Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

(PhysOrg.com) -- Superconductivity is a rare physical state in which matter is able to conduct electricity -- maintain a flow of electrons -- without any resistance. This phenomenon can only be found in certain materials at low temperatures, or can be induced under chemical and high external pressure conditions. Research to create superconductors at higher temperatures has been ongoing for two decades with the promise of significant impact on electrical transmission.

A country's energy consumption of gasoline, coal and other fossil fuels is often the attention-grabber in climate discussions. But the energy to make and deliver consumer goods is a more hidden carbon culprit, a recent study says. Steven Davis, a postdoctoral student in the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, tracked the supply chain of greenhouse gases from goods traded internationally in 2004

Carbon is the fourth-most-abundant element in the universe and takes on a wide variety of forms, called allotropes, including diamond and graphite. Scientists at Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory are part of a team that has discovered a new form of carbon, which is capable of withstanding extreme pressure stresses that were previously observed only in diamond. This breakthrough discovery will be published in Physical Review Letters.

Facial recognition software has advanced to the point it can cause serious security implications ... and open up a whole new world of powerful tech and clever innovation. This week at the Black Hat security conference researchers from Carnegie Mellon University will demonstrate how facial recognition technology can be used to positively identify a person and possibly even to gain access to their personal information, right down to their social security numbers

We all know how to get to Carnegie Hall: practice. The same holds true for a range of goals--from improving a golf swing to giving a good presentation.

Physicist James Acton with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace spoke with Katie Couric about what could be a pivotal moment in the effort to cool the Japanese reactors.