Sookmyung maps titanium nanomaterials for cancer treatment SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - Porous crystals built around titanium can carry a cancer drug through the bloodstream, hold it shut until they reach a tumor, and then be switched on from outside the body to attack the cells around them. That range of jobs, long divided among separate materials, is converging on a single compound, according to a review article led by Sookmyung Women's University professor Lee Jung-bok. The paper appeared this month in Coordination Chemistry Reviews August 28, 2026

South Korea's homegrown Nuri rocket set for liftoff in early October SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - South Korea will launch its homegrown Nuri rocket for the fifth time this fall, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said on Thursday. KASA decided to launch the rocket on Oct. 7, at a meeting in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province earlier in the day after reviewing preparations for the space mission. The rocket carrying 15 satellites is scheduled to lift off between 12:23 p.m. and 1:23 p.m., with the exact time to be determined on the day based on we August 27, 2026

Sookmyung team tunes coating strength by adjusting CO2 pressure SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - A coating material built from discarded plastic bottles and carbon dioxide can be made soft and rubbery or firm and glassy by changing one setting in the reactor, researchers at Sookmyung Women's University found. The team traced how the molecular structure of the starting material shapes the behavior of the finished film, turning a single laboratory result into something closer to a recipe with dials. The range they measured is wide. Glass transitio August 27, 2026

Researchers develop embryo-like stem cell heart model SEOUL, August 25 (AJP) - By easing off the chemical signals normally used to force stem cells into heart tissue, researchers at Sookmyung Women's University and Sungkyunkwan University have grown a model that lengthens and bends on its own, reproducing a stage of human heart development that has been almost impossible to observe. Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect in the world, occurring in about nine of every 1,000 live births since the mid-1990s August 25, 2026

KAIST develops technique to detect fast charging damage SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - Fast charging can damage an electric vehicle battery in ways that standard capacity measurements do not reveal, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday, after building a three-dimensional virtual replica of the interior of a commercial lithium-ion cell. In a graphite electrode 50 micrometers thick, slightly less than the width of a human hair, shifting the adhesive that binds the electrode together from an even spr August 24, 2026

Kookmin students win forest management AI contest SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - A team of students from Kookmin University has won the top prize at South Korea's inaugural forest artificial intelligence contest by developing a tool that helps private landowners predict 30 years of revenue and carbon absorption. The web service, named MOFOM, addresses a longstanding challenge in South Korean forestry by democratizing access to fragmented government data. By simply entering a land parcel number, forest owners can instantly view econ August 24, 2026

Kookmin engineering students exhibit 10 years of car drawings SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - Engineering students at a Seoul university have spent a decade learning to draw the machines they study, and the results are on public view this month and next in two exhibitions outside their own campus. The show is called The Drawing, and it runs at the BODA Gallery at Incheon Academy of Science and Arts through Aug. 27 before moving to the Kyung Hee University Museum of Art, where it stays through Sept. 11. Kookmin University is presenting it as part of August 21, 2026

KAIST finds molecular lock that traps cells in cancer-like states SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - A cell that turns cancer-like tends to stay that way long after whatever triggered the change has gone. Researchers in South Korea say they have identified which molecular circuits hold it there and have shown in computer models how to release them. The method is called ROOT, short for Revelation Of the Original circuit of irreversible Transition. It was developed by a team led by Cho Kwang-hyun, a professor in the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering a August 21, 2026

KAIST solves oxygen problem blocking 3D memory for AI chips SEOUL, August 20 (AJP) - In a bid to stabilize memory stacked directly on top of artificial intelligence chips, a joint research team led by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Thursday it had developed an insulating film that steers oxygen atoms toward the parts of a vertical memory transistor that need them and away from the parts they damage, allowing the devices to achieve higher current flow and longer data retention. The device held its electrical cha August 20, 2026

Researchers find technique to boost water-based battery performance SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - Developing safe and affordable batteries is essential for operating large-scale energy storage systems, but current water-based models struggle to store energy quickly and in large volumes. To resolve this, researchers have designed a new electrode material that increases both energy capacity and charging speeds by utilizing particles previously thought to degrade battery performance, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Wednesday. C August 19, 2026