The Korea Herald

Study finds beauty has benefits but plastic surgery doesn’t help

Studies conducted by separate researchers indicate a correlation between beauty and money but also that virtually nothing can be done to change a person’s beauty, even through plastic surgery, according to news reports. According to a recent study by Middle Tennessee State University researchers, real estate agents who are relatively more attractive tend to sell properties at higher prices. Sean Salter, a finance professor who co-authored the study, believes that this is because of the “halo eff

Sept. 4, 2012

Study finds beauty has benefits but plastic surgery doesn’t help

Coconut oil may help stem took decay

　ATHLONE (UPI) -- Treated coconut oil could attack the bacteria that cause tooth decay and could be incorporated into dental care products, researchers in Ireland say. 　Study leader Dr. Damien Brady at the Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland tested the antibacterial action of coconut oil in its natural state and coconut oil that had been treated with enzymes -- a process similar to digestion -- against strains of Streptococcus bacteria common in the mouth.　The study found the enzyme-modif

Sept. 4, 2012

Couple wed via Twitter in Turkey

　ISTANBUL (UPI) -- An official in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday officiated an Internet-based wedding believed to be the first ceremony conducted via Twitter.　Mustafa Kara, mayor of Istanbul’s Uskudar district, conducted the wedding between Cengizhan Celik, social media editor of news portal ensonhaber.com, and Candan Canik by asking the couple to respond to the ceremony’s questions on Twitter, Today‘s Zaman reported Monday.　Hurriyet Daily News reported the couple’s witnesses also conducted their role

Sept. 4, 2012

Tapioca pearls in bubble tea contain carcinogens: German study

German health authorities and researchers have come out swinging recently against the Taiwanese drink bubble tea, warning that the popular dessert beverage presents a choking hazard to children and may contain cancer-causing chemicals.The warnings, released separately, come as Europe, and Germany in particular, begin to catch on to the bubble tea trend which has already swept major urban centers

Sept. 4, 2012

Tapioca pearls in bubble tea contain carcinogens: German study

Founder under pressure as Facebook continues to fall

Facebook Inc.’s struggle continues with no end in sight, especially after its stock prices hit a record low and marketers expressed skepticism whether Facebook ads were really working.Shares of the world’s largest social network operator plummeted 5.4 percent to close at $18.06 in New York on Friday, the lowest amount since it went public on May 17 with $38 per share.The fall of the company’s stock to half of its initial value is a shameful outcome, while its earlier projection of stock prices w

Sept. 3, 2012

Founder under pressure as Facebook continues to fall

Korean tech firms beef up patent management, legal staff

Korean electronics firms are moving to bolster their patent management in an effort to better cope with growing technology infringement lawsuits with overseas rivals, market watchers said Monday.LG Electronics Inc., which set up a patent center in 2001, plans to increase its current 200-strong staff by 30 percent by the end of next year, according to the company.The plan comes on the heels of several patent rows involving foreign companies. LG Electronics and LG Innotek Co. have been embroiled i

Sept. 3, 2012

LG Electronics sees fast growth in Germany

Local unit chief: LG aims to edge over Samsung to become top TV brand in 2013BERLIN ― LG Electronics has been seeing fast growth in Germany’s television market over the past year, despite the economic slowdown in the region stemming from the eurozone crisis.The Korean tech company saw its share in Germany, which accounts for 25 percent of EU demand, rise to 10 percent from 7 percent last year.With Japanese TV makers such as Sony, Sharp and Panasonic having gone through restructuring and lacklust

Sept. 3, 2012

LG Electronics sees fast growth in Germany

Build huge muscles without ever exercising again: experts

Researchers have found a way to automatically build muscle mass at Galvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia, according to news sources.The report, published in The FASEB Journal, said that blocking the function of Grb10, nicknamed the “Hulk” protein, showed signs of increased muscle growth without any change in activity, diet, or adverse health effects. Researchers compared infant and adult mice of two groups: a normal group and a group whose Grb10 function was halted. The study showed

Sept. 3, 2012

Build huge muscles without ever exercising again: experts

California to allow self-drive cars in tests

California lawmakers have passed a bill that could make the state the second in the United States to approve self-driving cars on its roads.The bill, passed unanimously by the state senate, will go to Gov. Jerry Brown, who is expected to sign it into law, TG Daily reported Friday.Under the law, the California Department of Motor Vehicles would be required to create standards and licensing procedur

Sept. 3, 2012

Apple-Samsung patent battle intensifies

Apple adds Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note to infringement list, Samsung seeks counteractionThe patent battle between Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. is intensifying as the U.S.-based tech giant took legal action against the Korean firm’s latest flagship smartphones.Apple added Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note to the list of the products that it claimed infringed its patents when it submitted a revised filing at a U.S. federal court last Friday.Galaxy 3 is the latest in Samsung’s smartphone series,

Sept. 2, 2012

Smartphone AIDS tests studied in Korea, S. Africa

PRETORIA (AFP) ― South African and South Korean researchers are working on making a smartphone capable of doing AIDS tests in rural parts of Africa that are the worst hit by the disease, a researcher said Friday.The team have developed a microscope and an application that can photograph and analyze blood samples in areas far from laboratories to diagnose HIV and even measure the health of immune systems.“Our idea was to obtain images and analyze images on this smartphone using applications,” sai

Sept. 2, 2012

NASA launches twin satellites

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) ― Twin U.S. satellites rocketed into orbit Thursday on a quest to explore Earth’s treacherous radiation belts and protect the planet from solar outbursts.It’s the first time two spacecraft are flying in tandem amid the punishing radiation belts, brimming with highly charged particles capable of wrecking satellites and endangering astronauts.“We’re going to a place that other missions try to avoid, and we need to live there for two years. That’s one of our biggest cha

Sept. 2, 2012

Korean team develops new way to create membranes

Scientists in Korea have developed a new way to produce nanosieves, thin layers with holes just millionths of a millimeter across, using an industrial process commonly used to make semiconductors.The discovery could be used to make selectively permeable membranes ― sieves that only allow specific types of particles to move across them. Synthetic membranes of this type have applications ranging from medical and environmental to energy.In a project supported by the Ministry of Education, Science a

Sept. 2, 2012

Korea’s science policies should reflect progress

Collaboration, exchange and stability key to effective policies on science and tech researchMore advanced Asian nations including Korea need to adopt new science and technology policies to achieve globally relevant innovations, says professor Stefan Kuhlmann of the Netherlands’ University of Twente.Kuhlmann, who has focused on innovation systems and policies for science and technology for the past 18 years, said that Korea and other developed Asian nations including Japan are now capable of comp

Sept. 2, 2012

Korea’s science policies should reflect progress

LG bets on ultra definition, OLED TVs to become global leader

BERLIN ― LG Electronics may be behind Samsung Electronics in the global television market at the moment.But this will all change over the next two to three years as LG bets that its premium 84-inch ultra-definition and 55-inch organic light-emitting diode TVs will be its new growth drivers and give the company a competitive edge over its rival.Kwon Hee-won, CEO of LG’s home entertainment business, said he is positive that the market is ready for big ultra-definition TVs, and that there will soon

Sept. 2, 2012

LG bets on ultra definition, OLED TVs to become global leader

'Super Wi-Fi' poised for growth in U.S., elsewhere

(MCT)Move over Wi-Fi, there's a new wireless technology coming.So-called "Super Wi-Fi," which offers a bigger range than existing hotspots, is being deployed in the United States and generating interest in a number of countries, including Britain and Brazil.Super Wi-Fi is not really Wi-Fi because it uses a different frequency and requires specially designed equipment, but it offers some of Wi-Fi's

Sept. 2, 2012

'Super Wi-Fi' poised for growth in U.S., elsewhere

Mosquito repellent may have killed sisters

BANGKOK (UPI) -- Two Canadian sisters who died in Thailand appear to have been poisoned by mosquito repellent mixed into a cocktail, autopsy results show.Audrey and Noemi Belanger, from Pohenegamook, Quebec, were found dead in June in their hotel room on Phi Phi Island. A report on the autopsy shown to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said the sisters had the mosquito repellent DEET in their systems.DEET is a neurotoxic but it is an ingredient in a euphoric cocktail popular with many young touris

Sept. 2, 2012

Samsung wins over Apple in Japan case

Tokyo court rules Samsung did not infringe on Apple invention for synchronizing music and video data with serversA Tokyo court ruled on Friday in favor of Samsung Electronics, saying the Korean company did not infringe on an Apple patent related to transferring media content from computers to smartphones and tablets.The ruling is the latest in a global court battle between the two tech behemoths over patents used in mobile devices after the U.S. crucial ruling last week that dealt a blow to Sams

Aug. 31, 2012

Internet addiction may have genetic link

Internet addiction may have a molecular basis, German researchers say, linked to a genetic variation that also plays a major role in nicotine addiction.Researchers at the University of Bonn studying people and their Internet habits found a significant number who exhibit problematic behavior, where all their thoughts revolve around the Internet during the day and they feel their well-being is sever

Aug. 31, 2012

Baltic sea object is only a glacial deposit, experts say

A ‘mysterious’ object, which was found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea last year and aroused far-fetched speculation is just a glacial deposit from thousands of years ago, Swedish scientists said.Volker Brüchert, associate professor of geology at Stockholm University said in a interview with local media that there was nothing mysterious about the object that was discovered by the Ocean X team.“What has been generously ignored by the Ocean X team is that most of the samples they brought up from t

Aug. 31, 2012

Baltic sea object is only a glacial deposit, experts say