Category Archives: Technology, science, and math

You will eventually need a COVID booster shot

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Just get used to the idea. More than 28 percent of Texans 16 and older are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, having received either one shot of the Johnson & Johnson or two of Moderna or Pfizer. But as scientists … Continue reading →

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No flu

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I would never say that there was any such thing as a silver lining to the COVID pandemic, but it is true that basically nobody died from the flu this year because of masking and social distancing. What medical officials … Continue reading →

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First look at the 2021 hurricane season

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Yeah, it’s getting to be that time of year. From Space City Weather: Good morning. The most reputable hurricane season forecasting service, led by Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University, has released its first outlook for the 2021 Atlantic season. … Continue reading →

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What to expect when you’re fully vaccinated

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The CDC has released some guidance that will help people understand what is safe to do and what precautions they will still need to take once they are fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors … Continue reading →

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Memorial Hermann CEO begs for Abbott to reconsider maskless mandate

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

He won’t listen, but maybe some of the people who would have stopped wearing their masks will. On March 2, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the issuance of a new executive order, which “re-opens” Texas. The new order, which takes effect … Continue reading →

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Let me Google that vaccine locator for you

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good. In the coming weeks, Google will begin implementing a vaccine locator service on its platforms for Texans to use, including appointment details, clinic hours and more. The rollout comes as part of a $150 million plan announced by Google … Continue reading →

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Here comes the vaccine

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Houston’s first doses have arrived. Months of waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine to arrive in Houston are almost — but not quite — over, as hospitals prepare to move the first doses from sealed subzero shipments and into the arms … Continue reading →

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The COVID breathalyzer test

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds promising. Texas A&M researchers and a Dallas artificial intelligence company are developing a rapid COVID-19 test that would use a breathalyzer, rather than a swab, and potentially make it safer to hold large gatherings. The testing device, housed in … Continue reading →

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“COVID-killing machines”

Posted on November 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I like the sound of that. The George R. Brown Convention Center was built to hold Houston’s biggest crowds, but during the pandemic its halls have grown quieter. In reviving the center, Houston First squared off with a problem facing … Continue reading →

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A new way to deliver rural Internet access

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty cool. From his 500-acre spread in Paige, just 50 miles east of Austin, Francisco Artes can send an email, check a website or two and conduct a chat session. But there are some days when streaming video or participating … Continue reading →

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Mutant mosquito update

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Keeping you informed on the news you can really use. Four years ago, the Zika virus became an issue. More than 300 people were infected in Texas. Zika can cause birth defects and fetal neurodevelopmental abnormalities in pregnant women. The … Continue reading →

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Our vaccination rates are down, too

Posted on August 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I wish I had a snappy intro for this, but I just don’t. The summer months are typically the busiest of the year in Dr. Kenya Parks’ office, a steady flow of parents trotting in their little ones to receive … Continue reading →

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We need to understand what we did wrong

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So yeah, we need this. Two of the nation’s most influential experts on the coronavirus pandemic, both based in Texas, are calling for an independent, nonpartisan investigation of the U.S. response to the novel coronavirus. “We must prevent this from … Continue reading →

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The reopening metric we should be heeding

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Twitter: This graph is amazing. It shows that measuring #SARSCoV2 levels in municipal sewage almost perfectly predicts forthcoming #COVID19 cases with a full week’s notice (R=0.994). It’s one of several discoveries in this new study from @Yale: https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.20105999v1.full.pdf. C-19 … Continue reading →

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How about some antibody tests?

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That would be good. After months of emphasis on diagnostic screening, contact tracing and research into possible treatments, Houston is about to deploy a new tool in the effort to contain COVID-19: antibody testing. Baylor College of Medicine researchers last … Continue reading →

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Making a better severe storm warning

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. We’ve all heard them – the blaring alerts that activate our cellphones or television when a severe weather warning is issued. Perhaps our favorite weather app sent us a push notification, or we saw a television meteorologist pointing … Continue reading →

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TxDOT hit with ransomware

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Not great. Texas’ transportation agency has become the second part of the state government to be hit by a ransomware attack in recent days. On Thursday, someone hacked into the Texas Department of Transportation’s network in a “ransomware event,” according … Continue reading →

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Ransomware attack on state court system

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Not great. Websites for the Texas court system were still down Monday after a ransomware attack late last week left the network temporarily disabled, according to the Office of Court Administration. Officials discovered the breach early Friday and quickly shut … Continue reading →

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Are we sure we’re using the right models?

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s check our assumptions before we do anything dumb. A widely followed model for projecting Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. is producing results that have been bouncing up and down like an unpredictable fever, and now epidemiologists are criticizing it … Continue reading →

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Treating COVID-19 patients at nursing homes

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is a huge can of worms. When Larry Edrozo got a phone call from his mother’s nursing home in Texas City telling him she was being treated for the novel coronavirus with an unproven pharmaceutical drug, he had two … Continue reading →

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The digital divide

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Online learning is great, if you can get online. The lack of access to technology among students — commonly referred to as the “digital divide” — has come into sharper focus in recent weeks as school districts across Houston transition … Continue reading →

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We are doing a good job of keeping our distance

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what our phone say, anyway. Harris County residents are doing a good job keeping their distance, according to location data culled from smartphones, earning an “A” on a nationwide scoreboard. The Social Distancing Scoreboard is a creation of Unacast, … Continue reading →

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Preserving Texas’ film history

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Cool story. Click play on the grainy, black-and-white image titled simply “Houston Time Service” on the website of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image and you’re treated to a 110-second Houston love story. The film, from the 1940s, is … Continue reading →

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Calendar reform

Posted on March 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this is an interesting idea. Feb. 29ths, like the one tacked to the end of [last] month, exist because Earth’s orbit and human calendars are slightly out of sync. The planet completes its 584-million-mile loop around the sun in … Continue reading →

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The robot nurse

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We are living in the future, for better and for worse. https://www.instagram.com/p/B01H56Fn8_0/ A friendly one-armed, bright-eyed robot is roving the hallways of Medical City Dallas’ Heart and Spine hospitals, helping nurses with routine tasks that previously took time away from … Continue reading →

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How Nuro is mapping Houston

Posted on January 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Really interesting story. On the muggy streets of suburban Houston, amid McMansions, bright green lawns and stately oak trees, a futuristic race is quietly afoot. The contestants are not people but late-model Toyota Priuses outfitted with an array of sophisticated … Continue reading →

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“Coordinated cyberattack” on several Texas cities

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That doesn’t sound good. Twenty-three Texas towns have been struck by a “coordinated” ransomware attack, according to the state’s Department of Information Resources. Ransomware is a type of malicious software, often delivered via email, that locks up an organization’s systems … Continue reading →

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Big Bend yields a new dinosaur species

Posted on July 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Cool. A new, more primitive species of dinosaur was discovered at Big Bend National Park this week. The fossil of the new specials, Aquilarhinus palimentus, was unearthed in the 1980s by Texas Tech University Professor Tom Lehman. But because the … Continue reading →

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Perspective on the anti-vaxx situation

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe it’s not as bad as we think. It’s certainly true that pockets of vaccine refusal persist in this country, as they have for many years. If those pockets are now experiencing greater numbers of measles cases, it may be … Continue reading →

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Do we still want to go to Mars?

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hot take: I dunno. Before the U.S. put the first man on the moon, before the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, people thought aliens lived on Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor. The belief sparked fear in some — and outright … Continue reading →

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Bankrolling the anti-vaxxers

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This is why we can’t have nice things. A wealthy Manhattan couple has emerged as significant financiers of the anti-vaccine movement, contributing more than $3 million in recent years to groups that stoke fears about immunizations online and at live … Continue reading →

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New fronts in the war on mosquitoes

Posted on June 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Science marches on. In the center of Anita Schiller’s dragonfly-ring-clad hand, a dragonfly nymph is scooting around. The dedicated naturalist and entomologist is explaining how the insect (which is a water-dwelling dragonfly with gills before it grows wings) expels water … Continue reading →

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Our measles risk

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Do I spend too much time worrying about stuff like this, or do I not spend enough time on it? Harris County is one of the nation’s most vulnerable counties to a measles outbreak, according to a new study based … Continue reading →

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The “Texas Serengeti”

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

How cool is this? During the Great Depression, some unemployed Texans were put to work as fossil hunters. The workers retrieved tens of thousands of specimens that have been studied in small bits and pieces while stored in the state … Continue reading →

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