llustration of the interior of 55 Cancri e — an extremely hot planet with a surface of mostly graphite surrounding a thick layer of diamond, below which is a layer of silicon-based minerals and a molten iron core at the center. (Haven Giguere)A rocky planet twice Earth's size orbiting a nearby star in our Milky Way galaxy is partly made of diamond, U.S. astronomers say.Scientists at Yale Universit

Ruling and opposition parties locked horns on Friday over allegations that late President Roh Moo-hyun disavowed the legitimacy of the de-facto sea border between the two Koreas in 2007, a claim which could influence December's presidential election.The ruling Saenuri Party said it will call for a parliamentary probe to officially investigate the claims made by one of its lawmakers earlier in the

결혼정보회사 듀오 (코리아 헤럴드)듀오에 가입한 A씨 (30)는 최근 커플매니저에게 크게 실망했다. 거의 강요에 가까운 그녀의 권유에 프로필을 받고 만나봤던 여성이 그야말로 폭탄이었기 때문이다.외모가 아니라, 인성이 문제였다. 예의를 어디다 팔아먹었는지 알 수 없는 “무개념녀”이었던 것이다. 200만원에 가까운 돈을 내고 가입한 A씨는 화가 나서 항의를 했고, 추가 서비스를 받기로 했지만, 그래도 꺼림칙한 기분은 어쩔수가 없었다.또 다른남성 가입자의 경우, 커플매니저가 대놓고 부탁했다고 한다. 고객중에 소위말하는 "스펙"이 떨어지는 여성이 있는데, 한번만 만나주면 매칭기회를 더 주겠다고 말이다. 그 남성은 결국 데이트에 응했다. 최근 급성장을 하고 있는 가연의 경우, 결혼 의사가 없는 여성과의 만남을 주선해

 Women are twice as likely as men to include emoticons -- graphic symbols to reflect moods or emotion -- in text messages, U.S. researchers say.Emoticons, graphic symbols that use punctuation marks and letters to represent facial expressions, help provide context to a person‘s texts and clarify a message that could otherwise possibly be misconstrued.Researchers at Rice University in Houston used s

The Chicago website CareerBuilder said its annual survey indicates 30 percent of workers have played hooky from work in the past year.The online survey of 3,976 U.S. workers and 2,494 hiring managers and human resources professionals, conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Interactive, found 30 percent of respondents admitted calling in sick without an actual illness, while 31 percent of e

The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services is investigating the family of a 2-year-old who wandered into a supermarket on his own late at night. Employees at the A&P in Hoboken found the toddler at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, The Jersey Journal reported. They called police who located the child's family at their home about a block away. Police Sgt. Sam Williams said the toddler apparentl

Deputy Secretary William J. Burns will travel to Seoul next week to hold a series of meetings with South Korean officials on regional and global issues, the State Department said Thursday.Burns is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Monday after a two-day trip to Tokyo."Deputy Secretary Burns will travel to Seoul October 15 to meet with senior South Korean officials and to participate in the U.S.-ROK

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday allowed Samsung Electronics Co. to continue selling its new smartpones in the U.S. market, reversing an injunction by a district court.The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is part of complicated patent lawsuits between the South Korean electronics giant and Apple Inc.Apple has accused Samsung of having copied some features of its products

Apple's anticipated iPad Mini will likely be WiFi only, shipping without access to 3G or 4G data networks, a British newspaper is reporting.Offering mobile data would be counter to the whole point of the iPad Mini, which is seen as Apple's effort to make a much less expensive version of its popular full-size tablet to compete with lower price devices from Google and Amazon, The Guardian reported W

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Thursday as investor sentiment was dampened by overnight losses on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 13.49 points, or 0.69 percent, to trade at 1934.73 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares lost ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 1.28 percent and chipmaker

South Korea has the world's eighth-best business environment, according to a survey by a renowned consulting firm.Grant Thornton International on Wednesday released the Global Dynamism Index based on its research of the business environments of 50 major nations.South Korea recorded 64.9 out of the perfect 100 points in the overall assessment of the business operating environment, economics and gro

"Gangnam Style," an ultra-popular song by South Korean rapper Psy, again failed to reach the summit of the Billboard chart this week."Style" stayed behind Maroon 5's "One More Night" for the third consecutive week in the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard.com announced Wednesday."Again, the race was extremely close," Billboard said.The overall chart point gap widened to 700, however, from fewer than 500

Mitt Romney, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate, supports the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program but he wants Pyongyang to stop misusing the often-troubled negotiations, a senior foreign policy adviser to the former Massachusetts governor said Wednesday."Well, his (Romney's) concern is not to let the North Korean nuclear program proceed," Dov S. Zakheim, special adviser on fo

The Italian government has dissolved the administration of the mafia-plagued southern city of Reggio Calabria after a city counselor was arrested on mafia charges. Interior Minister Annamaria Cancellieri announced the decision Tuesday. It came after an investigation into the city administration following the arrest last year of a city counselor on mafia association charges. Calabria is home to

As many as 13,000 people received steroid shots suspected in a U.S. meningitis outbreak, health officials said Monday. But it's not clear how many are in danger.Officials don't how many of the shots may have been contaminated with meningitis-causing fungus tied to the outbreak. And the figure includes not only those who got them in the back for pain _ who are most at risk _ but also those who got

A North Carolina mother faces charges for giving her 11-year-old daughter a tattoo, investigators said.Odessa Clay, who said she didn‘t know it was illegal to tattoo someone under 18, even with parental permission, was arrested in September, WCTI-TV, Greenville, N.C., reported.Clay told investigators her daughter asked for a tattoo so she used her own tools to give her one -- a small heart near he

A music fan website operator will pay a $1 million fine over charges it improperly collected personal information from children under 13, U.S. officials said.Artist Arena, which runs fan sites for artists such as Justin Beiber and Rihanna, was accused of violating Federal Trade Commission rules requiring website operators to notify parents and obtain their consent before they collect, use or discl

Greece's international creditors on Monday gave Athens an October 18 deadline, date of the next European Union summit, to "implement" reforms in exchange for fresh financial assistance."We stressed that before the next disbursement Greece clearly and credibly should demonstrate its commitment to fully implement the program -- and 89 prior actions from March should be implemented by the 18th of Oct

Less than three weeks after cutting South Korea's growth estimate for this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday provided a gloomier outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy amid uncertainties in the eurozone and U.S. economies.South Korea is projected to record only 2.7 percent in economic growth this year, the IMF said in a new report on the global economy. Based on annual consu

An inquest into the death of a Brazilian student chased by Australian police through central Sydney was told Monday that officers fired their Taser stun guns at him at least 14 times before he died.Roberto Laudisio Curti, 21, had shared a tab of LSD with two friends in the hours before the incident in March and the court heard that he was acting erratically before the police pursuit began.Police g