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

So goes popular opinion: the lottery s an egregious societal evil implemented and overseen by shape-shifting, blood-drinking reptilian aliens. And that may be largely true designed to slowly and quietly bleed dry your pockets that is, unless you learn to drive it

Dark matter. It’s hard to see, it’s hard to study and it just won’t behave. There’s plenty dark matter around

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease--the immune system mistakenly attacks its own body, causing red, itchy, scaly patches on the skin. But there may be a hidden upside.

Knee replacement image courtesy of iStockphoto/33karen33 As the U.S. population ages and continues packing on the pounds, knee replacement surgeries are becoming increasingly common

City-slickers: Have you ever worried that, at any moment, you could be struck dead by a penny flung off the roof of a nearby skyscraper? [More]

In a new experiment, Iceland is looking to replace its smokestacks with well injectors to permanently sequester its carbon dioxide emissions. [More]

When Deidre Ramos moved with her infant son to the Parker Street section of New Bedford, Mass., little did she know that her new neighborhood was toxic. [More]

By Katherine Rowland of Nature magazine As plumes of pollution rise over the booming industrial towns of Asia, satellite data could help to alert people in other regions to the approach of drifting smog.

Japan still struggles with the effects of powerful earthquake, devastating tsunami and multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant [More]

The Bronx Zoo Monkey House. | Photo by Geoff Stearns, Creative Commons

A picture of a hydra, from the Encyclopedia of Life Upon first glance, hydra seem like remarkably simple creatures. The basic description of a hydra would be a tube closed at one end with tentacles surrounding a mouth on the other, made of fragile tissue that can be as slim as two cells thick.

A popular school of thought, dramatized in the recent TV drama Lie to Me , is that a careful study of facial expressions--especially eye movements--tells investigators if a perp is dissembling. Reality is neither as dramatic nor as decisive. Even experienced investigators average only about a 65 percent success rate, according to researchers.

Three books suggest ways to improve your life.

You are covered with fungus right now. But wouldn't it be cooler if you did it on purpose

Anyone who has ever devoured a triple-chocolate brownie after an intense workout knows how tempting it can be to indulge after behaving virtuously.