Category Archives: Technology, science, and math

Who wants to go to Mars?

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I imagine that sounds like a pretty good option to a lot of people right about now. Wealthy business leaders like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are creating buzz around and making progress toward the exploration of deep space, experts … Continue reading →

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As long as we’re talking about improving our voting machines

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Then this is what we should be talking about. [Travis] County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir called Rice University computer science professor Dan Wallach, who has been poking holes in voting-machine security for years. He’s testified before Congress on the subject. Now … Continue reading →

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Texas versus the feds: A Series Of Tubes edition

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ken Paxton will never run out of reasons to sue the Obama administration. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is jumping into Ted Cruz’s fight to stop what the U.S. senator calls President Barack Obama’s illegal internet “giveaway.” Paxton and three … Continue reading →

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Rice prof wins MacArthur grant

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome! Babies were dying in the Malawi hospital and there was little Rebecca Richards-Kortum could do about it. For Richards-Kortum, a bioengineering professor at Rice University, it was a heartbreaking realization, one that haunted her as she toured the modest … Continue reading →

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Too many kids are not getting vaccinated

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We let this happen, thanks to the fervor of a vocal minority. The number of Texans who exempt their children from vaccination for non-medical reasons rose nearly 9 percent last school year, continuing a now 12-year-long trend that public health … Continue reading →

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Want to know how close you live to a polluter?

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s an app for that. More than two million Texans live within a half-mile of an oil and gas facility, putting them at risk of exposure to toxic fumes, according to a new app released Wednesday by national environmental groups. … Continue reading →

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If we can’t ban it, we’ll BS about it

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The “it” in question is of course abortion, with the state of Texas lying to women about its effects and risks. Death and infertility were just two of the risks a doctor described to Kryston Skinner when she chose to … Continue reading →

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Another bad year for Kemp’s ridley turtles

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This does not look good. The nesting season for the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is ending with zero nests found on either Galveston Island or the Bolivar Peninsula for the first time in at least a decade, although the … Continue reading →

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First baby affected by Zika born in Texas

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Won’t be the last, unfortunately. A baby boy born with microcephaly in Harris County is the first Zika-affected infant in Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced Wednesday. The baby’s mother contracted Zika in Colombia, and the baby … Continue reading →

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Building a better mosquito trap

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I love this story. Harris County officials are teaming up with tech-giant Microsoft to find and research mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus or other mosquito-borne diseases, the county public health department said Tuesday. As part of “Project Premonition,” … Continue reading →

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Our bioscience future

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Looking bright. Biotechnology continues to grow in Texas, contributing to the state’s overall economy by adding jobs, making strides in research and innovation and last year attracting $1 billion in federal funding for research, a new report on business development … Continue reading →

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Remembering Buckyballs and the Nobel Prize they won

Posted on May 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Twenty years ago, two Rice University chemists won the Nobel Prize for a revolutionary idea about carbon molecules. The discovery of Buckyballs, a new form of carbon that ushered in the era of nanotechnology and won a Nobel Prize, happened … Continue reading →

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Use of abortion pill rises

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Until the Lege reconvenes, anyway. There’s been a sharp increase in the number of Texas women who are using the abortion pill to end their pregnancies now that federal officials have eased restrictions on the drug, according to officials at … Continue reading →

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Here come the drones

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Look! Up in the sky! Companies in Austin and Addison on Wednesday became the first two firms to become officially credentialed to operate unmanned aircraft systems under a new training and safety program that officials said promises to boost Texas’ … Continue reading →

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Anti-vaxxers gain ground in Texas

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a lesson in here that we need to learn. On a Friday night little over a year ago, a Texas mother of three was attending a school dance when she got a text message that stopped her cold. A … Continue reading →

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Find those leaks

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t care how. A pair of state and federal government inspectors spent two weeks traveling around northern Colorado’s oil and gas fields in early 2012, filming with an infrared camera. Air pollution was rising in the region, and attention … Continue reading →

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Dan Wallach: 2016 Electric Power Usage Update

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Note: From time to time, I solicit guest posts from various individuals on different topics. While I like to think I know a little something about a lot of things, I’m fortunate to be acquainted with a number of people … Continue reading →

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Fighting pertussis

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope these folks can make a lot of progress in their work. Of the more than 30,000 children hospitalized with pertussis in the United States each year, 10 to 20 will die. Worldwide, pertussis infects more than 16 million … Continue reading →

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An app to help the homeless

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This is a great idea. A shower. A meal. A place to sleep. Those basic needs come to mind when most think of the homeless. Our Calling, a Dallas nonprofit, has given the homeless an iPhone app. The faith-based nonprofit … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler, part 3

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

A story in the WaPo about the ongoing struggles of the recycling business. Once a profitable business for cities and private employers alike, recycling in recent years has become a money-sucking enterprise. The District, Baltimore and many counties in between … Continue reading →

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Ambulances and ERs

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting story about the overuse of ambulances in Houston and how the city is trying to deal with it. But in truth little works in a system that has been broken for years. Over the past generation, patients began … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler, part 2

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

As if they didn’t have enough to deal with. As low commodity prices have left recyclers short on cash to invest in technological upgrades, product manufacturers are coming out with new types of packaging that make business even tougher. These … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Whole lot of not so good in there. When Waste Management bought the plant in 2010 and converted it to handle single-bin recycling, commodity prices were high, the city was on board and Houstonians were eager to recycle. As the … Continue reading →

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Dan Wallach: 2015 Electric Power Usage Update

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Note: From time to time, I solicit guest posts from various individuals on different topics. While I like to think I know a little something about a lot of things, I’m fortunate to be acquainted with a number of people … Continue reading →

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Get out of solar’s way

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Keep an eye on this. “Hawaii is a postcard from the future,” said Adam Browning, executive director of Vote Solar, a policy and advocacy group based in California. Other states and countries, including California, Arizona, Japan and Germany, are struggling … Continue reading →

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A better year for seaweed

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for Galveston beachgoers. In a lucky break for Galveston beachgoers and the Gulf Coast’s tourism industry, the masses of seaweed that plagued the area last summer seem to be turning toward the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The … Continue reading →

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Diabetes

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

What happens when you expand access to health care in America? More people with previously undiagnosed illnesses can get the diagnosis and treatment that they need. Putting off visits to the doctor because you don’t have insurance is common, says … Continue reading →

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Happy Pi Day!

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

How are you celebrating this once in a century event? Chances are that unless you teach math, the last time you thought about the number pi was about the same time you stopped crushing on the hot guy in AP … Continue reading →

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How to deal with anti-vaxxers

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a big problem. Certain that they are right, struggling to find ways to get their message across, public health officials are exasperated by their inability to convince more U.S. parents to vaccinate their children. “I think we’re all kind … Continue reading →

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Measles

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We haven’t had an outbreak in Texas. Yet. Measles has replaced Ebola as the infectious disease threat of the moment, but the only recent case in Texas occurred in Fort Worth in mid-January and was unrelated to the current outbreak … Continue reading →

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Bitcoin art

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I confess, I kind of love this. Bitcoin can be a work of art – literally. Troy Fearnow, a resident of The Woodlands, is selling images designed to “store” bitcoin and other digital currencies, which are like digital cash. His … Continue reading →

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Houston gets a Bitcoin ATM

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Just what you were waiting for, I’m sure. Houston unveiled its first bitcoin ATM on Wednesday, hoping to attract international travelers and more conventions to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Bitcoin is like digital cash. And this ATM, on … Continue reading →

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Please get a flu shot

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s always a good idea, even if it’s more effective in some years than in others. The flu vaccine may not be very effective this winter, according to U.S. health officials who worry this may lead to more serious illnesses … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against Comcast over residential WiFi hotspots

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Two San Francisco-area residents are suing Comcast for plugging their home’s wireless router into what they call a power-wasting, Internet-clogging, privacy threatening network of public WiFi hot spots. The class-action lawsuit, filed last week in … Continue reading →

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