cancer treated with a combination of two estrogen-blocking drugs survived more than six months longer than those treated with just one of the drugs or one followed by the other, according to a study involving nearly 700 women.It’s the first time such improvement in overall survival has been seen in trials of first-line hormonal therapy for hormone-receptive metastatic breast cancer, the study authors said.“We’re finding a lot of other ways of treating these

The prolonged scorching weather is putting people at risk of not only heat-related illnesses but waterborne diseases as well. Seoul City has been gripped by a weeks-long heat wave, with the mercury often soaring above 35 degrees Celsius and nighttime highs staying above 25 C, resulting in 13 consecutive tropical nights since July 27.A total of 89 people have been taken to the hospital for heat-related illnesses such as heatstroke and dehydration since June, whereas 27 people suffered from such i

 U.S. Coast Guard Captain Joseph Vojvobich has been put up for promotion to rear admiral, becoming the first officer with Korean ancestry to be considered for the rank.Vojvodich was born to Korean Moon Soo-ja and Joseph Vojvodich, a U.S. soldier of Serbian descent who served in Korea.The younger Vojvodich currently serves as the command of the Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. He will be promoted to the rank of rear admiral if he is successful in the eight to 10-month approval process. Along

Yeungnam University said on Wednesday that Park Jin-ho, professor of chemical engineering, has been appointed as Korea’s representative for the Photovoltaic Power System council of the International Energy Agency, or IEA.The council holds 26 member nations including Australia, the United States and Germany. One of Park’s major roles at the PVPS general meetings will be to speak about Korea’s current state of photovoltaic development and to exchange technological information with the other nation