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

Is everything information? This seductive idea animates the brand-new book The Information by James Gleick (Pantheon 2011), which I just rave-reviewed in The Wall Street Journal

Looking in the mirror and recognizing oneself was long thought to be an ability reserved for humans. Recently, however, researchers have found that other apes, such as chimpanzees and gorillas, seem to show signs of self-awareness, including recognizing and inspecting themselves in a mirror. Now one group of investigators claims that rhesus macaques have joined this elite group of self-aware animals.

At the end of Casablanca , when Humphrey Bogart finally tells Ingrid Bergman to get on the plane back to her husband, the young mother watching the afternoon TV movie sheds a tear. Instinctively, her two-year-old tries to comfort her by offering his teddy bear to her

The tropical rain band that encircles Earth just north of the equator affects rainfall patterns worldwide. By taking sediment cores from pond and lake beds on tropical islands, scientists can determine where the band has been since A.D

The first indication that our expedition was not going as planned was the abrupt sputter and stop of the boat’s inboard engine at 2 a.m.

By Svetlana Kovalyova and Deepa Babington MILAN/ROME (Reuters) - Climate change bringing floods and drought, growing biofuel demand and national policies to protect domestic markets could drive up global food prices and threaten long-term food security, the United Nations said. [More]

The National Sleep Foundation released the results of its annual sleep poll today, where they surveyed more than 1,500 people between ages of 13 and 64. Here are some of the findings:

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By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - The health risks from toxins such as lead in old paint or asbestos in walls are too often overlooked when homes are upgraded, according to a study on Sunday calling on governments to set tougher pollution rules. [More]

[Please note this podcast episode is longer than 60 seconds.]

Past studies have shown that something called "negative affect" (which is an overall smorgasbord of anger, sadness, fear, irritation, etc.) causes us to inflate the number of physical symptoms we feel. But recent research from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Different branches of science have played famous roles in lots of movies. But one category is often overlooked: sources of energy, even though the plots and turning points of major movies have hinged on just that. How likely is the potential nuclear reactor meltdown in China Syndrome (Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon)

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month, when public health groups take special pains to promote screening for cancer of the rectum and colon. A leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., this disease kills about 50,000 people each year; caught early, however, it has a good chance of being cured.

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It has happened to everyone. You can’t recall a name or you forget your credit card PIN number.