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

In a first, federal environment officials today scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing , concluding that contaminants found in central Wyoming were likely caused by the gas drilling process. [More]

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt adapted from the book, People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation , by John Whitfield (Wiley, 2011). Copyright

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It’s a rare kind of research that incites a frenzied panic before it’s even published. But it’s flu season, and influenza science has a way of causing a stir this time of year. [More]

Most industries, and society as a whole, are plagued with inefficiencies, middlemen, and a tainted system that gets in the way of recognizing quality work. We're up against centuries of entrenched practices that are unfriendly to merit-based opportunity. Call it depressing or unfair, but don't accept it.

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Novels may be made up, but the emotions they evoke are real. These feelings grow out of our connection to the novel’s characters and the relationships between a protagonist and others in the context of the broader society. As we follow the ups and downs of a carefully crafted story, we build connections within the social and emotional regions of the brain.

Performance usually improves with practice, but not if training is a rotten time. A new study shows that people’s ability to identify noises declines when the sounds are paired with putrid smells--a phenomenon that may allow our brain to detect danger more quickly

Decades after polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) once commonly used in pesticides, electrical transformers and coolants were banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the toxic chemicals continue to linger in our country’s soil and water

The universe has no center and no edge, no special regions tucked in among the galaxies and light. No matter where you look, it’s the same--or so physicists thought. This cosmological principle--one of the foundations of the modern understanding of the universe--has come into question recently as astronomers find evidence, subtle but growing, of a special direction in space.

In their haste to seem savvy about social media, some very smart people have done some dumb things. Don't join them

Golf fans always suspected it: before his infamous improprieties, the mere presence of Tiger Woods could panic other pros. Now, economist Jennifer Brown has figured out how strong that “Tiger factor” was

iStockphoto/africa924africa924 PHILADELPHIA Severe malnourishment of mothers and their children can cause lifelong growth deficiencies and health problems, warned scientists at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual meeting in Philadelphia on Wednesday. But a lack of nutritious food isn t the only culprit

SAN FRANCISCO -- The United States was battered this year by at least 12 natural disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damages , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday. [More]

On December 13, CERN will release the results of a new data analysis in the search for the Higgs boson. at the LHC. As I was reporting my article, which appeared today , on December 7 I spoke on the phone with Joe Lykken, a Fermilab staff theoretical physicist