Category Archives: Technology, science, and math

Green batteries

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is very cool. In one more step of a global effort to develop greener battery technology, researchers at Rice University say they have found a way to replace a costly metallic component in lithium-ion batteries with material from a … Continue reading →

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Aereo

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Dwight: Aereo, which already has disrupted the television landscape in New York City, is coming soon to Houston and 21 other U.S. markets – but only if it survives legal attempts to kill it. On Tuesday, Aereo CEO Chet … Continue reading →

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Open source textbooks

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a great idea. The words “free” and “college” aren’t often used in the same sentence, but a philanthropic venture at Rice University is drawing attention for bringing them together. OpenStax College, a nonprofit publishing organization founded by a … Continue reading →

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CompSci in the curriculum

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

HISD Trustee Paula Harris coauthors an op-ed in the Chron advocating computer science to be part of the standard school curriculum. While STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education is a hot topic in education circles these days, only math … Continue reading →

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Recreating a Galapagos tortoise?

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

How amazing would this be? Lonesome George, the late reptile prince of the Galapagos Islands, may be dead, but scientists now say he may not be the last giant tortoise of his species after all. Researchers say they may be … Continue reading →

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When will we have truly electronic voting?

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

When will there be an app to cast a vote in a US election? So at a time when we can see video shot by a robot on Mars, when there are cars that can drive themselves, and when we … Continue reading →

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Texting campaign contributions

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I see no reason why this should not be allowed. A Houston-based PAC is asking the Texas Ethics Commission to approve a proposal that would allow the committee to solicit text message contributions from donors in the state. The Federal … Continue reading →

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Driverless cars in Texas

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You have perhaps heard the news that Google’s driverless car has been approved for street usage in California; specifically, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill that requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles to draft regulations for autonomous … Continue reading →

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Electric cars and the power grid

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating. It doesn’t take too long for visitors of Mueller, a 700-acre master-planned community in Austin, to realize that the neighborhood is peculiar. The planned community, built on the site of the former Mueller airport, boasts almost too-perfect rows of homes with cheery … Continue reading →

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Dan Wallach: Energy pricing 2012

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is a guest post that follows up on an earlier guest post. Last year, I wrote a guest article for Off The Kuff where I discussed the complexity of trying to get a good price on your electric bill. … Continue reading →

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Hang up and walk

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We all know that texting and other smartphone tomfoolery while driving is a bad idea. Turns out that texting while walking isn’t so safe, either. On city streets, in suburban parking lots and in shopping centers, there is usually someone … Continue reading →

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Pothole app

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County now has an app for reporting potholes and other problems. Users must download the app and set up a profile. After that, one can take a photo of the problem, point to its spot on the map or … Continue reading →

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Happy birthday, Atari

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The iconic video game company turned forty last week. Although it wasn’t the first company to make video games, Atari was the first to make a lasting impression on an entire generation. At arcades — or at video game bars … Continue reading →

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Environmental drones

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! A drone! One year into a $260,000 two-year grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, [civil engineer Thom] Hardy and his crew of biologists, geographers and spatial analysts have … Continue reading →

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Apps for apes

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This new program at the Houston Zoo sounds great, but we all know how it ends, right? A digital revolution is sweeping the ape house, and now its denizens, formerly preoccupied with classic chimpish activities, are turning their attention to … Continue reading →

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Fighting identity theft

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The U of Texas is studying it. Identity theft is a cradle-to-grave problem that costs U.S. businesses $50 billion and affects at least 10 million consumers each year. At least 1 million children’s identities are stolen over the course of … Continue reading →

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New frontiers in spam

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Text message spam. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to be seen as a major problem. Once the scourge of e-mail providers and the Postal Service, spammers have infiltrated the last refuge of spam-free communication: cellphones. In the United … Continue reading →

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Electric car update

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Texas Green Report. NRG Energy has committed $10 million to launch America’s first privately-financed electric vehicle charging network and plans to fully wire Houston to support electric cars without straining the grid in the next couple of years.  … Continue reading →

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Mobile broadband in Texas

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For your perusal. Almost half of adult Texans, about 8.9 million, use mobile broadband devices — cellphones, laptops or tablets using a cellular network — to keep the Internet a constant companion, according to a survey by Connected Nation, a … Continue reading →

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Homeless Hotspots

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably heard about this by now. If you’re looking for WiFi at the South by Southwest tech conference this week, instead of heading to a cafe or bumming off of a neighbor, you might just ask a homeless person. … Continue reading →

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Pluto stamp petition

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s the least we can do. Two decades ago, the Postal Service issued a series of stamps depicting Earth, its moon, and the spacecraft sent to explore each of the other planets in the solar system. The 10th stamp, featuring … Continue reading →

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Cover that cough

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating. A decade-long study found passengers on certain Metro bus routes were more likely to have tuberculosis, raising the question of whether they contracted the disease on the bus. “We see a higher prevalence of clustering with bus riders,” said … Continue reading →

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The science of fire

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Great story about how scientists have been figuring out what really happens when a building burns, and why so much arson “evidence” is bunk: At laboratories throughout the United States—some large enough to contain a three-story house—researchers have been lighting … Continue reading →

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“How to Choose a Texas Electric Provider the Wrong Way”

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Recently, my friend Dan Wallach wrote a guest post here about how to find the best deal on electricity in Texas. Robert Nagle, another friend of mine, took issue with some of the things Dan wrote and penned a response … Continue reading →

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Can we have some of your rainwater?

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is just crazy enough that you would hope it might work, but it probably can’t. As the soggy East tries to dry out from flooding and Texas prays for rain that doesn’t come, you might ask: Isn’t there some … Continue reading →

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On getting the best deal with variable electric rates

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Note: The following was written by my friend Dan Wallach, who thought I might be interested in sharing it here. He was right. My thanks to Dan for putting this together. Everybody in Houston has the ability to select any … Continue reading →

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Hacking cars

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You can add this to the list of things you didn’t know you needed to worry about. Computer hackers can force some cars to unlock their doors and start their engines without a key by sending specially crafted messages to … Continue reading →

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Wouldn’t it be nice to have solar panels on your roof right now?

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Some people do. More people should. Despite Houston’s sweltering heat, Grady Hill hasn’t paid an electric bill since 2009. He keeps his thermostat set at a comfortable 78 degrees when he’s home, but a combination of solar panels and an … Continue reading →

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We’re running out of helium

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Am I the only one that finds this a little disturbing? Deep beneath the dry, dusty ground outside this Panhandle city lies something lighter than air: helium. But the supply of the gas that inflates balloons, cools MRI machines and … Continue reading →

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SBOE manages to not screw up science supplements

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Baby steps. The quietude of yesterday’s State Board of Education meeting came to a screeching halt during today’s final vote over supplemental science materials. After a unanimous preliminary vote on Thursday, the board appeared split over alleged errors in how … Continue reading →

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Time to vote for the new corpse flower name

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that the Houston Museum of Natural Science has a new corpse flower to go with its star attraction Lois, and they have a contest going on to name the newbie. They’ve narrowed things down to five finalists, … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Space, the final frontier

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In honor of the last flight of the space shuttle, I give you Elton John’s “Rocket Man”, as interpreted by the one and only William Shatner: Of all the Shatnerian performances in the world, I think that one is the … Continue reading →

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Name the new Corpse Flower

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston Museum of Natural Science needs your help. You remember Lois the Corpse Flower, right? Of course you do. Because no one could forget our favorite stinky plant! As it turns out, the fine folks at CultureMap – the … Continue reading →

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Doggy DNA detectives

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I love so many things about this story. Here’s the scoop: Some apartment complexes are using DNA testing on dog doo to find out who’s not cleaning up after their pets. The Timberwood Commons in Lebanon, N.H., opened this year … Continue reading →

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