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

Fifty years ago, in the same farewell speech in which he warned about the "unwarranted influence" of the "military-industrial complex" on American politics, President Dwight Eisenhower also deplored the growing dependence of scientists on federal funding. "The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by federal employment, project allocations and the power of money is ever present--and is gravely to be regarded." Eisenhower's speech comes to mind as I gravely regard the latest example of the militarization of science, a $125 million collaboration between psychologists and the U.S. Army called "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness," or CSF

MINNEAPOLIS--It’s a great irony of paleoanthropology that for all the insights scientists have been able to glean from the fossil record about our early ancestors, the australopithecines (Lucy and her kin), they have precious little to document the origin of our own genus, Homo. They know that Homo descended from one of those australopithecine species, and that over the course of that transition our ancestors evolved from chimp-size creatures with short legs and small brains into tall humans with long legs and large brains, among other hallmark traits

Keeping the brain active and engaged appears to combat the cognitive decline associated with getting older. Now a study has found a new, but related, factor in maintaining a sharp mind--the space in which we live.

Portions of the Arctic coast are eroding by more than 26 feet per year, a problem that is likely to worsen as climate change intensifies, according to a new study. [More]

By Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW (Reuters) - A tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant might give some countries pause over the risks of exposing reactors to the power of the oceans. Not Russia.

By Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW (Reuters) - A tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant might give some countries pause over the risks of exposing reactors to the power of the oceans.

How funnels form, what drives tornado activity, and what scientists are doing to better understand them--our collection of articles, video and podcasts explain the basics [More]

If you look at a map of the world and draw a line through London, a latitude of about 50 degrees North and follow this line across the world, you'll see that it passes through southern Siberia and skims the southern shores of Hudson Bay in Canada. The week before I came out to the Catlin Arctic Survey Ice Base, the temperature in Hudson Bay was lurking between -20

Bacteria and archaea--collectively known as prokaryotes--live pretty much everywhere, dividing happily in places from stomach acid to deep-sea vents. They can thrive in so many different places because their genomes are incredibly flexible: they can alter, lose and duplicate genes almost at will

Neutrino beams might create such enigmas, but dare we risk making anything so unpredictable? In "Too Hard for Science?" I interview scientists about ideas they would love to explore that they don't think could be investigated

By Alex Leff PUNTARENAS, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Scientists set off from Costa Rica on Sunday to drill a hole deep under the sea and directly extract rocks from record depths that could add to the understanding of climate change. [More]

By Alex Leff PUNTARENAS, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Scientists set off from Costa Rica on Sunday to drill a hole deep under the sea and directly extract rocks from record depths that could add to the understanding of climate change. [More]

I've tried it all: caulking cracks, blowing in insulation, replacing drafty windows and--I'm especially proud of this one--installing a mail-slot cover so airtight it could be used in a space shuttle docking module . Yet my home heating bill remains an object of fear and loathing

The traditional view of proteins is that, right after being synthesized, they must fold into a unique shape to function properly. Unstructured proteins, according to biological orthodoxy, are pathological

Legislation on California state Sen. Mark Leno's desk has the potential to affect every household in the U.S.