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

When it comes to radical energy solutions , an extreme long shot is a nuclear power scheme that would combine fusion and fission. Existing nuclear plants all run on fission, the splitting of heavy nuclei such as uranium, to produce power--not to mention tons of hazardous waste

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By Edwin Cartlidge of Nature magazine Now that's precision measurement: the electron is a perfect sphere, give or take barely one part in a million billion. The result comes from the latest in a long line of experiments to probe the shape of the fundamental particle that carries electrical charge. [More]

What should you do when you hear a tornado warning and have only minutes to act? Our friends at AccuWeather.com have produced this short (1:15) video explaining common misconceptions. [More]

While the search for survivors of the nightmarish Joplin, Mo., tornado is still far from over, AccuWeather.com meteorologists are forecasting that another round of deadly storms is about to occur today. As of Tuesday afternoon, the death toll had already raised to 118, ranking the event among the top 10 deadliest U.S. tornadoes of all time.

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. seafood fraud -- where farmed, imported or endangered fish is sold as wild, local and sustainably-managed -- is hurting efforts to preserve ocean diversity, conservation advocates said on Wednesday. [More]

The search for ways to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease has been stymied in part by difficulties in reliably delivering therapeutics into the brain to prevent proteins there from depositing fibrous plaques that damage synapses and ultimately wreck one's cognitive abilities. Researchers have experimented with antibodies, peptides and even nanoparticles to find some way of effectively preventing plaque formation but these efforts have yet to yield an anti-Alzheimer's drug.

The human enterprise now consumes nearly 60 billion metric tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and plant materials, such as crop plants and trees for timber or paper.

Deployment of smart grid technology from U.S. utility control centers and power networks to consumers' homes could cost between $338 billion and $476 billion over the next 20 years, but will deliver $1.3 trillion to $2 trillion in benefits over that period. The benefits will include greater grid reliability, integration of solar rooftop generation and plug-in vehicles, reductions in electricity demand, and stronger cybersecurity, according to a new study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

A jumping cockroach.

Dear EarthTalk : What is “tar sands oil” and what is the controversy over possibly building a pipeline for it from Canada into the United States?-- Bill Berkley, Omaha, Neb.

Today we saw land for the first time in days! Everyone was on deck together, untying the lines, taking photos and waving to the crew aboard a container ship that was docked in the marina. Stepping on land was wonderful, although I still feel like I’m swaying back and forth.

To what degree these and other differences originate in biology must be determined by research, not fatwa.

Editor's Note: The following blog post first appeared May 19 on the World Science Festival's Web site. Most people look for the key to postponing old age in mega-antioxidant-loaded juices, extreme exercise regimens, or expensive skin creams

Editor's note: This editorial was written and published in 1911. Although our editors of a century ago pondered some lofty aspirations for the orderly future of humans, it was only three decades later that the brutal reality of a Nazi social order suffused with a eugenicist ideal brought home the practical shortcomings of the philosophy. The Science of Breeding Better Men [More]