Why do I live? This was a serious question that I had gone through during my adolescence. You have also thought through this life-penetrating question or are currently pondering it. The answer varies from person to person. It could be getting a dream job, becoming wealthy enough to purchase anything, or doing little things with family. But whatever the answer, it converges to one thing: happiness. We live to be happy. There are a lot of different circumstances you feel happy. Yet, happiness can be narrowed down again to three things: ownership, dream, and love. We become happy when we get some

On a sweltering summer day, air conditioning can be a lifesaver. Upon entering an air-conditioned room, the cool breeze that greets you offers an incomparable sense of relief. As global temperatures rise and heatwaves become more frequent, air conditioning seems indispensable. However, the misuse of air conditioning can lead to adverse health effects. While air conditioning is not inherently harmful, it can lower humidity levels, potentially leading to symptoms that make one feel unwell. Low humidity dries out the nasal passages and throat, which can cause discomfort, and irritation, and even

Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is lively, multicultural, and pleasurable for tourists. Among modern buildings stand antique but sophisticatedly built temples, which the locals actively visit to wish for their fortune and well-being. And despite ethnic origins rooted in China – many Taiwanese came to the land during the retreat of the government of the Republic of China – the city is well-balanced with Japanese influences. Taiwan’s specialties, including bubble tea and pineapple cake, can be easily found in tea shops and grocery stores on every other street. And the bright sunshine with the eve

The hottest January ever recorded. The global temperature has surpassed the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit for over 12 months. In the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations agreed to limit the average global temperature rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times, acknowledging that going over this lower limit would lead to catastrophic events and critical loss of biodiversity. Well then, is it Doomsday? The world still has hope. When countries signed the Paris Agreement, they looked beyond short terms, prioritizing long-term sustainability over temporary fluctuations. The mean global temperature

In a digital age where a tweet ruins lives, Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, stands as a powerful testament to the enduring consequences of public shaming and mob mentality. I first encountered this play as a book in my high school English class. Just like all other books that I read in previous English classes; the work did not intrigue me at all. Even the title was boring and seemed unrelated. However, through the middle of the book, I was shocked by the plot, and by the end, I was overwhelmed by the underlying message. While the play is set in more than 300 years past and was written sev

POSTECH research team of Professor Dong-Woo Cho (ME), Jae Yun Kim (I-Bio), and Tugce Sen (ME) developed a supportive material that quickly ceases bleeding and facilitates wound closure inside the kidney, through collaborative research with the team of Prof. Jae Yeon Lee at the Department of Companion Animal Health in Daegu Haany University. The research was published in Biomaterials, a peer-reviewed journal covering biomaterials. The kidney is an important organ that removes waste products and controls blood pressure. Although the kidney is known as the “silent organ,” due to the absence of su

The vision of personal robots, once confined to the realms of science fiction, is materializing into reality. Before now, our fascination with robots was long-fueled by cinematic portrayals of intelligent and versatile machines: going on a wild adventure with Baymax in “Big Hero 6” or enjoying a peaceful afternoon teatime with adorable WALL-E in the eponymous film. Yet, until recently, the robots we encountered were largely single-purpose entities, lacking the sophistication or autonomy to fulfill our imaginations. However, the landscape of robotics is undergoing a profound transformation. Eng

“Did you have lunch today?” as a greeting and “Let’s have dinner together sometime” as a farewell show the significance and how much having a decent meal is interweaved in the everyday life of Koreans. However, having a good meal on campus has been nearly impossible recently. With overwhelming numbers of customers, cafeterias – mainly the Haedong-Aurum Hall and the Oasis – are crowded with people lining up and searching for places to sit. Lengthy queues and few options for dining halls have been continuously mentioned as problematic for years, and finally, the university has taken some noticea

Buses glide swiftly through the dedicated lanes, effortlessly bypassing traffic jams and ensuring punctual arrivals – a welcome relief for commuters. In Curitiba, Brazil, the city’s innovative Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system boasts unique tube-shaped bus stops, a departure from traditional lonely stop signs or simple benches. This distinctive design not only enhances the city’s aesthetic appeal but also offers multiple functionalities. The elevated platform aligns seamlessly with the bus entrance floor, facilitating quick boarding and alighting for passengers, including those with disabilities

In our daily lives, digital data has become indispensable. Whether it is family snapshots, music streaming, or short-form videos, these digital assets require physical space for storage. While some may claim, “I do not store photos on my laptop; they are in the cloud,” and others rely on music streaming services rather than storing music files locally, the reality is that most of our digital data resides in vast data centers. These centers, containing thousands of physical storage drives and servers operating 24/7, pose challenges such as space consumption, excessive electricity usage, and hea

Imagine breaking your leg. Not just one, but both. Will you be able to attend classes? With both legs disabled, simply coming out of the dormitory area would be a demanding task, perhaps even beyond one’s ability. POSTECH campus is built upon mountains and hills, and the majority of the buildings were constructed decades ago. Hence, the environment of the campus is – by default – not friendly for people to walk around and becomes a challenge for the minorities. Around November of 2023, a post urging for a barrier-free administration building was uploaded to the Postech Lounge. The post pointed

International schools are a melting pot of cultures. People from different backgrounds, and with their own stories, make up a whole new culture. I was blessed to attend such a school and encounter diversity earlier in life. Therefore, my school life was quite different from what typical Korean students experience, and I want to share my story as a former international school student. I went to a small international school from first grade. The school accepted kids from kindergarten to grade 12, but it only had around two hundred people, including students and staff members. Each grade level us

On his social media platform X, Elon Musk announced that his startup Neuralink had implanted a wireless brain chip in a human brain on Jan. 29. “Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” he added in his post. Neuralink is a brain-computer interface (BCI) company that is making devices to give autonomy to patients with medical issues in the brain. The device, BCI, reads and decodes brain signals, aiming to enable a person to move their paralyzed body, use a computer, or do any other tasks by thought alone. There are mainly two types of BCI: invasive and non-invasive. The one that

Journalism ethics have met their demise in Korea. Media outlets in the country regurgitate the same articles like mindless parrots, present lackluster reports as news, and fabricate misleading, sensational headlines. The once-respected pillars of truthful reporting seem to have crumbled, leaving behind a landscape of compromised integrity. Amid this collapse of journalism and declining public trust, journalists have the responsibility to restore the credit and honor of the media. Reporters and the press should stop using misleading, provocative headlines. Most Koreans consume news using web po

Tae-Joon Park Digital Library, more often called “Cheong-am” after the art name of Park Tae Joon, is an indispensable place for Postechians. Students visit the library for lectures, to study, or even to take a rest in the Relax Zone. Hence, as a Postechian, most students would stop by the library at least once every day. However, because students spend a considerable amount of time in the library, they have raised some discontent and questions regarding the facilities and systems of the library. The Postech Times interviewed Academic Information Resources, Information and Communication Service

Stencil is an art technique that illustrates an image by passing ink over a plate with holes. The semiconductor industry also has a similar technique. Stencil lithography is a method to pattern on a substrate by depositing metals through a shadow mask. The technology is normally used to make nano-sized devices or circuits; however, it is difficult to apply on curved surfaces. The research team of Professor Seok Kim (ME), Prof. Dae Sung Chung (CE), and Ph.D. candidate Sangyeop Lee invented the shadow mask for stencil lithography that can be applied on flat and curved surfaces and can be attache

In the intricate tapestry of global economies, the United States and Japan stand as economic behemoths, each exhibiting consumer patterns that defy conventional economic views. The juxtaposition of their consumer patterns reminds us that the dynamics of the marketplace are influenced by a myriad of cultural, economic, and societal factors and cannot be explained by simple textbook teachings. The United States and Japan are showing opposite monetary policies and consumer behaviors. The central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve System (Fed), has raised interest rates to 5.5%, the hi

The term “Sherpa” commonly denotes the guides who assist climbers on Mount Everest. Similarly, a research team led by Professor Yong-Tae Kim (MSE) and Ph.D. Candidate Kyu-Su Kim published a paper addressing the unsolved challenge of developing electrocatalysts for water electrolysis, which graced the cover of the academic journal, ACS Catalysis. Water electrolysis is an eco-friendly technique for extracting hydrogen from water. Nevertheless, the process is economically impractical due to the requirement of precious metal catalysts. Thus, in academia, extensive efforts are underway to overcome

What is your favorite type of superhero? The brick that smashes everything? Or a mentalist who controls the minds of people? Among many types of superheroes, a speedster who moves with superhuman speed is certainly the beloved hero in every superhero movie. In modern society, where people are busier than ever to work at a job, enjoy leisure, and consume content, people seem to need a speedster’s ability to finish tasks at high speed. Although people cannot have the superpower to move and think faster than the human limit, they have the technology to help them save time when watching videos. On

In the information age, constructing security systems for protecting information is an important task. Specifically, computing the randomness of random numbers is crucial because it determines every security system’s safety level. Minimum entropy in the field of information theory is commonly used to quantify the randomness of random numbers. The joint research team of Professor Yongjune Kim (EEE), Jiheon Woo (EEE Ph.D. Candidate), DGIST Prof. Young-sik Kim, and Technion Prof. Yuval Cassuto successfully developed an algorithm to estimate the minimum entropy accurately, increasing the accuracy