Matthew Phelan

Matthew is a reporter and former chemical engineer. He’s written crap for The New Republic, InsideClimate News, Jacobin, and Gawker, where he founded their conspiracy vertical Black Bag. It will upset him if Michael Beasley leaves the Knicks.

Entertainment

25 Years Later, 'The X-Files' Is Still TV’s Most Relevant Political Drama

Forget 'The West Wing' or 'The Wire,' the best political education comes from Mulder and Scully.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Making Solar Panels Can Be a Dirty Business

Which companies are responsible? Which aren't? The answers aren't so easy.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Do Solar Panels Work? MIT Puts Dollar Amount on Pollution's Economic Impact

Study finds that dirty solar panels cost Delhi, India $20 million a year.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Think 2018 Will Be the Hottest Year on Record? I'll Bet $78.46 You're Wrong

The data backs me up.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Shapeshifting Material Transforms Under Light and Heat

The new material can even be tuned to specific temperatures and wavelengths of light.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

IBM Patent Plans to Deliver You Coffee Via Drone, After Reading Your Mind

The new barista drones would have biometric sensors and cameras to plum your "cognitive state"

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

4D-Printed Ceramic Materials Could Revolutionize Computing and Aerospace

(Time is the fourth dimension here.)

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

"Most Wear-Resistant Metal Alloy in the World" Developed in New Mexico

It's 100 times more durable than high-strength steel.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

The Lakers' New Practice Facility is Solar-Powered, Photos and Video Show

The team projects that the panels will pay for themselves in four years.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Google Reveals More Images of Its Futuristic Toronto District

But residents seem more concerned with the parts of the plan they can't see.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Weird New Way to Conserve Phone Battery Life Is a Simple and Convenient App

Great news for people who use multi-window mode in Android Nougat

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

A Fleet of Diving Robots Discovered Surprise Carbon Emissions Off Antarctica

Bad news, yes. But bad news found in a really cool new way.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Ending Tax Haven Scams Could Save the Amazon and Restore Depleted Fisheries

Data from the 'Paradise Papers' and the 'Panama Papers' revealed the relationship.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

A.I. Researchers Have an Ingenious New Plan to Save Coral Reefs

It also involves scuba diving with 360-degree cameras, which sounds fun.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Yes Is This Present Sun

Submitted for your approval, a poem about the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Physicists Ignite Beef Over What Happens When You Fall Into a Black Hole

"Some of it's brilliant and wonderful and some of it is crap."

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

The Strange Role of Chemtrails in the Debate About Fixing Climate Change

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley say global-scale geoengineering would likely harm agricultural crops and lower yields. 

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Cryptography May Hold the Key to Preventing a Surveillance Dystopia

Courts demanding private information from tech companies would report their efforts with a cryptographic ledger.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

Meeting the Paris Agreement's Climate Change Goals Requires Loads More Forest

But we also have to grow them in the right places.

ByMatthew Phelan
Science

How Preferential Internet Enables High Speed Facial Recognition for Police

Law enforcement and first responders are getting an exclusive slice of AT&T's high-speed broadband network.

ByMatthew Phelan