There is a “magic display” that changes a hologram image when it holds moisture. It has advanced the possibility of commercialization of displays as it can print holographic images without limit as if stamping them.Professor Junsuk Rho of the Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Byoungsu Ko, Younghwan Yang, and Jaekyung Kim of the integrated course, and Dr. Trevon Badloe have developed a new moisture-sensitive display that changes the brightness or color of holographic images depending on the humidity.Firstly, the research team succeeded in implementing a hologram image that can

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a disease in which the coronary artery supplying blood to the heart is narrowed or blocked, causing irreversible damage to the myocardium. Recently, the transplantation of stem cells to the damaged region was found to enhance the regeneration of damaged heart tissue. However, the low engraftment rate of stem cells on a dynamically beating heart has become a major obstacle.Professor Dong Sung Kim (Department of Mechanical Engineering) and Dr. Andrew Choi succeeded in transplanting in vivo priming bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) sheet based on thermorespons

Among many keywords that describe the year 2022, runaway climate change and a planet of 8 billion can be thought of as one of the most symbolic events. There have been and still are numerous reports suggesting the Earth is quickly approaching the tipping point, and, as the global population soared above 8 billion this November, the hours on the climate clock are ticking exponentially faster. Overpopulation is the elephant in the room of climate change but one that is often considered taboo. Secretary-General António Guterres, with regard to the population reaching 8 billion, said “[it is] an o

On Dec. 16, the Japanese government declared revisions to three national security documents, the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Buildup Program. They explained their rationale for the revisions citing China’s rise and conflict with Taiwan, alongside North Korea’s continued provocations through nuclear weapons and missiles.The new documents allow the Japanese to approve certain capabilities to counterattack enemy military infrastructure. This is seen as a major divergence from the pacifist route the Japanese had been seen to have taken since their def

Bacteria, fungi, and microalgae—organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye—are microorganisms that are commonly used for vaccines or fermenters. In 2010, “Mycoplasma mycoides”, an artificial microorganism was developed, which highlighted the technology that is utilized to develop industrial microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and yeast as “cell factories” for producing pharmaceuticals and petroleum substitutes. However, such bioprocess could only use a pure culture of a single strain due to productivity, limiting the number of developable processes.A joint research team of Professor

Wood waste, a common problem for many industries, can now be processed to become hydrogen. Professor Dong-Pyo Kim and Ph.D. candidate Se-jun Lim of the Department of Chemical Engineering (CE) conducted joint research with Prof. Jung-ki Ryu and Ph.D. candidate Hyun-Myung Oh of the Department of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST to develop a chemical process that can turn wood waste into hydrogen and high-value chemical products.The product of this chemical process includes vanillin, a raw material in multiple food and pharmaceutical products. Not only this, but the process also does not

On Nov. 8, the U.S. midterm elections were held. So far, the Democratic Party is expected to have a majority in the Senate and the Republican Party will have a majority in the House.According to The Associated Press, Democrats won 48 seats in the Senate and Republicans won 49. However, CNN reported that the Democratic Party actually secured 50 seats because the two independents were close to the Democratic Party. In Georgia, no candidate won the majority, so a runoff is expected. Regardless of Georgia's outcome, Democrats secured half of the seats, positioning themselves as the majority in

Revisions to the Korea Electric Power Corporation Act (KEPCO Act) have been submitted to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea to raise the limit on the issuance of KEPCO’s company. It is expected to suffer a record deficit of more than 30 trillion KRW this year. In response, the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee is discussing ways to increase KEPCO’s issuance limit of corporate bonds from two times, to five times, eight times, and 10 times of capital and reserves. An upward revision seems inevitable to prevent a default next year, but concerns are being raised as

As unpredictable variants with stronger infectivity appear, the COVID-19 pandemic seems endless. While cases of Omicron variants reported so far reach about 300 kinds, researchers recently found a clue in developing the medicine that will neutralize all variants.A research team led by Professor Oh, Seung Soo (MSE) developed a customized growth neutralizer of COVID-19 that adapts to variants by itself and becomes more effective over time. This neutralizer is designed to exhibit a stronger effect by utilizing viruses' evolving infectiousness.The reason that the infectivity becomes stronger a

Red hibiscus tea is known not only to warm up the body but also to be effective in improving immunity. What if this hibiscus could defeat a disease without a cure, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD)?Professor Kyong-Tai Kim and Ph.D. candidate Kyung Won Jo of the Department of Life Sciences (LIFE) have revealed that "Gossypetin", a substance containing hibiscus, activates microglia, a brain immune cell. It was also found that these immune cells diminish amyloid-β and restore the cognitive function of AD patients. AD begins when toxic proteins such as amyloid-β and Tau accumulate in brain cell

On Oct. 15, a worker at a baking factory of SPL, a subsidiary of SPC, was stuck into a sandwich sauce mixer machine and died on the spot. Initially, when opening the cover of the machine, an automatic protection device called an interlock stops the machine. This, however, was not installed. This accident caused caused public outrage toward the SPC because they had shown irresponsible behavior, such as merely stopping work on machines without an interlock after the accident while proceeding with the source mixing work using the remaining two units.Eight days after the deadly accident, another w

On Oct. 15, the mobile chatting service Kakaotalk experienced yet another technical failure, and millions of users were unable to use the service for more than a day. This technical failure resulted from a fire in Pangyeo, Gyeonggi, where the data center for Kakao was located. Due to this problem, users were unable to use the service from anywhere between 10 hours to two days. Businesses, not to mention some government networks, had to halt due to this system failure, which posed the question: "Are Koreans too dependent on Kakao?".Discomfort over Kakaotalk chatting services was not the only ne

This year, farmers suffered from heat waves under severe drought in South Korea. During the Joseon Dynasty, the agriculture industry was centered on rice farming, which made society more vulnerable to droughts or floods. Thus, our ancestors made great efforts to predict the weather in order to minimize agricultural losses.Professor Jonghun Kam and Dr. Park Chang-Kyun in the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering developed a “self-calibrating Effective Drought Index (scEDI)” and compared and analyzed precipitation records for about 250 years from the Joseon Dynasty to the modern er

There is now a way to strategically treat cancer because of the usage of not only the microenvironment of cancer, but also an in-vitro cancer model that simulates blood and lymphatic vessels, the main metastatic pathways. In the future, personalized cancer treatments will be possible by engineering a cancer model with cells from patients.Professor Cho Dong-woo of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cho Won-woo and Ahn Min-jun of the integrated course, and Prof. Kim Byung-soo of the Department of Biomedical Convergence Engineering of Pusan National University produced a metastatic melanom

Both the inflation rate and the consumer price index (CPI) are maintaining high rates. Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho maintained his previous forecast that the inflation rate would peak around October. According to Statistics Korea, the CPI was recorded at 6.0% in June, 6.3% in July, and 5.7% in August. This is the highest rate in 23 years. What is more serious is that the inflation is centering on items with high public sensitivity, such as agricultural and fishery products. As a result, the CPI for restaurant purchases in July recorded the highest rate in 30 years. To make matters worse

Hinnamnor is the 11th typhoon of this year that has cleared its way through Jeju Island and Gyeongsang Province during the early morning of Sept. 6, causing devastation and irreparable scars to millions of lives. Named after a national reserve in Laos, the Category-5 equivalent super typhoon Hinnamnor landed on the coast of Geoje at 4:50 A.M., headed North East at 50km/h, and exited through the sea of Ulsan at 7:30 A.M. It is yet the strongest typhoon of this year and has incurred 12 deaths, ruined 3,800ha of agricultural goods, and submerged over 10,000 cars in Korea.Pohang was one of the mos

A research team led by Professor Park Kyoung-duck of the Department of Physics (PHYS) and Kang Min-gu (PHYS Ph.D. Candidate) conducted a joint study with Prof. Suh Yung Doug of the Department of Chemistry at UNIST, and succeeded in visualizing a single-molecule’s conformational heterogeneity (structural variation) at room temperature (RT) for the first time. It is now possible to investigate the conformation of a single-molecule which is the basic unit of all matter. A single-molecule about 1 nanometer (nm, billionth of a meter) in size is very unstable at RT. The fast diffusion of Coronavirus

Alzheimer’s disease is a representative neurodegenerative disease. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and their families continue to suffer while the precise cause of dementia remains unknown.Professor Kyong-Tai Kim and Ph.D. candidate Eun Ji Oh of the Department of Life Sciences (LIFE) have developed a substance that activates the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), thereby revealing the possibility of treating Alzheimer’s disease. PPAR is a transcription factor necessary for metabolic regulation and is considered to be an important target protein for the treatment of metabolic

Nowadays, it is no exaggeration that many Koreans consider pets to be an integral part of their family. Therefore, the government has begun to collect opinions on animal welfare policies to improve the existing system.On Aug. 10, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that they would conduct research services, including public opinion polls, on the introduction of a pet tax. The pet tax is a system that collects a certain amount of money every year from those who raise pets. It is used for funds related to animal welfare, such as animal hospitals and medical insurance. T

On Aug. 2, United States politician Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. This was the first high ranking American official’s visit to the island nation since 1997, when the Republican politician Newt Gingrich visited. Pelosi portrayed the reason for her trip as an obligation to stand with democratic countries in opposition to autocratic nations. This was not her first show of support for democracy, as she had also visited Tiananmen Square in 1991.After Pelosi’s visit, the relationship between China and Taiwan deteriorated significantly. This is because China has declared Taiwan as part of its territor