Baseball is a special sport in the sense that there is a way to directly help the team while sacrificing oneself. As such, sacrifice is necessary when preventing the corrosion of metals. We can use sacrificial metal that is easily oxidized to prevent more important metals from corroding. Metals used in galvanizing processes, such as iron plates in street lamps or home appliances, are representative examples of important metals that need sacrificial metal. A technology that can solve the chronic problems in water electrolysis tanks for clean hydrogen has been proposed lately, drawing attention

Small-molecule drugs such as painkillers or digestive drugs are synthesized using chemical reactions. It is known that these small synthetic drugs need a drug-effective part called pharmacophore. However, introducing a pharmacophore into the drug molecule is limited because the overall synthetic procedures are complicated.Professor Lee Joongoo's research team (chb.postech.ac.kr) of the Department of Chemical Engineering (CE) conducted a joint study with Northwestern University and the University of Texas. The research team revealed a new fact that pharmacophores can be synthesized outside

On Feb. 8, Hyundai Card and Apple announced that they will introduce Apple Pay to Korea. Korea's mobile payment market is expected to undergo a major change.South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service announced on Feb. 3 that it is possible to introduce Apple Pay according to related procedures after reviewing whether Apple Pay services counter to local regulations and laws. As a result, experts expect that Apple Pay could be released in the first half of the year.According to business.com, mobile payment shares in the United States were in the order of Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsu

In the early morning of Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the calm brisk air of southeast Türkiye and northwest Syria. According to CNBC, the death toll surpassed 46,000 (still counting) with tens of thousands injured and displaced. The ongoing 12-year conflict in Syria and the outpouring of refugees as a consequence have made this disaster into a nightmare. After two weeks of searching for survivors buried under the collapsed buildings, rescue teams, and humanitarian workers are slowly shifting focus to rehabilitating the lost cities and providing food and shelter to the cities’ resid

Semiconductors have become indispensable in our daily lives. However, their continuous development has led to the problem of an increase in environmental costs. Lately, industrial and academic communities have struggled to cope with the inevitable production of greenhouse gases and waste. Currently, Metal oxide/polycrystalline silicon (LTPO) is the dominant semiconductor due to its long battery life, but its manufacturing process is costly and complicated. To meet the growing demands for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management, continuous research to develop a more simple and en

A contact lens is a popular eyesight calibration instrument, used by 10% of Korean people. However, users often make a mistake, which is to sleep with lenses in. It causes infection by weakening the resistance of the corneal epithelium of the eye, and even the corneal pothole, i.e., corneal ulcer. In severe cases, it requires a corneal transplant.A joint research team of Professor Dong-Woo Cho (ME), Dr. Hyeonji Kim (ME), Prof. Jinah Jang (CiTE), Prof. Kim Joon Young · Mr. Jang Je-Hwan (Konkuk university, College of veterinary medicine) developed a new extracellular matrix-based sticky sealants

Developing an HIV vaccine has been the goal of many pharmaceutical companies since the disease spread around the world. However, the future of developing a reliable treatment has become murky again as yet another candidate for a possible HIV vaccine failed to prevent infections in late-stage clinical trials. The vaccine was developed by Jansson, the vaccine arm for Johnson & Johnson, and was thought to be the ‘last true candidate’ for the treatment of HIV. The trial for this vaccine was deemed the Mosaico study, which started in 2019 and involved multiple nations along with more than 3900 volu

Korea has been hard hit by a particulate matter (PM) problem this winter. PM is the term for “a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air”. The density of PM reached “very high” more frequently this year compared to last year’s winter. The “Fine dust Emergency Reduction Act” was promulgated and executed by the Ministry of Environment on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PM-2.5, a particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers and smaller, could cause respiratory diseases such as impaired lung function, asthma, and heart dise

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