In this blog post, we’ll examine the operating principles and safety features of self-driving cars, as well as the risks to cybersecurity, and explore just how far autonomous driving technology has actually advanced. A rather special car has made an appearance at Seoul National University, where countless vehicles come and go every day. This is the story of SNUBer 2, which navigates the...
How can a turbocharged engine, which is powerful relative to its size, generate even greater power and output?
In this blog post, we’ll examine the relationship between a car’s displacement and engine performance, explore the principles, advantages, and disadvantages of turbochargers—which enable even small-displacement engines to deliver strong power and output—and look at how turbocharged engines are being utilized in the automotive industry today. In 2012, Hyundai Motor Company launched the...
One Unit, Two Functions? How Does a Heat Pump HVAC System Provide Both Cooling and Heating?
In this blog post, we’ll explore the principles behind heat pump HVAC systems—which perform both cooling and heating with a single unit—the refrigerant circulation process, and the advantages and limitations of heat pumps. Heat Pumps: One Unit, Two Functions Throughout our lives, people seek out and strive to create objects or tools that can perform multiple different functions at once...
Are tiny robots that float around inside the body really possible?
In this blog post, we’ll explore whether tiny robots capable of moving through the human body for therapeutic purposes are actually feasible, focusing on how micro-robots are built, how they operate, and the physical phenomena that play a crucial role in the microscopic world. Were robots floating inside the body just science fiction? When we think of science fiction, many things come to...
Why should you use exfoliating soap when you go to the bathhouse?
In this blog post, we’ll examine the difference between regular soap and exfoliating soap, and explore how soap and surfactants remove dirt and impurities from the skin. How does soap remove dirt? Soap is what we use to wash our hands when we come home after being out. In everyday life, when our hands get dirty, we often wash them with soap. However, you’ve probably come across something...
If a thirsty person digs a well, should everyone be made to need water?
In this blog post, based on the characteristics of “selfish humans,” let’s examine the causes of free-riding in college group projects and discuss possible solutions—and, furthermore, explore why we should live righteously. The Cruel Reality of Group Projects and the Problem of Free-Riding Whether you’ve experienced it firsthand or not, group projects are a well-known source of hardship in...
How Do Motors Work? The Spinning Principle Hidden in Our Daily Lives
In this blog post, we’ll explore how everyday electrical appliances—such as electric fans and washing machines—convert electrical energy into rotational motion, and examine the principles behind motors through the relationship between electric current and magnetic fields. Motors That Convert Electrical Energy into Rotational Motion You’ve probably turned on a fan on a hot summer day...
Motion Gesture Technology: How Does “Sixth Sense” Connect the Digital and Physical Worlds?
In this blog post, we’ll explore the principles and possibilities demonstrated by Pranav Mistry’s “Sixth Sense” technology, which sought to connect the physical and digital worlds using hand gestures, projectors, and cameras. From Movie Scenes to Real-World Technology In the 2002 film ‘Minority Report’, the protagonist, Tom Cruise, operates a computer system using hand gestures...
Is a Volunteer Military System Really Necessary for South Korea?
In this blog post, I will examine the philosophical and practical debates surrounding the introduction of a volunteer military system and consider whether such a system is truly appropriate given South Korea’s security environment and social conditions. How did the debate over a volunteer military system begin? Long ago, candidate Kim Doo-gwan, who ran in the Democratic United Party’s...
Why does mobile wireless communication use radio waves, and how have radio waves driven the advancement of communication technology?
In this blog post, we’ll examine the types and characteristics of electromagnetic waves and explore how the development of radio waves, in particular, has influenced the advancement of mobile wireless communication. What are electromagnetic waves and radio waves? In just a few years since the advent of smartphones, mobile wireless communication has become an indispensable part of our daily...