본문 바로가기
대메뉴 바로가기
KAIST
Newsletter Vol.23
Receive KAIST news by email!
View
Subscribe
Close
Type your e-mail address here.
Subscribe
Close
KAIST
NEWS
유틸열기
홈페이지 통합검색
-
검색
KOREAN
메뉴 열기
OT
by recently order
by view order
Future of Petrochemical Industry: The Age of Bio-Refineries
The concept of bio-refinery is based on using biomass from seaweeds and non-edible plant sources to produce various materials. Bio-refineries has been looked into with increasing interest in modern times due to the advent of global warming (and the subsequent changes in the atmosphere) and the exhaustion of natural resources. However past 20 years of research in metabolic engineering had a crucial limitation; the need to improve the efficiency of the microorganisms that actually go about converting biomass into biochemical materials. In order to compensate for the inefficiency, Professor Lee Sang Yeop combined systems biology, composite biology, evolutionary engineering to form ‘systems metabolic engineering’. This allows combining various data to explain the organism’s state in a multi-dimensional scope and respond accordingly by controlling the metabolism. The result of the experiment is set as the cover dissertation of ‘Trends in Biotechnology’ magazine’s August edition.
2011.07.28
View 9632
Biomimetic Carbon Nanotube Fiber Synthesis Technology Developed
The byssus of the mussel allows it to live in harsh conditions where it is constantly battered by crashing waves by allowing the mussel to latch onto the seaside rocks. This particular characteristic of the mussel is due to the unique structure and high adhesiveness of the mussel’s byssus. KAIST’s Professor Hong Soon Hyung (Department of Material Science and Engineering) and Professor Lee Hae Shin (Department of Chemistry) and the late Professor Park Tae Kwan (Department of Bio Engineering) were able to reproduce the mussel’s byssus using carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotube, since its discovery in 1991, was regarded as the next generation material due to its electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. However due to its short length of several nanometers, its industrial use was limited. The KAIST research team referred to the structure of the byssus of the mussel to solve this problem. The byssus is composed of collagen fibers and Mefp-1 protein which are in a cross-linking structure. The Mefp-1 protein has catecholamine that allows it to bind strongly with the collagen fiber. In the artificial structure, the carbon nanotube took on the role of the collagen fibers and the macromolecular adhesive took on the role of the catecholamine. The result was a fiber that was ultra-light and ultra-strong. The results of the experiment were published in the Advanced Materials magazine and is patent registered both domestically and internationally.
2011.06.20
View 10271
From Pencil Lead to Batteries: the Unlimited Transformation of Carbon
Those materials, like lead or diamond, made completely up of Carbon are being used in numerous ways as materials or parts. Especially with the discovery of carbon nanotubes, graphemes, and other carbon based materials in nanoscale, the carbon based materials are receiving a lot of interest in both fields of research and industry. The carbon nanotubes and graphemes are considered as the ‘dream material’ and have a structure of a cross section of a bee hive. Such structure allows the material to have strength higher than that of a diamond and still be able to bend, be transparent and also conduct electricity. However the problem up till now was that these carbon structures appeared in layers and in bunches and were therefore hard to separate to individual layers or tubes. Professor Kim Sang Wook’s research team developed the technology that can assemble the grapheme and carbon nanotubes in a three dimensional manner. The team was able to assemble the grapheme ad carbon nanotubes in an entirely new three dimensional structure. In addition, the team was able to efficiently extract single layered grapheme from cheap pencil lead. Professor Kim is scheduled to give a guest lecture in the “Materials Research Society” in San Francisco and the paper was published in ‘Advanced Functional Materials’ magazine as an ‘Invited Feature Article’.
2011.05.11
View 8898
Artificial Photosynthesis Technology Developed using Solar Cell Material
Humanity is facing global warming and the exhaustion of fossil fuel. In order to remedy these problems, efforts to produce fuel without the production of carbon dioxide using solar energy continues constantly. KAIST’s Professor Park Chan Beom and Professor Ryu Jeong Ki’s research teams of the department of Material Science and Engineering has developed an artificial photosynthesis system that mimics the photosynthesis in nature using solar cell technology. The development of the technology is sure to pave the way to ‘Eco-Friendly Green Biological Process’. Photosynthesis is the process by which a biological entity produces chemical products like carbohydrates using physical and chemical reactions using solar energy as its energy source. Professor Park’s team was able to develop the artificial photosynthesis technology with a biological catalyst as its basis. The result of the experiment was published in ‘Advanced Materials’ magazine on the 26th of April edition and has been patented.
2011.05.11
View 8947
Genetic Cause of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Found
The cooperative research team consisting research teams under Professor Kim Eun Joon and Professor Kang Chang Won of the department of Biological Sciences discovered that ADHD arises from the deficiency of GIT1 protein in the brain’s neural synapses. ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is found in around 5% of children around the world and is a disorder where the child becomes unable to concentrate, show over the top responses, and display impulsive behavior. The research team found that the difference between children with ADHD and those without it is one base in the GIT1 gene. The difference of a single base causes the underproduction of this protein, and those children with low levels of the protein had a higher probability to develop ADHD. In addition, further evidence was provided when the research team conducted mice experiments. Those mice with low levels of GIT1 exhibited impulsive and exaggerated reactions like humans with ADHD, had learning disabilities, and produced abnormal brain waves. And upon injecting these mice with cure for ADHD, the symptoms of ADHD disappeared. The impulsive behavior of ADHD children disappears as the child enters adulthood and a similar pattern was found in mice. A mice with low levels of GIT1 showed impulsive behaviors when 2 months old, but these behaviors disappeared as it got older to around 7 months old (equivalent to 20~30 years old for humans). Professor Kim Eun Joon commented that there has to be equilibrium between mechanisms that excite the neurons and mechanisms that calm the neurons, but the lack of GIT1 leads to the decrease in the mechanisms that calm the neurons which causes the impulsive behavior of ADHD patients. In addition, Professor Kang Chang Won commented that the results of the experiment has been receiving rave reviews and is being seen as the new method in the production of the cure for ADHD. The result of the experiment was published in the online edition of Nature Medicine magazine.
2011.04.30
View 8747
Professor Ko Kyu Young Appointed as a Distinguished Professor at KAIST
Professor Ko Kyu Young of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences was appointed as the Distinguished Professor at KAIST. Professor Ko is famous internationally for his work on the catalyst for blood vessel growth COMP-ANG1, and also for his research on blood vessel growth and lymph duct growth control. Professor Ko developed the Double Anti-Angiogenic Protein (DAAP) which effectively restricts the blood vessels from growing, opening a new approach to curing caner. The paper was published in ‘Cancer Cell’ as the cover paper (2010 August 17th edition) and is widely recognized as the marker that sums up the new paradigm of cure for cancer. In addition, his work on explaining how the new antigen interacts with the T-lymphocyte during a vaccination lead to the possibility of the increase of the efficiency of vaccination. The result of the research was published as the cover paper in ‘Immunity’ magazine. As is obvious to see his work with blood vessel growth and lymph duct growth and control is being published in major scientific journals. In addition he is continuously invited to international conferences as guest speakers and leader, effectively leading the field. As a result, he was appointed as the editor of ‘Blood’ magazine, the world’s best journal in the field of hematology and received ‘2010 KAISTian of the Year’ Award. The title Distinguished Professor is appointed to those who have made world-class research results and educational results and actively lead their respective field. They are provided with extra incentives and can even continue on with the professorship after retirement. It is only limited to 3% of the professors at KAIST and has to be someone recommended by the President, Vice-President, and the Deans of department and their worthiness is scrutinized by a foreign expert.
2011.03.25
View 9252
KAIST paves the way to commercialize flexible display screens
Source: IDTechEX, Feb. 28, 2011 KAIST paves the way to commercialize flexible display screens 28 Feb 2011 Transparent plastic and glass cloths, which have a limited thermal expansion needed for the production of flexible display screens and solar power cells, were developed by researchers at KAIST (Korea Advance Institute of Science & Technology). The research, led by KAIST"s Professor Byoung-Soo Bae, was funded by the Engineering Research Center under the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation. The research result was printed as the cover paper of "Advanced Materials". Professor Bae"s team developed a hybrid material with the same properties as fiber glass. With the material, they created a transparent, plastic film sheet resistant to heat. Transparent plastic film sheets were used by researchers all over the world to develop devices such as flexible displays or solar power cells that can be fit into various living spaces. However, plastic films are heat sensitive and tend to expand as temperature increases, thereby making it difficult to produce displays or solar power cells. The new transparent, plastic film screen shows that heat expansion index (13ppm/oC) similar to that of glass fiber (9ppm/oC) due to the presence of glass fibers; its heat resistance allows to be used for displays and solar power cells over 250oC. Professor Bae"s team succeeded in producing a flexible thin plastic film available for use in LCD or AMOLED screens and thin solar power cells. Professor Bae commented, "Not only the newly developed plastic film has superior qualities, compared to the old models, but also it is cheap to produce, potentially bringing forward the day when flexible displays and solar panels become commonplace. With the cooperation of various industries, research institutes and universities, we will strive to improve the existing design and develop it further." http://www.printedelectronicsworld.com/articles/kaist_paves_the_way_to_commercialize_flexible_display_screens_00003144.asp?sessionid=1
2011.03.01
View 10766
Cho Cheon Shik Graduate School of Green Transportation Initiated
KAIST established the Graduate School of Green Transportation in efforts to participate actively in the green transportation market and train experts in the field. The opening ceremony was conducted in the KI building with President of KAIST Seo Nam Pyo and other dignitaries from Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, Korea Rail Network Authority, Korea Airports Corporation, Korea Railroad Research Institute, Land, Transport and Maritime Experts Training Institute, Seoul Development Institute, LG Innotech, Hyundai Rotem, and other major companies in the field of transportation attending. The graduate school was founded with funding from donation made by Chairman Cho Cheon Shik. Developer of OLEV Professor Cho Dong Ho is the dean of the school and 16 other professors are a part of the school. Courses offered include ‘Transportation Technology’ and ‘Transportation management’ and will focus mostly on allowing students to be a part of the graduate school with flexibility. In terms of research there is the OLEV and mobile harbor and research will be done on electric and electronics, mechanics, materials, aeronautics, maritime, construction, environment, and etc. and will be an interdisciplinary research. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the companies mentioned above which has now paved the way for experts to be trained and thus upgrade the level of technology in the field of green transportation. Professor Seo of KAIST commented, ‘Korea is ranked top 10 in the world for greenhouse gas emissions and it has become hard to avoid global pressure. The results of researched performed at KAIST will allow Korea to form a green, sustainable society leading in the field of green transportation and dominate the market.
2011.02.23
View 12257
New Bio-Clock gene and its function found
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced that a Korean research team has found a new gene responsible for maintaining the bio-clock (twenty-four) and its mechanism. Twnety-four was led by Professor Choi Joon Ho and Dr. Lee Jong Bin of KAIST (department of Biology) and was a joint operation with Professor Ravi Allada and Dr.Lim Jeong Hoon of Northwestern University (department of neurobiology) and the result was published in ‘Nature’ magazine. The research team experimented with transformed small fruit flies for 4 years and found that there was an undiscovered gene that deals with the bio rhythm in the brain which they named ‘twenty-four’. The understanding with genes prior to twenty-four was that these genes regulate biorhythm in the transcription phase (DNA to mRNA). Twenty-four operates in the step after transcription when the ribosome creates proteins. Especially twenty-four has a great effect on the ‘period protein’ which acts as a sub-atomic clock that regulates the rhythm and life of each cell. The experiment was innovational in that it was able to scientifically prove the function of the protein produced by the gene. The result is expected to help solve the problems associated with sleep disorders, jetlags, eating rhythms, bio rhythms, etc. The name twenty-four was the fact that a day, a cycle, is 24 hours long and the gene’s serial numbers CG4857 adds up to twenty four.
2011.02.23
View 9641
New Korean Robot Responds to Non-Verbal Commands
An online newspaper covering the latest headline news based on MS Windows, Internet and technology trends, Infopackets, posted an article on the research result of KAIST researchers: a robot prototype developed, which is able to respond to human’s non verbal communication. Robots now can read human gestures and react to their subtle commands by “designing the robot’s main system to mimic the actions of a human in the same manner in which human brains function.” For details of the article, please click the link: http://www.infopackets.com/news/technology/science/2011/20110125_new_korean_robot_responds_to_non_verbal_commands.htm
2011.01.26
View 7459
Rise of the mimic-bots that act like we do: Human-machine teamwork.
An online magazine, Technology Marketing Corporation, based in the UK published an article, dated January 8, 2011, on a robot research project led by Professor Jong-Hwan Kim from the Electrical Engineering Department. The article follows below: Technology Marketing Corporation [January 08, 2011] Rise of the mimic-bots that act like we do Human-machine teamwork (New Scientist Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Rise of the mimic-bots that act like we doA robot inspired by human mirror neurons can interpret human gestures to learn how it should actNow follow meA robot inspired by human mirror neurons can interpret human gestures to learn how it should actA HUMAN and a robot face each other across the room. The human picks up a ball, tosses it towards the robot, and then pushes a toy car in the same direction. Confused by two objects coming towards it at the same time, the robot flashes a question mark on a screen. Without speaking, the human makes a throwing gesture. The robot turns its attention to the ball and decides to throw it back. In this case the robot"s actions were represented by software commands, but it will be only a small step to adapt the system to enable a real robot to infer a human"s wishes from their gestures. Developed by Ji-Hyeong Han and Jong-Hwan Kim at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, the system is designed to respond to the actions of the person confronting it in the same way that our own brains do. The human brain contains specialised cells, called mirror neurons, that appear to fire in the same way when we watch an action being performed by others as they do when we perform the action ourselves. It is thought that this helps us to recognise or predict their intentions. To perform the same feat, the robot observes what the person is doing, breaks the action down into a simple verbal description, and stores it in its memory. It compares the action it observes with a database of its own actions, and generates a simulation based on the closest match. The robot also builds up a set of intentions or goals associated with an action. For example, a throwing gesture indicates that the human wants the robot to throw something back. The robot then connects the action "throw" with the object "ball" and adds this to its store of knowledge. When the memory bank contains two possible intentions that fit the available information, the robot considers them both and determines which results in the most positive feedback from the human?- a smile or a nod, for example. If the robot is confused by conflicting information, it can request another gesture from the human. It also remembers details of each interaction, allowing it to respond more quickly when it finds itself in a situation it has encountered before. The system should allow robots to interact more effectively with humans, using the same visual cues we use. "Of course, robots can recognise human intentions by understanding speech, but humans would have to make constant, explicit commands to the robot," says Han. "That would be pretty uncomfortable."Socially intelligent robots that can communicate with us through gesture and expression will need to develop a mental model of the person they are dealing with in order to understand their needs, says Chris Melhuish, director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK. Using mirror neurons and humans" unique mimicking ability as an inspiration for building such robots could be quite interesting, he says. Han now plans to test the system on a robot equipped with visual and other sensors to detect people"s gestures. He presented his work at the Robio conference in Tianjin, China, in December. nAs the population of many countries ages, elderly people may share more of their workload with robotic helpers or colleagues. In an effort to make such interactions as easy as possible, Chris Melhuish and colleagues at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK are leading a Europe-wide collaboration called Cooperative Human Robotic Interaction Systems that is equipping robots with software that recognises an object they are picking up before they hand it to a person. They also have eye-tracking technology that they use to monitor what humans are paying attention to. The goal is to develop robots that can learn to safely perform shared tasks with people, such as stirring a cake mixture as a human adds milk. (c) 2011 Reed Business Information - UK. All Rights Reserved.
2011.01.10
View 8311
KAIST sells eight HUBO 2 robots to US and Singapore.
HUBO, a humanoid robot developed by KAIST, has made its journey to the US and Singapore for the development of robotics engineering in those nations. Details on the movements of HOBO being exported aboard, please click the link of the news article: http://www.slashgear.com/kaist-sells-eight-hubo-2-robots-to-us-and-singapore-14119320/
2010.12.20
View 8927
<<
첫번째페이지
<
이전 페이지
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
>
다음 페이지
>>
마지막 페이지 26