Professor Suk Bong Hong (School of Environmental Science and Engineering) and his research group have discovered that PST-1 (POSTECH number 1), the newly named synthetic small-pore zeolite molecular structure, selectively adsorbs hydrogen.The zeolites’ ability to discriminate between molecules of different sizes and shapes has long been recognized. However, examples of selective adsorption of the smallest gases in zeolites are scarce.PST-1, the synthetic small-pore zeolite with the natrolite topology and a potassium gallosilicate composition, was discovered to adsorb only the smallest ga..

In the Steven Spielberg movie A.I., robots not only resemble humans in looks but read their facial expressions, reacting accordingly. With the new technology developed by Professor Daijin Kim (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) and his group, the movie may soon become reality.Automatic expression analysis is difficult because people’s faces vary so much. Existing software could effectively recognize only extreme expressions, which is not particularly helpful in real-life situations. But the system developed by Professor Kim’s team recognizes even slight facial movement..

Astudy revealed that thermosensory neurons of ectotherms affect lifespan at warm temperature by changing the activity of a steroid-signaling pathway that regulates longevity.Professor Seung-Jae Lee (Department of Life Science, School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Division of IT Convergence Engineering) and his team, in collaboration with University of California, San Francisco, discovered that thermosensory neurons of C. elegans (Caenorhabditis elegans), an ectotherm, actively regulates the temperature dependence of lifespan.Many ectotherms, including C. elegans, have sho..

* Link : http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/11/123_56084.htmlCarbon nanotubes, known for their remarkable properties that can be used for advanced electronics and materials, appear to have the potential to be used for combating cancer as well, local scientists said Tuesday.A research team led by Kosin University's Lee Sang-ho and Pohang University of Science and Technology's (POSTECH) Choi Hee-cheul claimed to have discovered a method to allow carbon nanotubes to be used as agents for photo-thermal therapy in a study published by peer-reviewed journal, American Chemical Society (ACS..

* Link : http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/117_52814.htmlPohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has the lowest dropout rate among 188 universities. According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Thursday, POSTECH had 17 students give up their studies at the university last year, out of a total of 1,711 ― 1 percent of the total student body. The average dropout rate among institutes of higher education, including 2-year and 3-year colleges, stood at 5 percent. Among those who left their original schools, 44 percent voluntarily withdrew, 33 per..

Korean scientists have identified the structure of a protein linked to epilepsy and other brain function abnormalities, which they say could present new opportunities in treatment and drug development. In a study published by peer-review European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Journal, a team of researchers led Kim Kyung-jin of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) presented the crystal structure of the succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) protein. SSADH deficiency has been associated with epilepsy and other neurological conditions, and understanding the structure..

Mad cow disease made headlines in the early 2000s when 4.4 million cattle in the United Kingdom alone were killed as a precaution against it. Now, there may be a way to not only trace the disease in its incubation period but also medically treat it. Professor Daehee Hwang (School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering) and his group, in collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), the McLaughlin Research Institute, the University of California, San Francisco, the Allen Brain Institute, and the European Bioinformatics Institute, have spotted a set of genes that go hay..

Many clinically important drugs are natural products produced by bacteria and fungi. In particular, polyketide antibiotics have been found to be an extremely rich source of biologically active compounds with a broad range of pharmaceutical activities. Aromatic nitro groups are relatively rare functional groups in natural products including polyketide antibiotics but are found in diverse types of important antibiotics, such as chloramphenicol, pyrrolnitrin, aureothin, azomycin, and rufomycin. Surprisingly, the biosynthesis of aromatic nitro groups is poorly understood. To date, only two enzymes..

Nowadays the term of ‘nano’, which means 10-9 as the SI prefix, is commonly mentioned in the media. Usually, a human hair is taken as a means for lifelike recognition of 1 nanometer. One nanometer is 1/100,000 of a hair, which is too small to observe through optical microscope. When we consider that 1 nm is 3 or 4 atomic scale at the most, similar to DNA with the size of 2 nm, its very small size is true to nature for us. Hence, to control an individual atom and to reveal the mystery of the DNA of human body, ‘nanotechnology’ has been attracting great attention as one o..