LOS ANGELES ― No place tells the story of modern aviation better than the skies over the desolate Mojave Desert surrounding Edwards Air Force Base.This is where a 24-year-old Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier flying a fat orange jet called the Bell X-1 in 1947, and where the sleek rocket-powered North American X-15 became the first airplane to reach outer space in 1963. The space shuttle made i

Alan Heyman donates his collection of musical treasures to National Gugak CenterMost American musicians nominate the guitar, piano or drums as their favorite instrument. But 79-year-old Alan Heyman much prefers Korean conical oboes and the 12-stringed Korean gayageum, and has dedicated his life to learning all there is to know about traditional Korean music and dance. After more than 50 years of l

Peter S. Kim, 53, president of Merck Research Laboratories, will become an honorary doctor of science at Pohang University of Science and Technology.POSTECH said Wednesday that it would award an honorary doctoral degree in science to Kim during the graduation ceremony on Friday. He will be the third honorary doctorate of science at the university. The second-generation Korean-American earned his B

Aekyung Chairwoman Chang Young-shin and four others will receive honorary doctoral degrees from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology on Friday.The university said Tuesday it would confer honorary Ph.D.s to Chang, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Handong University Kim Young-gil, and philanthropists Oh Yi-won and Cho Chun-shik. (From

KABUL, Afghanistan ― The master sits in a newly painted house on Kharabat Street, in the oldest quarter of this ancient city in the mountains.He plies his craft with his fingers, palms and wrists, beating, tapping and scraping the oiled surface of his drums as if he were listening to the secret pulse of the universe. Daw-tiki-tak, tiki-tiki, daw-tiki-tak, tiki-tiki, the beat goes.“Tabla has its ow

Sister meets brother in U.S. after 37 years missing due to separate adoptionLOS ANGELES ― One night in August, after his wife and 2-month-old boy had long fallen to sleep, Steve Inman got to thinking about family and heredity. With a rare moment to himself, he pulled a box of photo albums out of the hall closet at his home in Fontana, California.He found an old picture of himself as a boy and laug

Korea University President Lee Ki-soo has been appointed a distinguished visiting scholar at George Washington University Law School, Korea University said.His term as the scholar of international and comparative legal studies at GWU Law School runs from next month to Feb. 28, 2012. Lee Ki-sooEarlier, Lee had been named as an honorary citizen and goodwill ambassador of City of Huston, Texas, on Fe

Kwon O-sung was reelected as one of the board members representing Asia for the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry at its annual meeting in Munich, Germany, Feb. 4-5.Kwon is president of Vivasport, a Seoul-based sporting goods company, and also chairs the Korea Sporting Goods Industry Association. Kwon O-sungWith his reelection to the three-year post, Kwon is expected to further globa

The Korean girl group 4Minute won “K-pop New Artist of the Year” award at the 2010 Billboard Japan Music Awards on Sunday.Their agency, Cube Entertainment, said Monday that the award was presented to the five-piece group in Tokyo’s Midtown Hall in recognition of their prominent performances as Korean singers who debuted in Japan last year. 4Minute at the Billboard Japan Music Awards 2010 in Tokyo

Football superstar David Beckham and his pregnant wife Victoria are expecting a much-wanted daughter.According to the latest online edition of British tabloid newspaper, The Sun, Victoria had a 16-week ultrasound scan at a private hospital in Sawbridgeworth, England, where doctors were able to confirm the gender of the baby. The BeckhamsThe ultrasound revealed her unborn baby was a healthy girl an

Famous ornithologist demands government stop developments that destroy birds’ homesSelf-acclaimed “walking bird encyclopedia,” Yoon Moo-boo, says he can list all 8,626 species of the world’s birds without faltering. He can guess a bird’s type by only a glimpse of a shadow. “Because all I know about is birds, people sometimes call me a bird-head, but I actually kind of enjoy being called that. I me

Mark Kelly, the astronaut husband of the U.S. Congresswoman wounded in the recent Arizona shooting, said that her remarkable progress towards health helped him decide to head back to space.Representative Gabrielle Giffords is currently in rehabilitation in Houston, Texas, and while specific details have not been released to prevent further speculation on her condition, she is making a “lightning s

Actor Lee Seo-jin has become director of an asset management company.Ask Veritas Assets Management said Jan. 31 that they have appointed Lee as directorial level manager of their Global Contents 2 Division. He will be in charge of work related to the company’s content. Lee Seo-jinLee has a diploma in business management from New York University. His grandfather was president of Seoul Bank and Kore

The French actress Maria Schneider, who appeared opposite Marlon Brando in “Last Tango in Paris,” died in Paris on Thursday after a long illness, according to Agence France Presse. She was 58.Schneider’s racy role prompted international controversy when writer-director Bernardo Bertolucci cast her in the 1972 film that brought her world-wide fame. Maria Schneider and Marlon BrandoShe played a 19-y