South Korea

Volocopter's ambitions in the flying taxi space have taken another step forward, with the startup's electric aircraft performing its first crewed flight in South Korea as the country eyes a proper lift-off for a commercial air taxi service in 2025.

In a promising development for tokamak-based nuclear fusion technology, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) fusion device has set a world record by maintaining plasma at over 100 million °C for 20 seconds.

UN Studio has been commissioned to design a new tourist destination in South Korea that stretches over a small island. It's inspired by the traditional Korean garden and will incorporate significant greenery, including green roofs on some buildings.

With its eye-catching glazing bulging out of a stone facade, the remarkable Galleria in Gwanggyo is one of the most striking buildings we've seen in some time. Designed by OMA, the department store was recently completed in Gwanggyo, South Korea.

MVRDV already added significant greenery to Seoul with its transformation of a highway into a plant-filled walkway, and now plans to do the same to a large stretch of waterfront too. Named The Weaves, the project is due to begin construction in 2021.

Most of the records that dinosaurs break are in the “world’s largest” category. But now palaeontologists have discovered the smallest dinosaur tracks ever found, which were made by a previously-unknown species of raptor the size of a sparrow.

MVRDV was commissioned to design two buildings in South Korea that contain a nightclub and other facilities, and require no windows. The firm took the opportunity to do something different and created an eye-catching project defined by its unusual facades.

As the United Nations continues to drag its heels on developing a clear international treaty relating to lethal autonomous weapons, South Korea has just announced a major investment in artificial intelligence and military systems with the goal of applying AI to various defense projects.

Clean and plentiful, hydrogen is a promising fuel source, but there are a few problems in the path to mainstream use. South Korean scientists have now developed a new system for producing hydrogen from water, which that they say overcomes some of these issues and produces the gas more efficiently.

In what may be a preview of the future of athletics, Hubo, a humanoid robot, carried the Olympic torch in Daejeon, South Korea as part of the relay leading up to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The robot had to perform a disaster rescue operation to hand off the torch to the next runner.

Fans of concrete architecture should find a lot to like about this recently-completed project in Gijang, South Korea. Designed by Heesoo Kwak and IDMM Architects, the Gijang Waveon cafe consists of stacked concrete blocks which are arranged in an attempt to maximize the available view.

Drawing on long-term data, researchers have predicted the average life expectancies for people in 35 countries born in 2030. Residents of every country studied can expect to live longer, with South Korean women topping the list at 90 years – but it's not such great news for the US.