미국 과학 웹사이트 ‘라이브사이언스’에서 미래를 바꿀 신기술 10가지를 소개했다. 그 내용을 여기 함께 나눈다. 　10) 수소물이 석유를 대체할 날이 다가오고 있다. 시시때때로 변동하는 유가에 쩔쩔맬 게 아니라 물에서 수소를 얻어 대체에너지로 쓰는 것이 어떨지. 수소를 연소할 때 생기는 부산물은 바로 또다시 물이다. 이처럼 환경 친화적인 에너지원이라니. 물론 이것은 앞으로 석유를 대신하게 될 여러 대체에너지원 중 하나일 뿐이다.　9) 클론공상과학 소설에선 이따금 ‘클론’의 궁극적 목적이 똑같이 생긴 사람들을 찍어내는 것인 듯 소개된다. 하지만, 이 같은 복제기술은 본디 특정 신체기관을 재생산하려는 것이다. 복제기술이 완성된다면 암 환자 치료가 쉬워진다. 암세포에 노출된 기관들을 거부 반응 걱정 없이 이식할 수 있다. 　8) 반도체반도체 제조사 인텔의 공동창업자 고든 무어 (Gordon Moore)는 1965년 컴퓨터의 수가 매해 두 배씩 증가하리라 전망했다. 그는 틀렸다. 반도체 수

South Korea's jobless rate fell in April as more people were hired in the accommodation and retail sectors, but the unemployment rate for young people still remained high, a government report showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate sank to 3.9 percent in April, from 4.3 percent in March. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate also dropped to 3.7 percent from 3.8 percent over the cited period, according to the report by Statistics Korea. Job fair in Seoul (Yonhap)But job creation decreased from the

A foreign national who drove under the influence of alcohol was fined 7 million won ($6,000) on Tuesday for refusing to take a sobriety test. (123RF)According to the Jeonju District Court, the 48-year-old man hit a median strip in Gimje City, North Jeolla Province in October 2015. He created a disturbance by threatening to “kill anyone who touches him” while refusing to oblige a police officer’s request to take a breathalyzer test. Korea heightened regulations against drunk driving since April 2

A 47-year-old woman and her 43-year-old brother are suspected of murdering their 78-year-old father on May 8, which is Parents’ Day in Korea, in what appears to be a premeditated crime. The two are exercising their right to remain silent. During a police interrogation on Tuesday at Gwangju Bukbu police station, they refused to wear masks in front of the press claiming they had nothing to hide as they are innocent. The police were forced to cover their faces for them. (Yonhap)In Korea, disclosure

A jury will participate in the trial of a 24-year-old man who murdered his girlfriend and her friend, a Daegu court announced Tuesday. The jury’s decision will not be legally binding, but the judge will consider their voice in making the official ruling. The man is accused of stabbing his 27-year-old girlfriend after she broke off their relationship. The murder took place at a flat in Jukdo-dong in Pohang City, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 30. He is also accused of murdering the victim’s

A patient who assaulted a nurse and started a fire in the hospital he was in after she was stopped from smoking was sentenced 2 years in prison on Tuesday. Jeonju district court said the 48-year-old man surnamed Kim had turned violent when the nurse on night-duty found him smoking in the hospital and confiscated his lighter and cigarettes.   (123RF)Kim punched the nurse and started a fire in the hospital, which resulted in 4-week hospitalization for the nurse and more than 30 million won ($25,00

A corpse was found in the water tank of an apartment in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday, following a report of a foul smell coming from the tap water.Police confirmed the identity of the deceased as 38-year-old Chinese surnamed Wong, who had worked on the crew of a ship in nearby Pohang, a coastal city in the same province about 120 kilometers from Gumi. (123RF)Wong’s padded coat was found next to the water tank, as well as a note that claimed he had not received 5.4 million won ($4,600)

A BBC correspondent and his team have been detained in North Korea and will be expelled for reporting that allegedly upset the communist country's leadership, the news channel said Monday.Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, along with producer Maria Byrne and cameraman Matthew Goddard, were detained on Friday as they were about to leave the country, the BBC reported.North Korean officials questioned Wingfield-Hayes for eight hours before making him sign a statement, it said.The three, who were in North Kore

CNN reporter Will Ripley tweeted on Monday that North Korea has expelled BBC correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes from the country, under charges of disrespectful reporting toward the reclusive regime. Wingfield-Hayes was in Pyongyang ahead of the Workers Party Congress, accompanying a delegation of Nobel prize laureates. (BBC video capture)BBC said Wingfield-Hayes, as well as two other staff, producer Maria Byrne and cameraman Matthew Goddard, were detained on Friday as they were about to leave

A 42-year-old bar owner in Daejeon surnamed Kim was detained last week for charging drunk customers 100 times more than they owed. Most of them failed to recognize the scam in their inebriated state, until the next day by which time the money had already been transferred. Kim procrastinated on canceling the transactions. (123RF)One of the victims, a 60-year-old man surnamed Lee, recalls the shock he experienced upon finding an automated text message from his bank alerting him that he had spent 2

A 63-year-old Ukrainian captain was detained on Sunday for a hit-and-run case at sea. According to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security’s Yeosu maritime branch, the man is being accused of sailing a 62,000-ton Singaporean oil tanker that collided with a four-ton fishing vessel on Thursday, 17 kilometers east off Ando-ri, Nam-myeon, of South Jeolla Province’s Yeosu City.The 62,000-ton oil tanker. (Yonhap)The fishing vessel’s captain fell into the sea due to the collision and was found dead

Two Korean pimps who extorted money from a Chinese prostitute after she expressed her desire to quit her job were detained on Monday in Busan. According to the Busanjin police, the two 27-year-old pimps, surnamed Kim and Yeo, had allegedly deceived the 37-year-old Chinese woman by saying that they would help her get to the airport and instead driving her to a rural mountain in Jinju city, South Gyeongsang Province, where they took 18 million won ($15,430) from her. (123RF)The woman spent the nig

A false biochemical terrorism alarm was raised Sunday after a foreigner was spotted sprinkling white powder on Seoul’s Mount Daemosan. However, the powder was found to be flour, which the foreigner was using to marking the path for a cross-country run.  According to the Suseo police, a middle-aged Korean man reported the case around midday, saying, “A foreigner sprinkled white powder on trees and rocks at the mountain peak and ran down. The powder looks like anthrax I saw on TV.”(123RF)The man h

South Korea should not rush to raise corporate tax rates amid a gloomy outlook for its economy, a local business lobby group said Monday, citing a survey of local experts.The corporate tax issue is expected to emerge as a hot topic in the 20th National Assembly to open at the end of this month. The National Tax Service headquarters (Yonhap)The liberal main opposition Minjoo Party will hold 123 seats in the unicameral parliament, while the number of lawmakers with the conservative ruling Saenuri

A man who attempted to rape a woman who had agreed to have sexual relations in return for money was handed down 30 months in prison with four years’ stay of execution on Sunday. The man, aged 33 and surnamed Kim, became violent when the 23-year-old woman who met him at a motel room asked for the cash up-front.  (123RF)The Jeonju district court said, “This crime resulted from Kim’s misguided belief that it was acceptable to disregard a woman’s sexual autonomy if she agreed to have sexual relation

A man who had been on the run after duping women with a false identity as a Harvard graduate has been caught after four years. The Yeongdeungpo police said Sunday they arrested the man, 61 and surnamed Cheon, on charges of fraud.  (123RF)Cheon had appropriated roughly 40 million won ($34,200) from three women he had met through an online chatting site in 2011. The women, all in their forties, did not suspect anything when Cheon lied to them about his age, saying he was 10 years younger than he r

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country “as a nuclear state” will work toward the denuclearization of the world, the country’s official media reported Sunday. South Korean experts and government officials say the comment hints at the softened attitude of Kim, who has stepped up nuclear and missile threats against Seoul and Washington, but by no means implies its intent to take actual steps toward its own denuclearization as demanded by the allies.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spea

A couple fell to their death while kissing on a rooftop in Itaewon on Sunday.According to the Yongsan police, at around 2 a.m., a 31-year-old man from the United States and a 26-year-old woman from South Africa accidentally fell from a three-story building while kissing precariously close to the banister.  (Yonhap TV Capture)Witnesses have reported that the woman fell first and the man, while attempting to catch her, fell after her. The two were taken to the hospital but did not survive due to h

Police on Saturday arrested Jo Sung-ho, the suspect in a case involving a dismembered body found in Daebudo Island at Gyeonggi province’s Ansan city last month, revealing his full name and face to the public in a rare occurrence. Jo, 30, appeared for his arrest warrant hearing without a mask covering his face. His name and other details were revealed after the warrant was issued. Jo's Facebook account is now deactivated. (Jo Sung-ho's Facebook)The police said the degree of brutality of the crime

South Korea on Sunday downplayed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's vow to "strive for the denuclearization of the world," stressing that the pledge was no different from Pyongyang's erstwhile stance against its own denuclearization.During the ongoing congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, Kim said that his country would "faithfully" fulfill its obligation for non-proliferation and strive for global denuclearization. He also vowed not to use nuclear arms first unless the North's sovereig