몸길이가 15미터가 넘고 티라노사우루스의 네 배에 달하는 무는 힘을 가졌을 것이라고 추정되던 선사시대의 해양 생물이 실제로는 그보다 작다는 것이 밝혀졌다.노르웨이 오슬로 대학의 고생물학자 에스펜 누트센, 패트릭 드러켄밀러와 요른 후룸은 2004년에서 2012년 사이에 북극해에 있는 스발바드 제도에서 플레오사우르 (쥐라기와 백악기에 서식했던 거대한 해양 파충류) 두 마리의 화석을 발견했다. 극한 환경으로 인해 몸체의 극히 일부만이 발견되었지만 과학자들은 “프레더터 X”와 “더 몬스터”라고 이름 붙여진 이 생물이 생전에 무려 15.2미터에 달하는 몸집을 자랑했을 것이라고 추정했다. 만약 이 추정이 확인되었다면 역사상 가장 거대한 플레오사우르로 기록되었을 것이다.이들의 발견은 “사상 최강의 포식자가 나타났다”고

Presidential candidates Ahn Cheol-soo and Rep. Park Geun-hye made differing assessments of the political legacy of former liberal President Kim Dae-jung on Wednesday.The two were participating in a forum hosted by the Kim Dae-jung Foundation.In his address, Ahn focused on his keyword “change,” stressing that Kim brought fresh air to the country when elected the first-ever liberal president in 1997

Park Young-joon, former vice economy minister and close aide to President Lee Myung-bak, was sentenced to two years behind bars for taking bribes in return for peddling his influence in winning government approval for a massive construction deal.The Seoul Central District Court handed out the prison sentence to the former vice minister of Knowledge Economy, also ordering him to forfeit 194.78 mill

Cigarettes produced by South Korean manufacturers may contain substances that make people become addicted to them more and faster, a report showed Wednesday, suggesting a possible change of tactics in future damage suits against tobacco companies.So far there have been three damage suits filed against South Korea’s tobacco manufacturers, but none were ruled in favor of the customers or plaintiffs.

Investigators raided the offices and residences of President Lee Myung-bak’s son and eldest brother on Wednesday as part of a probe into suspicions over a now-scrapped project to build Lee’s retirement home. The raid came one day after the independent counsel team banned 10 people involved from traveling overseas. They included the president’s son Si-hyung, former presidential security service chi

Fresh expectations of a Spain bailout followed by a Moody's decision not to downgrade Madrid's credit rating to junk grade Tuesday sent the euro climbing to its best level in a month.Late in trade Moody's credited Spain's commitment to reforms and ECB support for its debt in deciding to hold the rating at Baa3, while appending a "negative outlook", a warning that a cut could still take place if th

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday confirmed its rating on Spain's government debt but assigned a negative outlook, signaling that a downgrade is still possible in the coming months.The rating agency said Spain's efforts to improve its financial position and the European Central Bank's willingness to lend support should give the government the time and flexibility it needs to stabilize its publi