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

Creating a social network is so last week. Today, American Express is unveiling a social media platform

Look at yourself in your bathroom mirror. [More]

What is the hottest problem in fundamental physics today? Physics aficionados most probably would answer: quantum gravity

Imagine a dark haired little girl of not quite four years old, playing outside in a cotton dress in the warm dusk of July 30, 1969 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

%excerpt% See the article here: Inc. 5000 Applicant of the Week: SpaceWorks Enterprises

I can't even recall a time that I wasn't cognisant of the fact that I lived in a country that actively pioneered space exploration. I remember sitting on wicker hassock in my Dad's study, as a child and asking lots of questions. Dad would light his pipe, lean back in his big red chair, blow circular smoke rings and try his best to answer them.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER-- Atlantis lifted off Friday at 11:29 A.M. Eastern time after a last-moment hold at 31 seconds on its 33rd and final mission--both for it and NASA's 30-year-old manned space shuttle program, putting on hiatus the era of human access to low Earth orbit on board U.S. spacecraft.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER--4:14 A.M.

Atlantis Launch Notes: July 7, 6:00 P.M.

There is a certain sense of unreality as I sit this morning at the Kennedy Space Center press site, with Atlantis on the launch pad just over three miles away awaiting its last mission (STS 135), NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver finishing a briefing on NASA's ambitious plans for the future, a hundred enthusiastic young people from all over the country gathered for a "Tweetup" to communicate their impressions of being at a launch--while in Washington, D.C., the House Appropriations Committee apparently is intending today to cut almost $2 billion from NASA's budget. There is a remarkable disconnect between the excitement surrounding the last shuttle launch, set to lift-off Friday, and the pervasive and merited anxiety about NASA's future that is almost the first thing out of the mouths of any of the space veterans I have encountered in the past 24 hours. I commented to a reporter earlier today that the current level of uncertainty about the future of the NASA program is the greatest that I have seen in 45 years of close observation of the U.S.

By Richard A. [More]

Atlantis Launch Notes: July 7, 9:00 A.M. KENNEDY SPACE CENTER--As of now, NASA's final space shuttle launch is still on for Friday at 11:26 A.M. Eastern time, but a gathering storm bearing down on Florida's Space Coast remains a major concern.

NASA's shuttle program, set to make its final flight later this week, has resulted in the death of 14 astronauts. But it could have been a lot worse.

Screw austerity: The E.U.'s science spending, which is running at about US$79 billion for the current 2007-2013 period, is getting a boost to $114 billion for 2014-2020. The E.U.'s proposal recognizes that only by spending money on innovation and future tech can income growth be assured.

Toyota is charging ahead with three new plug-in EVs for 2012. Other automakers are being more cautious, but remember: Toyota got the Prius to sell when no one was excited about hybrids