The Korea Herald

Researchers say humans crowded out Neanderthals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Were the Neanderthals simply crowded out by the ancestors of modern humans?That's the theory of a pair of British researchers, who say early modern humans outnumbered Neanderthals by 10-to-1 in a region of southwestern France they studied.Scientists have long debated the circumstances in which modern people replaced Neanderthals across Europe about 40,000 years ago. Leading resea

July 31, 2011

Earth shares its orbit with tiny asteroid

NEW YORK (AP) -- Like a poodle on a leash, a tiny asteroid runs ahead of Earth on the planet's yearlong strolls around the sun, scientists report.The discovery of this companion, which measures only about 300 meters across, makes Earth the fourth planet in the solar system that's known to share its orbit with an asteroid. This handout image released on July 27, 2011 illustrates the orbit of 2010 T

July 31, 2011

Earth shares its orbit with tiny asteroid

Apple, Samsung overtake Nokia in smartphone market

HONG KONG (AFP) - Apple and Samsung have overtaken long-time leader Nokia for the top two spots in the global smartphone market, a report said Friday, underscoring the Finnish handset maker's ongoing struggles.US-based research firm Strategy Analytics said the US and Korean smartphone makers outpaced Nokia in the second quarter, with the sector posting record quarterly shipments of 110 million uni

July 31, 2011

Fat is more dangerous for South Asians

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Weight gain can be more dangerous for South Asians than for Caucasians because the fat clings to organs like the liver instead of the skin, said a study published Thursday.The main difference between Caucasians and South Asians comes down to how much space there is to store fat in the body and where it holes up, said Sonia Anand, lead author of the study in the public access jo

July 29, 2011

Smartphone users check their device 34 times a day

Smartphone users check their IT gadgets 34 times a day or once every 10 minutes on average, CNN reported. A man uses an Apple Inc. iPhone in New York, U.S. (Bloomberg)Quoting a study published in an IT journal, CNN said that the users tend to repetitively check e-mails and other applications not because they needed to check them but because it had become a habit. The checking habit emerges and is

July 29, 2011

Smartphone users check their device 34 times a day

Are hot dogs as bad as cigarettes?

Eating hot dogs may be as hazardous to one’s health as smoking cigarettes, according to civil activists in the United States.Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, center right, wins the first Nathan's Famous Women's Hot Dog Eating World Championship after consuming 40 hot dogs and buns, Monday, July 4, 2011, Monday, July 4, 2011, at Coney Island, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP-Yonhap News)The

July 29, 2011

35m Cyworld, Nate users’ information hacked

SK Communications Co. said on Thursday that personal information of its 35 million online users has been hacked, marking South Korea’s worst online security breach and sparking fears that the leak could lead to massive online and voice scams in coming weeks. (Yonhap News)“The company has confirmed that a leak of customers’ information has taken place due to hacking on July 26,” SK said in a state

July 28, 2011

35m Cyworld, Nate users’ information hacked

Venereal diseases in elderly women on rise

Venereal disease among the elderly population is rising, the Ministry of Health and Welfare revealed Monday.According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, a ministry affiliate, the number of people treated for various venereal diseases marked 352,000 in 2010, up 19,000 from four years ago. Women outnumbered men: Female patients marked 249,000 compared to 102,000 men. The rate of increase

July 28, 2011

Leukemia patient’s lung transplant

Doctors at Gangnam Severance Hospital successfully transplanted a pair of lungs to a leukemia patient for the first time in Korea, the medical center said Tuesday.Dr. Paik Hyo-chae and Dr. Haam Seok-jin of the hospital said the patient, a 21-year-old male, received the operation in September last year and is recovering. The man had received a bone marrow transplant in June 2008 when his lungs show

July 28, 2011

First name tag on tooth developed

A group of doctors here has developed a special marker that can be stuck onto teeth for identification. A patent has been filed for the marker.According to Dental Leaders Club, the “tooth label” is made of “inlay,” a material to fill in cavities, and is stuck to the face of a back tooth. There, the name, national identification number as well as emergency contact are written. “Inlay is quite solid

July 28, 2011

Focus on osteoporosis

Her face told me immediately that something was not right. My mother-in-law is usually cheerful and enthusiastic to greet us when we visit her home for the holidays, but this time her voice was feeble and her face was darkened by a smothered grimace. Then I noticed the limp and her hand bracing her back. “Mother, what happened?” I asked.“Oh, I fell two days ago. I slipped as I stepped down from th

July 28, 2011

Once 420 pounds, man cut his weight in half by cycling

LEXINGTON, Kentucky ― Five years ago, Bill Cole weighed 420 pounds, had little strength and less endurance, and generally avoided physical exercise.Cole, 49, is a Lexington real estate consultant. Before that, he taught sociology at the University of Kentucky and Morehead State University.“I was born with some foot problems and had a bunch of surgeries, which kind of gave me an excuse not to be ac

July 28, 2011

Once 420 pounds, man cut his weight in half by cycling

Kids increasingly facing grown-up illnesses like eating disorders, obesity

DALLAS ― Are kids growing up too fast?Dr. Michelle Fowers says too many are.“I think all the time about kids with grown-up illnesses,” says Fowers, a pediatrician at Baylor Medical Center in Irving, Texas.Societal pressures, poor nutrition, and inadequate or too narrowly focused exercise are causing serious health problems for kids, experts say. These problems include obesity, high blood pressure

July 28, 2011

Kids increasingly facing grown-up illnesses like eating disorders, obesity

Prevent stomach cancer with food

A malignant tumor in the stomach, gastric cancer, is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in Korea. According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, 29,418 people were newly registered as gastric cancer patients in 2010, taking up almost 10 percent of the 218,884 new cancer patients that year.The high prevalence of gastric cancer here is due to Koreans’ diet pattern, said Dr. Lee Ju-ho of E

July 28, 2011

Study finds no cancer link with kids, cellphones

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A European study concludes a few years of cellphone use did not raise children's risks of brain cancer.Repeated studies in adults have been reassuring, too, although an arm of the World Health Organization said this spring that there is a possibility cellphones pose a risk. Moms are photographed at Hall's Calabasas, California home, where they run a business designing "apps" for

July 28, 2011

Study finds no cancer link with kids, cellphones

E-cigarettes, not as safe as it promised

Researchers have warned of the health risks of electronic cigarettes, increasingly popular among smokers who want to quit the habit or at least smoke less. E-cigarettes look like the real thing but consist of a rechargeable battery, a cartridge and a mouthpiece. The e-cigarettes are said to have no tobacco, offering an alternative to the nicotine patch or gum. With the U.S Food and Drug Administra

July 28, 2011

Belgium UFO that puzzled NASA was polystyrene fake

BRUSSELS (AFP)— An unidentified flying object photographed high in the Belgian sky that puzzled even NASA scientists turns out to have been a fake made out of foam, the man behind the hoax said Tuesday.Though scientists pored over the picture of a triangular-shaped flying saucer with four lights, allegedly photographed in April 1990 by a young worker, the mystery remained intact until the man's re

July 27, 2011

Monday blues: why we can’t smile on Monday

A new study suggests most people struggle to crack a smile until 11:16 a.m. on Mondays after a long weekend, the Telegraph reported.Due to Monday blues, people only manage to perform three and a half hours of productive work, according to the study by Marmite.Particularly, those aged between 45 and 54 are likely to suffer most and moan for around 12 minutes, the study said.Moreover, the experts po

July 27, 2011

Study looks into personality factors affecting infidelity

Men with sexual performance anxiety are more likely to cheat on their partners, a new study on the factors that predict infidelity found.Men who are risk-takers or easily sexually aroused are also more likely to wander. For women, relationship factors seem to be most important factor, according to the research by U.S. and Canadian scientists.Maria Shriver (left) and Arnold Schwarzenegger smile tog

July 26, 2011

Study looks into personality factors affecting infidelity

Sperm bank launches online catalogue of donor’s characteristics, appearance

The London Sperm Bank has established an Internet database of sperm donors. It provides descriptions of the personality, hobbies and fashion sense of donors, the Telegraph reported.The online catalogue includes the motivations of male donors, followed by the impressions of staff as to what the donors are like.In the brochure, one is described by a member of staff as “softly spoken, introspective,

July 26, 2011