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

Editor's note: This article appears in print with the title "In Search of the Black Swan." Half a world away from Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, deep in the pine forests of Georgia, hundreds of workers are prepping the ground for an American nuclear renaissance they still believe is on the way. Bulldozers rumble across sunken plateaus of fresh, hard-packed backfill that covers miles of recently buried piping and storm drains.

Instead of finding ways for our track-tethered trains to go faster, we could just eliminate the track altogether. Friction--it's a real bother, especially for trains.

The Russian federal space agency has revealed that on April 15th, the U.S. and Russia will meet to discuss the development of a future joint nuclear-engine powered rocket project. The announcement was made by agency director Anatoly Perminov, and the joint project will also include other nations with a "high level of reactor manufacturing technology." This list could include France, Britain, Germany, China, and Japan

Last year, Belgian outdoor furniture firm Royal Botania introduced its two-person Wave lounger (starting at $26,600). Designed by Erik Nyberg and Gustav Str

Plans to build the nation's first tsunami-resistant building are unfolding in Cannon Beach, Ore., in a region that is almost identical, seismically, to the subduction zone that triggered the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last week.

This post is a slightly edited version of my December 29, 2004, post written in reaction to media reports about a "sixth sense" in animals, that supposedly allows them to avoid a tsunami by climbing to higher ground.

It took space shuttle Discovery several months to get off the ground on its final mission, but the shuttle's landing came off without a hitch. Discovery touched down on schedule, just before noon March 9, putting an end to its 26 years of service, in which the orbiter made 39 trips to space and logged more than 230 million kilometers. [More]

Higher GroundWhile BMW cognoscenti worship at the Alpina altar, the luxury-sedan rank and file remain oblivious to Wunderautos wrought by BMW’s partner—which is as it should be, because there are not enough B7s to go around. The engineers and craftsmen at Alpina have taken everything good about the BMW 750 ...