korea

A fermented food that has been a staple on plates in Korea for thousands of years has gone global in the past decade, with new research revealing that kimchi can naturally lower triglycerides and blood pressure and regulate fasting glucose levels.

Korean scientists have taken muscle and fat stem cells from cows and transplanted them into grains of rice. The end result is a new, high-protein food that should be cheap, environmentally friendly, and useful for famines, military or space travel.

Just like any other organisms, crop-destroying soil microbes die if they get too hot. With that fact in mind, scientists have developed a new system in which soil-heating microwaves are used to kill such pests. It could one day replace pesticides.

Though efforts to clean up plastic waste from our oceans are well underway, it's also vital to stem the tide at a major source of pollution: rivers. Researchers in South Korea are looking to doing just that at a "living lab" facility in Gongju.

The Cordyceps fungus has evolved a terrifying ability to hijack the bodies of insects – but it's also being studied for an impressive range of potential medicinal effects. Researchers have found a way to boost production of its key chemical by 100x.