U.S. Rep: Pregnancy from rape is 'really rare'

Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, the conservative Republican U.S. Senate candidate, said in a television interview that it is “really rare” for women to become pregnant when they are raped.Akin, a six-term congressman running against incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, was asked in an interview that aired Sunday on St. Louis television station KTVI if there were any circumstances in which he would support a woman's decision to have an abortion.Akin, who has said he's Missouri's most conserv

Aug. 21, 2012

After marriage: Men drink less, women more

Men who drink tend to stem their alcohol use once they marry, while women tend to increase their drinking after marriage, U.S. researchers found. Corinne Reczek of the University of Cincinnati, Tetyana Pudrovska of Pennsylvania State University, Deborah Carr of Rutgers University and Debra Umberson of the University of Texas at Austin found married men reported consuming the lowest number of drinks compared with single, divorced and widowed men.The researchers analyzed survey data from the Wisco

Aug. 20, 2012

NASA rover Curiosity shoots a Mars rock with laser

NASA’s Curiosity rover has zapped its first Martian rock, aiming its laser for the sake of science.During the target practice on Sunday, Curiosity fired 30 pulses at a nearby rock over a 10-second window, burning a small hole.Since landing in Gale Crater two weeks ago, the six-wheel rover has been checking out its instruments including the laser. During its two-year mission, Curiosity was expected to point the laser at various rocks as it drives toward Mount Sharp, a 3-mile (5-kilometer)-high mo

Aug. 20, 2012

Near-speed-of-light collisions fundamental to rare isotope generation

Since opening the Korea-U.S. Cooperation Center for Accelerator Science and beginning work on the design of the rare isotope accelerator, the Institute for Basic Science has sped up preparations for the country’s first particle accelerator of its kind. The purpose of a rare isotope accelerator is to produce isotopes of elements that do not or rarely occur naturally. An isotope is a variant of an element that has a different number of neutrons in the nucleus.Under the plans the IBS’ accelerator,

Aug. 19, 2012

Star births seen on cosmic scale in distant galaxy

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Scientists have found a cosmic supermom. It is a galaxy that gives births to more stars in a day than ours does in a year.Astronomers used NASA’s Chandra X-Ray telescope to spot this distant gigantic galaxy creating about 740 new stars a year. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy spawns just about one new star each year.The galaxy is about 5.7 billion light years away in the center of a recently discovered cluster of galaxies that give off the brightest X-ray glow astronomers ha

Aug. 19, 2012

‘Basic science research key to nation’s advancement’

New research institute hopes to bring big changes for nation’s science communityThe Institute for Basic Science will change the way Korea carries out research and development to allow creative and original research, according the organization’s first chief Oh Se-jung. The institute launched in November seeks to hire top-class scientists from across the world.“Our target is not just for Korea, but a research institution that can compete on the international stage,” Oh said. Oh said that while Kor

Aug. 19, 2012

New spider family found in U.S. caves

A team of amateur cave explorers and arachnologists has found a new family of spiders in caves and old-growth redwood forests in Oregon and California, US researchers said Friday.Entomologists at the California Academy of Sciences said the spider, named Trogloaptor -- or "cave robber" -- for its lethal front claws, had such unique evolutionary features that it represented not just a new genus or s

Aug. 19, 2012

Apple’s iPad Mini likely to a scaled-up iPod Touch

The iPad Mini will be more like a larger version of the iPod Touch rather than a smaller version of the iPad. Several industry sources speculated that the new gadget will not be a revolutionary redesign. However, it will have slimmer bezels along its sides to make for easier use and will also have a 7-inch screen, positioning it to rival Google’s popular Nexus tablet. What is to give the iPad Mini its edge is its rumored larger 4:3 display. Eddy Cue, Apple’s Vice President, stated that the late

Aug. 17, 2012

Malware targeting Android devices rising

The amount of malware targeting Android devices such as smartphones and tablets tripled in the second quarter of 2012, a Russian security firm says.Security company Kaspersky Labs said malware specifically targeting Android-based phones, tablets and computers increased by a significant amount in the quarter, SlashGear reported Thursday.Kaspersky said 14,900 new malicious programs targeting Android devices were added to its database of malware threats, up from 5,441 in the first quarter.Almost ha

Aug. 17, 2012

Jellyfish scare spreads along the coast

Holidaymakers and fishermen are worried about giant toxic jellyfish showing up in Korea’s coastal areas in record numbers this summer.A girl was killed earlier this month and more than 500 people have been stung by jellyfish in the seas around Busan this season. The southern resort island of Jeju saw more than 130 people stung.Although there have been reports in China and Southeast Asia of deaths caused by poisonous jellyfish, Korea was considered relatively safe from them. However, the scare is

Aug. 16, 2012

Ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer accounts for 4.2 percent of all cancers in women and has the highest incidence rate among all genitourinary cancers in women following cervical cancer in Korea. There is growing concern about ovarian cancer as its incidence rate is on the rise every year with approximately 1,400 newly-diagnosed patients annually, whereas the incidence rate of cervical cancer is gradually decreasing.The ovaries are small organs located in the female pelvis which are found in pairs on either side of

Aug. 16, 2012

Malaria haunts border areas

Soured inter-Korean ties stymie efforts to control mosquitoesFears of malaria haunt South Koreans living near the border with North Korea, as soured inter-Korean ties take their toll on efforts to control the disease-carrying mosquitoes that fly freely across the heavily-fortified De-Militarized Zone. South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a malaria warning for parts of Incheon, Gangwon Province and some northern areas of Gyeonggi Province, all near the northern bord

Aug. 16, 2012

Samsung rolls out Galaxy Note 10.1 in Korea

Samsung Electronics Co., the world‘s top smartphone maker, said Thursday it has started selling the Galaxy Note 10.1 on its home turf, the latest version of its Galaxy Note lineup, whose sales topped 10 million units worldwide.The Galaxy Note 10.1, which was first showcased at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year, is an enlarged version of the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note, a hybrid of a smartphone and a tablet PC.Both models feature the S Pen, a stylus that enables users to doodle and write on th

Aug. 16, 2012

Why incompetent people are often promoted

(123rf)The lure of social status promotes overconfidence and helps explain why there is such an abundance of delusional confidence, U.S. and Spanish researchers say.The study, scheduled to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, sheds light on why incompetent people are so often promoted over their more competent peers.Study co-authors Cameron Anderson, Don Moore and Jess

Aug. 16, 2012

West Nile virus kills 17 in Texas, sickens hundreds

(123rf)The southwestern US state of Texas is battling an outbreak of the West Nile virus, with 17 deaths blamed on the mosquito-borne disease, authorities said Wednesday.Throughout the state 465 people have been sickened since the start of the year, putting it on track to have the most cases since the disease first emerged a decade ago, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.The county

Aug. 16, 2012