In Korea, people associate rice cake soup and cash with the New Year. They believe that eating a bowl of rice cake soup is equivalent to growing a year older. Also, at every beginning of the New Year, there is a bell ringing ceremony at Bosingak, Seoul. As the year 2015 is getting close to going out, and the New Year is coming, The Postech Times wants to share information about how people in different countries greet the New Year.Neighboring Asian countries like Japan and China share some similarities in the way people celebrate the New Year. In Japan, people also eat food that is quite simila

On Nov. 30, the Korea-China FTA ratification document was officially approbated by the Korean National Assembly, meaning that Korea-China FTA is very likely to come into effect. As we are dealing with the second largest economy around the world, there will undoubtedly be considerable economic influences. The Postech Times will introduce the definition of FTA and what major economic differences are expected by Korea-China FTA coming into effect. What exactly is FTA?Essentially, Free Trade Agreements (FTA) are designed to reduce the trade barriers between two or more countries, which are in plac

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or simply Islamic State (IS), has become an international issue. All of the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed to dislodge IS and 24 countries have carried out military maneuvers. IS is a Wahhabi/Salafi jihadist Islamic extremist militant group and is implicated in several terrorist acts including the one in Paris in November. It is also encountering international criticism for atrocious behaviors such as beheadings and mass executions and demolishing cultural and religi

Education policy is always a “hot potato” in Korea. Among various subjects, mathematics curriculum has always been controversial. In this article, The POSTECH Times will introduce the 2015 revision of mathematics curriculum in Korea, particularly in secondary education, and compare it with that of the United States.The Ministry of Education announced the “2015 Revision of Math Curriculum” on Sep. 23. Its key-word was “combination” between departments of natural science courses and liberal arts. The math curriculum has been reduced over the last few decades. In the revision of 1997, the Ministr

The modern lifestyle is quite different from that of our ancestors. Our ancestors’ lives were mingled with the nature. Food resources were scarce and they had to be consistently active to survive. On the contrary, nowadays we eat excessively while exercising insufficiently and our lives are greatly dependent on electronic devices which were not present in the past. These unhealthy lifestyles brought on some diseases that have recently come into the spotlight.The first problem of our lifestyle is the excessive use of electronic devices. Although the development of computers and smartphones has

‘Web-toon’ is a mixed word of Web (Internet) and Cartoon. In many portals like NAVER and DAUM, there are numerous web-toons that draw many readers’ attention. These days, many web-toons are being used to make scenarios of drama and movie. Movies from web-toons have become especially popular. In 2006, webtoonist Kang Pool’s ‘Apartment’ was made to movie version for the first time and many web-toons were used to make movie. However, many movies from web-toons failed at the box office for several years. Nevertheless since 2010, converting web-toons into movies has become popular. The popularity w

Computer-generated imagery (CG) is a technique using computer graphics to create images in various fields. One of its main uses is in the film industry. Computer graphics have improved along with the development of computers. The technique is so powerful and widely used that modern movies cannot be created without it. Even for the movies that do not seem to use computer graphics, there is a process called color compensation. Combined with traditional visual effects, filmmakers are able to create virtually any imagination. CG is widely used in animated movies. Unlike other films, every frame sh

Do these rather child-like words sound familiar: Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, Thor and so on? With no doubt, hero movies are this generation’s rising stars in the world of media. Why are people so into hero movies? What is so special about them? The most prominent characteristic of hero movies is that they can contain multiple genres such as action, romance and comedy, satisfying audience of various age groups. Furthermore, hero movies of these days are also adding philosophical issues such as hypocritical aspects of justice and self-realization. At this point, it is reasonable to ask who’s be

Nomophobia SyndromeSymptoms may be trivial rather than serious, but they can negatively affect people’s lives. The term nomophobia (synthesized of no, mobile, and phobia) has been coined. It refers to people who are constantly clinging to their smartphones and acting violently when forcibly separated from their phones. Nomophobia is common among people in their twenties. According to the analysis, people with nomophobia tent to have several symptoms like sleep texting, screen insomnia, phantom vibration syndrome, turtle neck syndrome, etc. Sleep texting is when addicted people text message whe

Financial technology, also known as FinTech, is a financial service based on the Internet. It covers services such as payments, lending, personal finance, and crowd funding. FinTech rose rapidly in 2014 and now there are hundreds of service providers for FinTech. The most common form of FinTech available and known these days is mobile payments. Recently, as people have started using cash less but cards more, the development of mobile payment systems has become very competitive among various companies. In this article, I will compare and contrast three different mobile payments: Apple Pay, Sams

Recently, drones are becoming extremely popular among people. The Postech Times will cover what a drone is, an interview with prestigious drone researcher Youngbin Son, and lastly various drone festivals. A drone is a flying object produced to complete its role without a pilot. Its name “drone” literally means a male bee, and it was given this name because of its buzzing propeller sounds. Nowadays, drones are generally small aircraft with 4 or more small propellers. The idea for a drone has existed for a long time, but limited technology such as inadequate batteries of the proper size, made th

When you go around the grocery store, you can easily find a grade labeling on the food packing. However, in most cases, the grade is confusing. It is difficult to understand what the grade means, and how it expresses the quality of the food. Almost every ingredient such as milk, beef, pork, and fruits has its own grade systems, but consumers usually do not recognize the difference. This time, The Postech Times covers the truth and the falsity of Korean food grading systems. “Milk and Beef: Effective Usage of Grading System?” In case of milk, milk company have actively used quality marketing st

People save time by using transportation. But the faster the transportation is, the more dangerous it is. Because of the potential danger, people should get a license before operating a vehicle. What if the course of getting license were simplified? The Korean government simplified the course of getting a driver’s license in 2011. How has it affected traffic safety? This article examines how it was simplified and the results of the simplification. The main difference is the time requirements. Before the change, all drivers had 15 hours of classroom education and 10 hours or actual driving. Tim

Approximately 165 billion dollars’ worth of foods are getting tossed every year out of customers’ fears that their foods may be unsafe. To check for edibility of food in the refrigerator, people often either sniff at the food directly, or read the date on the food label. Food dating was devised in 1970s in order to satisfy consumers’ demands for more information about what they eat. However, even the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) remarks that certain types of food labels do not indicate food safety. Besides, there are cases where food labels appear to be confusing or unrelated to wh

Today, singing seems to have imprinted itself as a huge part of music. The method of singing that probably has the longest history is classical vocalization.One of the easiest things that humans can do is to breathe. Humans breathe unconsciously with their lungs, for the sake of providing oxygen through vascular systems, thus energy. Simply put, we breathe, for the sake of survival. However, classical vocalists ‘consciously’ have to rely on breathing, because, as world vocalist Sesto Bruscantini said, "The measure of how well you sing comes from how well you breathe." To verify this, we have i

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Music is one of the basic arts of humanity. Every culture has its own unique music. Music is inseparable from people’s lives and has numerous effects on people. One of the ways music affects people is by influencing their mood. To begin with, music can make you happy. Scientists at the University of Missouri discovered that one’s mood could be improved simply by listening to upbeat music. Participants reported higher levels of happiness after listening to the upbeat music. Participants who listened to downbeat music did not seem to have a

We are living in an increasingly global society. We can watch a football game played on the opposite side of the Earth and easily make foreign friends. In this context, various kinds of genres inevitably intermingle. Already, mixing between the east and the west such as fusion cuisines holds a special place in people’s heart. In the same way, various genres of music are being mixed and charming people’s ears. This is, fusion music."Fusion" is the mixing of different qualities, ideas, or things to create something new. Fusion music is the music formed by mixing 2 or more genres. “Crossover” is

On May 13 - 15, the Sunrise Festival was held. For the festival, several departments’ freshmen prepared dances while the sophomores of each department prepared a bar with a unique concept and particular alcohols, mostly based on soju, makgeolli (raw rice wine) or beer. Most of the Postechians, surveyed for this article, answered that during the festival they enjoyed bars of the departments of CSE, LIFE, EE, and CE. Total 79 people surveyed for this article.Alcohol & food : The Department of CSE mixed chocolate, sparkling apple juice, and coolpis, a non-alcohol drink with juicy flavor, with soj

A place of Harmony and Communications, Festivals Around the WorldThe most obvious difference between the Sunrise Festival and other university festivals is the theme. This year, the theme of Sunrise Festival was “Still Alive,” meaning that the festival of POSTECH is still fun and enjoyable, opposing the existing opinions that the Sunrise Festival was boring for the past few years. As most Postechians know, the theme of the Sunrise Festival changes every year. It is determined by the students who prepare for the festival.Festivals from other universities usually have unique themes and remain co

When companies were first established, most of them focused on profit regardless of social problems. But financial experts later began to insist that a company must create not only profit, but also values in finance and society simultaneously. Professor Mark Kramer and Prof. Michael Porter suggested Creating Shared Value (CSV) and the notion led to Cause Marketing. Marketing is a systemic management relating to the whole distribution of the product done by producer. Cause Marketing is one kind of marketing handling social issues (like depression and suicide), economic values, and public values