INEWS24

'Blue Archive' is a monumental game that captured the hearts of local gamers when it was released in Japan, the birthplace of subculture. The game, which rose to the top of the Japanese market immediately after its release in February 2021, has successfully recovered in popularity and sales with every major update, and has maintained its popularity to this day, four years later. Furthermore, it has successfully pioneered the position of domestic subculture games by gaining explosive popularity in the Korean and global markets. Blue Archive is the first subculture game released by Nexon Games, which won the Korea Game Awards twice in 2016 and 2020 with 'Hit' and 'V4'. While most subculture games adopt a dark and hopeless worldview called 'apocalypse', this game differentiates itself with a story in which the user, who takes on the role of a teacher assigned to the school city 'Kibotos', leads students to complete missions. As the t...

Emperor penguin couple in Antarctica. There are warnings that if global warming continues, emperor penguins could become extinct by the end of this century. [Photo=Reporter Jeong Jong-oh] It has been revealed that the population of penguins living in Antarctica has decreased by up to 50% in some areas. This is because their foraging activities are limited due to the harsh Antarctic environment and climate crisis, which has reduced sea ice. April 25th is 'World Penguin Day'. Emperor penguins begin to migrate north before the Antarctic winter begins, before the sea freezes. This commemoration was established in consideration of the fact that they are frequently observed near the McMurdo Antarctic Station in the United States. It was designated to protect penguins, which are gradually disappearing due to climate crisis and habitat destruction, and to raise awareness of their importance. Emperor penguins, which represent Antarctica, are currently cla...

Innospace's Hanbit-Nano launch pad and launch vehicle. After successfully completing the system linkage test, they are currently being transported to Brazil. Their first commercial launch will take place in July. [Photo = Innospace] "The goal of the transportation means is clear. Whether it's a guest, a cargo, or a satellite, it is to deliver it to the exact time and place the customer wants. Innospace's role is to transport the relevant payload to the space the customer wants accurately via the Hanbit-Nano launch vehicle. That's our role." Innospace CEO Kim Soo-jong said this in a recent interview with iNews24. Innospace will have its first commercial launch in Brazil in July. After a successful test launch in Brazil in March 2023, the company is determined to establish itself as a full-fledged space transportation company. In fact, ahead of this first commercial launch, the Korea Aerospace Science and Technology Administration propose...

A study found that the immunity of organisms may be weakened in soil contaminated with microplastics. In the case of earthworms exposed to microplastics, phagocytosis decreased. The National Research Foundation of Korea (Chairman Hong Won-hwa) announced on the 22nd that the research team of Professor Ahn Yoon-joo of Konkuk University and Professor Hyun Young-min of Yonsei University confirmed through joint research that earthworms exposed to microplastics are vulnerable to infection. Earthworms, which live in soil environments inhabited by various bacteria, must have normal immune functions, just like humans, to properly perform their roles in the soil ecosystem. Earthworms' immunity decreased in soil contaminated with microplastics. [Photo = National Research Foundation of Korea] Currently, environmental toxicity assessment studies considering soil contamination by microplastics are increasing. Research on the immunotoxicity of soil-dwelling organis...

A smarter AI technology that resembles the human brain has emerged. The research team led by Director Lee Chang-joon of the Cognition and Sociality Research Group at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, President Noh Do-young) and the research team led by Professor Song Kyung-woo of the Department of Applied Statistics at Yonsei University have developed a new technology that enhances the image recognition capabilities of AI by applying the way the brain's visual cortex selects and processes visual information. The human visual system has excellent recognition capabilities. It can recognize objects at a glance and quickly select important information even in complex environments. Existing AI models still show limitations. In the actual brain's visual cortex, neurons are widely and smoothly connected based on the center. This connection strength shows the characteristic of gradually changing with distance (a, b). On the other hand, in existing convolutio...

Businesses that utilize KakaoTalk will be able to promote their brands to users in the United States, beyond Korea. [Photo = Kakao] According to Kakao on the 22nd, they will be launching a global advertising platform in North America at the end of this month. The company recently announced this in advance to advertisers and began recruiting applicants. According to Kakao, the global average monthly active users (MAU) of the messenger KakaoTalk is estimated at around 54 million. Most of these are people who use KakaoTalk in Korea, and various advertising products have been provided to businesses based on this user base in Korea. Representative examples include display ads (DA) that are displayed in the form of image banners on KakaoTalk, and channel message ads that allow users to receive various discount benefits or brand news as chat room messages when they add a KakaoTalk channel opened by a business as a friend. With the launch of this global advertis...

Google announced on the 22nd that it is connecting the existing search engine usage experience to shopping with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Dan Taylor, Vice President of Google Global Advertising [Photo = Google Korea] According to Google Korea, Dan Taylor, Vice President of Google Global Advertising, made this announcement during an online (video) briefing while introducing the company's various services and business status. Regarding the current status of the image-based search function 'Google Lens,' Vice President Taylor said, "The number of monthly searches reaches 20 billion, and one in four of these are searches with commercial intent or purpose." He added, "The 'Circle to Search' function linked to Google Lens allows users to search for elements of interest on the screen without switching apps, and leads searches to shopping." He also emphasized that Google and the video service YouTube play an...