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

The Kepler spacecraft has hit an unexpected obstacle as it patiently watches the heavens for exoplanets: too many rowdy young stars. The orbiting probe detects small dips in the brightness of a star that occur when a planet crosses its face. But an analysis of some 2,500 of the tens of thousands of Sun-like stars detected in Kepler's field of view has found that the stars themselves flicker more than predicted, with the largest number varying twice as much as the Sun

Being smart is the most expensive thing we do. Not in terms of money, but in a currency that is vital to all living things: energy

New photos of several Apollo moon landing sites were released today (Sept. 6), showing extraordinary new details about three areas on the lunar surface that were visited by humans. The images include the sharpest views yet of tracks left by the astronauts and their lunar rovers

The attacks on September 11, 2001, profoundly influenced the direction of science and technology. What's been learned since those events, and how they have shaped our lives [More]

Help marine biologists track the movement and location of jellyfish and other unusual marine life [More]

Labor Day’s over, and Americans fortunate enough to have jobs are getting back to work. But all work and no play might make us, well, less productive. That’s the finding of a study that looked at the effects of an employee exercise program in which workers worked out during office hours.

From London to the Middle East riots have shaken political stability.

No geoengineering methods are ready for use to combat climate change, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released late last month, citing concerns about cost, effectiveness and adverse consequences. "Climate engineering technologies do not now offer a viable response to global climate change," GAO said in the report commissioned by former House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.)

* Biggest fire southeast of Austin, completely uncontained * Hundreds evacuated to shelters in churches and schools [More]

Confidence in ourselves and in our skills allows us to push our limits, achieve more than we otherwise would, try even in those borderline cases where a less confident person would bow out. [More]

Men may wage wars in part to spread their seed. [More]

For most Americans, as the nation's thoughts turn to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, memories of that day readily come flooding back. People can remember with great clarity what they were doing or to whom they were speaking when they learned of the crisis--whether via a sister's phone call or a first-hand glimpse of the World Trade Center on fire. [More]

The Advances section of Scientific American 's September issue reports on a vaccine against nicotine addiction, a new x-ray technique inspired by large particle accelerators, how the brains of city folk may differ from their country cousins', and more. For those interested in learning more about the developments described in this section, a list of selected further reading follows

As any smoker can tell you, quitting is relatively easy.

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