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

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By Geoff Brumfiel of Nature magazine In the era of WikiLeaks and Twitter, can anyone keep a secret? Governments have learned that, all too often, the answer is no. [More]

If you’ve been near a garden lately, chances are your nose has picked up on the unmistakable scent of the roses in full-bloom in many places right now. The sight of the rose certainly holds a great amount of symbolic meaning in cultures throughout the world, though it can be argued that smell is even more important. According to an article on the "attar" or fragrant oils of the rose in the May 1921 Scientific American Supplement , “Supreme among the charms of the rose is its exquisite and haunting fragrance, a fragrance at once delicate and powerful…Small wonder that the ancients felt the perfume to be the soul of the rose…” [More]

By Eugenie Samuel Reich of Nature magazine An epic victory over daunting challenges, or a costly project that should never have flown? After nearly half a century of work and US$750 million spent, Gravity Probe B, one of NASA's longest-running mission programs, has finally achieved some scientific closure. [More]

UNITED NATIONS -- The world's leading climate change research organization issued a report yesterday that has renewable energy boosters cheering, as it foresees substantial growth in alternative energy sources over the next 40 years.

I've already been nicknamed Jeffery. Now, Jeffery, I should mention, is the ship's jack-of-all-trades.

A new set of $100,000 grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding a range of mobile phone applications in an effort to improve global health. The latest projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation could turn smartphones into superphones that are part doctor, part secretary, part Orkin man. The Gates' Grand Challenges Exploration has previously given $100,000 grants to early-stage research focused on urgent health problems and come up with some amazing ideas for treatment .

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Countries using nuclear energy must ensure their reactors are built to withstand multiple disasters after Japan's accident revealed gaps in safety standards, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday. [More]

Saying goodbye to friends is always hard, especially when we have spent seven of the most grueling weeks of our lives together. After so long away I had begun to think that my sojourn on the ice was endless, however the final week rolled around surprisingly quickly.

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile gave the green light on Monday to the divisive $3.5 billion HidroAysen hydro-power dam project that promises to ease energy squeezes, despite objections that it will ruin pristine Patagonian valleys.

By Shinichi Saoshiro KAWAUCHI, May 10 (Reuters) - Residents of a Japanese village [More]

It is hard to court the opposite sex when you are cemented in place, which explains why polyps--the tiny creatures whose exoskeletons form corals--do not reproduce by mating. Instead they cast millions of sperm and eggs into the sea, where they drift up to the ocean surface, collide, form larvae and float away to form new coral reefs

Find a breast cancer tumor when it is tiny, and a woman will probably beat the disease. Find that same malignancy when it is larger or has spread to other organs, and she is far more likely to die, even after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Key concepts Density [More]

Drilling for natural gas is booming in Pennsylvania--thanks to fracturing shale rock with a water and chemical cocktail paired with the ability to drill in any direction. Despite homeowner complaints, however, research on how such hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is impacting local water wells has not kept pace. Now a new study that sampled water from 60 such wells has found evidence for natural gas–contamination in those within a kilometer of a new natural gas well.