Latest news with #Pohang
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
From waste to wonder: Revival of ancient Roman ‘golden fiber' with pen shells
The golden silk, a luxury once reserved for Roman emperors, has been recreated by modern scientists. In a study published in Advanced Materials, a research team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) announced they have successfully produced the 2,000-year-old textile known as Sea Silk. They accomplished this using threads from the common pen shell, farmed along the Korean coast. The team's work also explains the origin of the material's characteristic golden hue and its famed resistance to fading over millennia. Sea Silk is a historic luxury textile from ancient Rome, once reserved for garments worn by figures such as emperors and popes. Crafted from the byssal threads (silky filaments used for anchoring) of the large Mediterranean mollusk Pinna nobilis, the textile was prized for being both lightweight and durable. Its most notable feature was an unfading golden luster. Today, marine pollution and overfishing have pushed Pinna nobilis to the brink of extinction, and its harvesting is now prohibited. 'In all of Europe, only one artisan is still permitted to harvest and process Pinna nobilis for Sea Silk,' explained Professor Hwang Dong Soo, a leader of the research team. 'By collaborating with this artisan and Germany's Max Planck Institute, we obtained a valuable sample for our comparative research.' To find a substitute for the endangered Pinna nobilis, the POSTECH team investigated the pen shell (Atrina pectinata), which is commonly farmed on the Korean coast. Traditionally, the byssal threads of these pen shells were discarded as a valueless byproduct of the food industry. While their large European relatives produce long, robust filaments, Korean pen shells are smaller and their threads are shorter, a reason they have been largely overlooked by researchers. However, the POSTECH team found that this byproduct was a suitable alternative. 'We focused on their core similarities,' professor Hwang explained. 'Both mollusks belong to the same family, and their X-ray crystal structures and protein sequences are nearly identical.' But the path to revival presented its own challenges. The most significant hurdle was logistical: securing the raw material itself. 'We had to ask fishermen to separately collect the byssal threads, which they would normally just throw away,' Professor Hwang recalled. 'It took a special request to the head of a fishing cooperative at a pen shell farm just to gather the amount we needed for our research.' The breakthrough came after years of dedication. Lead author Professor Choi Jimin finally solved a puzzle that had long intrigued Professor Hwang, providing an experimental explanation for the silk's properties. They discovered its brilliant hue is not a product of dye but of 'structural color'. a phenomenon where a material's microscopic structure itself creates color, similar to the iridescent shimmer of a butterfly's wing In Sea Silk, this microscopic architecture is composed of spherical proteins that the team named 'Photonin'. These proteins form precise multi-layered patterns, and the orderliness of this alignment determines the vividness of the golden hue: the more brilliant the pattern, the more brilliant the color. Because this color is an intrinsic part of the physical structure, the fiber is exceptionally lightfast and experiencing almost no discoloration over centuries. The study's significance lies in demonstrating how a discarded industrial byproduct can be converted into a high-value material. As a practical first step, the research team is now collaborating with a clothing and textiles department to weave the Sea Silk into actual fabric. Professor Hwang suggested that potential applications could extend far beyond textiles, envisioning uses in luxury apparel, cosmetics, and even as a high-end culinary ingredient. 'If you grind the Sea Silk, it resembles gold powder,' he explained, 'and since it's a protein, it's edible.' The story was produced in partnership with our colleagues at Popular Science Korea. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Terrifying moment military plane nose-dives into the ground minutes after take-off in South Korea, killing four crew
Terrifying footage captured the moment a South Korean navy patrol plane nose-dives into the ground during a training mission, killing all four crew members on board. The US-made Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion, went down on May 29 near the southeastern city of Pohang. The P-3 aircraft crashed about six minutes after it left a naval base in the Nam-gu district at 1.43pm (4.43am GMT), the navy said in a statement. The remains of the four crew members have been recovered and no civilian casualties were reported, the navy added. Footage of the horror smash released by local media shows thick black smoke rising from the crash site, located in a forested area near Sinjeong-ri. Mangled pieces of charred metal were seen scattered on the ground in the aftermath of the incident. A Pohang emergency office said rescuers were dispatched after receiving reports from residents that an unidentified aircraft fell to the ground on a hill near an apartment complex and sparked a fire. The US-made Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion, went down on May 29 near the southeastern city of Pohang, just seven minutes after taking off from a naval base Shortly after the devastating incident, the South Korean Navy said in a statement that the aircraft had departed at 1:43pm for a routine exercise before it 'crashed near the base for reasons yet to be determined'. It added that it had established a task force to investigate the cause of the crash and temporarily suspended all flights of P-3s. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the platform is equipped with four turboprop engines and capable of deploying torpedoes, depth charges, and anti-ship missiles. South Korea initially acquired eight P-3C aircraft and later added eight more upgraded P-3CK variants, modified by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) from former US Navy P-3B airframes. In total, sixteen aircraft have served in patrol roles across the East, West, and South Seas, with the P-3C earning a reputation as a capable 'submarine killer.' The Navy previously marked two decades of accident-free operations with the P-3C in 2005 and 2015. However, the crash this week coincides with the fleet's 30th year in service. In 2017, a P-3CK mistakenly dropped six weapons, including Harpoon anti-ship missiles, due to crew error during a mission. Following the devastating incident, the South Korean Navy said in a statement that the aircraft had departed at 1:43pm for a routine exercise before it 'crashed near the base for reasons yet to be determined' A Pohang emergency office said rescuers were dispatched after receiving reports from residents that an unidentified aircraft fell to the ground on a hill near an apartment complex and sparked a fire The incident comes after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea in December, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. That crash was one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea's aviation history. And in March, South Korean military investigators charged two Air Force pilots on with criminal negligence over an accidental bombing of a village during a training exercise, which injured at least 29 people and caused extensive property damage. Defense Ministry investigators have confirmed that errors by the pilots when they entered coordinates into the aircraft systems were 'direct factors' behind the accidental bombing, the ministry's Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement at the time. The pilots were charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, the command said.
Free Malaysia Today
30-05-2025
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
2 dead after navy patrol plane crashes in S. Korea
Fire authorities have dispatched some 40 personnel to the site of the crash. (Newsis/AP pic) SEOUL : A navy patrol plane crashed in South Korea today killing two people, with two more missing, authorities said. The plane crashed in a mountainous area near the southeastern city of Pohang just before 2pm around six minutes after take-off, according to the country's navy. The maritime patrol aircraft was conducting take-off and landing training when it crashed for reasons that remain unclear, they said. 'Of the four crew members on board, two bodies have been found and are being prepared for recovery,' it said. A search for the two remaining crew members is ongoing, the navy said. No civilian casualties have been confirmed. The cause of the incident is currently being investigated, they said. Fire authorities have dispatched some 40 personnel in response, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. South Korea suffered the worst aviation disaster on its soil in December when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash landed and exploded into a fireball after slamming into a concrete barrier.
Washington Post
29-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
South Korean navy plane crashes during training, killing 4
A South Korean navy plane crashed in the southeastern city of Pohang on Thursday, killing all four crew members on board, according to local media. The navy said the cause of the crash was under investigation. The plane took off from the an air base in the afternoon, local time, for takeoff and landing training, local news reported, and crashed on a nearby mountain just six minutes later. No civilians were reported dead or injured.
Times of Oman
29-05-2025
- General
- Times of Oman
Four dead after Navy patrol plane crashes in South Korea
Seoul: A Navy patrol plane carrying four people crashed on a mountain in the southeast of South Korea on Thursday, South Korean authorities said. "A P-3 maritime patrol aircraft that took off for training from an air base in Pohang crashed at a nearby location due to unidentified reasons," the Navy said in a notice to reporters. The Navy confirmed that four people were aboard the aircraft. It has launched an investigative unit to look into further details, including casualties. Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing their efforts at the scene to control the raging fire in the area.
