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

The fact that first graders grow crystals for science projects might lead you to think that physicists know how these snazzy shapes form and unform. Alas, there is still a big blank spot in physics textbooks where the theory of crystal melting should be.

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - A planned building in Norway will be at the most northern location so far to generate more energy than it uses, demonstrating that "green" buildings can work anywhere, its backers said on Friday. A group including Norwegian aluminum maker Norsk Hydro and Swedish construction group Skanska said it would construct the six-to-seven-story building in Trondheim, with offices and shops covering up to 9,000 sq meters (96,880 sq ft). [More]

Why do memories of vivid dreams disappear soon after waking up?

By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Wildlife advocates are protesting a government plan to kill an undetermined number of bison from Yellowstone National Park after scientists conduct a birth-control experiment on the animals with an EPA-registered pesticide. [More]

For years, a friend I'll call Chip, knowing my obsession with war, has been telling me: "Cyber War! That's what you should be writing about! Real war is pass

Among Giants: A Life with Whales by Charles “Flip” Nicklin, with Karen M. Kostyal. University of Chicago Press, 2011 [More]

This lacelike pattern is made from a hard substance that has turned as fragile as fabric.

By Yoko Kubota TOKYO (Reuters) - The operator of the stricken Japanese nuclear power plant said on Friday that more radioactive water could begin spilling into the sea later this month if there is a glitch in setting up a new decontamination system. [More]

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By Edwin Cartlidge of Nature magazine An international group of physicists has found a way of measuring both the position and the momentum of photons passing through the double-slit experiment, upending the idea that it is impossible to measure both properties in the lab at the same time. In the classic double-slit experiment, first done more than 200 years ago, light waves passing through two parallel slits create a characteristic pattern of light and dark patches on a screen positioned behind the slits.

We all know how to get to Carnegie Hall: practice. The same holds true for a range of goals--from improving a golf swing to giving a good presentation.

For all we understand about the universe, 96 percent of what’s out there still has scientists in the dark. Astronomical observations have established that familiar matter--atoms--accounts for only 4 percent of the weight of the cosmos.

Citizen scientists observe and record data to census the world's shrinking amphibian population in the name of science and conservation [More]

The E. coli outbreak that started in Germany is getting bigger and a lot scarier.

In a point mutation, a single letter of the genetic code changes to another letter. When a protein gets made from that new code, it’ll be slightly different from usual. But new research finds that it may be fairly common for multiple mutations to happen in DNA simultaneously