Subject: Science and Technology

• I Want My MP3

  June 21, 2007

• Shuttle Cock

  July 5, 2007

• The Return of Magic iPod

  July 27, 2007

• It’s Getting Hot in Here: The Kyoto Protocol, Ten Years Later

  December 3, 2007

• Deceased Inmate's Mother Files Suit Against Harris County and Taser International

  January 18, 2008

• Twitter This

  April 28, 2008

• Facebook Responds to the Texas Attorney General's Office

  May 13, 2008

• A Blast From Calexico's Past Blasts Into Space

  June 11, 2008

• Wind Power to the Rescue

  July 17, 2008

• Enron's Lou Pai Gets Into Cow Farts

  August 7, 2008

• Do Astronauts Hate NASA's New Moon Rocket?

  August 8, 2008

• The Electric Car Is Alive And Kinda Well In Houston

  August 22, 2008

• Facebook Lawsuit Has A Houston Connection

  September 30, 2008

• Take Our Shuttle Quiz And See If You're A Space Expert

  NASA is back in space, via a dramatic nighttime launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. The mission will expand and repair the International Space Station, and exchange out crew members. NASA has largely dropped from public consciousness -- at least until the "Mars, Bitches!!" program begins -- but we here in Houston take space seriously. Or do we? Take the quiz and see if you do. 1. Part of Endeavour's mission will be to install a system that will provide future ISS visitors with a cool,

  November 17, 2008

• Wal-Mart Turns To Wind Power, A Little

  Wal-Mart is going green in Texas! And we don't just mean the dollars you save every day!! Actually, the company is kinda making a bold move of sorts, teaming up with Duke Energy to get wind power for several of its Texas stores. The two companies announced today that beginning in April, Duke will provide wind energy from its windfarms in west and central Texas directly to Wal-Mart; about 15 percent of the retailer's 360 stores and other facilities here will be linked up at first. "This pa

  November 20, 2008

• Real Astronauts Don't Drink Pee

  Everyone is breathlessly following the latest space mission to see if astronauts will one day successfully be able to drink urine (NASA -- the kinkiest space agency evah!!)It's a bit of a comedown from the moon days.As it turns out, at this time in 1969 NASA was just getting ready to launch Apollo 12 -- which, sandwiched between the adrenaline-filled missions of Apollo 11 and 13, may just be the least remembered space mission of all time (Unless you count Apollos 14-17, inclusive).There won't be

  November 25, 2008

• UH Prof May Have Created The Self-Charging Cell Phone

  One day, maybe soon, you'll charge your cell phone just by walking around with it -- thanks to a UH professor.Pradeep Sharma and an A&M professor named Tahir Cagin think they've solved a problem that's long vexed researchers. It involves a lot of mumbo-jumbo of the sort that scientists like to use, but essentially, through the wonders of nano-technology, the pair have greatly increased the efficiency of a gizmo that generates electricity through movement.Sharma tells Hair Balls you will be r

  December 2, 2008

• Tweating Out

  Twitter, the microblogging and social media tool that's become increasingly popular among the technologically hip, both young and old, has literally thousands of applications.  How any one person (or company) uses Twitter is unique unto them.While some people (also called Twitterers or Tweeple) use Twitter to keep in touch with friends or to share useful information, others use it as a business tool or marketing platform.  Still others use it primarily for networking.  Foodies,

  January 6, 2009

• Evolution Vs. Science, The Deathmatch: Part 2

  We're semi-liveblogging the Scopes Monkey Trial of the 21st Century -- today's meeting of the State Board of Education, which is discussing science standards. Here's the first report and here's the second:Board member Ken Mercer of San Antonio, who has a really hard time following the "board members may not comment, only ask questions" rule, is obsessed with the difference between micro and macroevolution. He has pretty much asked every person who's testified whether they understand the differen

  January 21, 2009

• What This Area Needs Is A Good Nanotechnology Center

  David Goswick is thinking small -- very, very small. No, even smaller than that. Goswick, the head of Historic Real Estate, wants to build the Nano World Headquarters right here in River City, ah, ... we mean Houston. The idea behind the Headquarters is that Houston (well, at least the Sam Houston Tollway and Highway 288 area) will become a Mecca for nanoscientists from all over the world, Goswick tells Hair Balls. They'll come here to use some of the shared equipment that none of them could aff

  February 2, 2009

• Environment Texas Wants More Solar Power (Big Surprise)

  Environment Texas held a press conference today in front of the Mirabeau B. Sales Center at the corner of Waugh and Hyde Park to, excuse the pun, shed light on the positives of solar energy, specifically in terms of promoting "green" collar job growth in the solar power industry and reducing energy costs in Texas. "Texas is somewhat behind, quite frankly," said Ralph Parrott, founder and owner of Alternative Power Solutions in Houston. He admits that Texas needs to give the same level of ince

  February 3, 2009

• Follow Friday for Foodies

  The group collective on Twitter, the increasingly popular micro-blogging and social networking platform, has developed a recent tradition called Follow Friday.  Follow Friday is part circle jerk, part honest and helpful advice from your Twitter friends on who to follow if you're new or simply looking to expand your circle of friends and acquaintances.  Every Friday, those who participate in the weekly routine send out a Tweet or two with suggestions of influential, interestin

  February 13, 2009

• See Yourself On TV From Space!

  Photo courtesy NASAHere's something neat from NASA that will let you while away your cubicle hours waiting for the corporate ax to fall: live shots of Earth from the space station.The International Space Station will be streaming live video from external cameras seven days a week at this website. The video will be shown mostly when the astronauts are asleep, from 1 pm to 1 am central time (WE PAY THEM TO SLEEP TWELVE HOURS A DAY??!!! Or maybe they sleep in shifts.)When it's not streaming video,

  March 10, 2009

• The Search For A Lonely Houston Web Phenom

  This is the story of an overweight, lonely, possibly lesbian, cheating, married, Christian and, at the moment, anonymous Houston woman. She was one of 650,000 AOL users whose Internet queries were publicly posted by the company for three days in 2006. By the time AOL removed the data, it was too late - it had been replicated elsewhere online. The oddly revealing, oddly narrative search queries of User No. 711391 captured the collective imagination of the Internet. She's now something of a cult f

  March 27, 2009

• Out On A Limb Over Rosharon, For A Good Cause

  Photo by davemasterking2000If you happen to be driving through Rosharon Saturday and see 50 skydivers headed toward you, don't panic - it's not Red Dawn come to life. And don't freak out over the fact that they all just happen to be amputees, 'cause it's not a coincidence: It's the second annual Airborne Amputee Skydive, sponsored by Houston-based Limbs of Love, a group that raises money to give prosthetics to folks who aren't insured, or whose insurance companies think that losing a limb just a

  March 26, 2009

• Playing Favorites

  April 2, 2009

• The T. Boone Pickens Road Show

  March 26, 2009

• Musicians on Twitter

  Is the "microblog" Internet phenomenon the next leap forward or just a tweeting waste of time?

  February 12, 2009

• Amazing Astronomers of Ancient Rome

  Web exclusive!

  February 5, 2009

• Caught In The Net

  August 21, 2008

• Ice Worlds

  The Houston Museum of Natural Science debuts a new IMAX film

  July 10, 2008

• The Toasters

  January 17, 2008

• “Lawndale Has Many Friends”

  Brian Piana creates an entire art installation to gain Top Friend status

  December 6, 2007

• Kyoto Protocol: Chill Out

  Skeptical environmentalist Bjørn Lomborg questions the Kyoto Protocol's effectiveness

  November 29, 2007

• In the Shadow of the Moon

  Reliving the glory of America's giant leap for mankind

  September 20, 2007

• Vinyl Heads: Round and Round

  DJ Sun's turntable buying advice

  September 20, 2007

• Move Over, MySpace: Not So Fast

  Local musicians aren't ready to write off MySpace just yet

  July 12, 2007

• Move Over, MySpace

  With friends like these...

  July 12, 2007

• Better Watch What You're Putting On Your Facebook Page

  Allegedly, more people use Facebook than e-mail, and during the last several months, Twitter became a verb. But for Corporate America, that could cause some problems, according to Houston attorney Chris Schaeper. "Twenty years ago, you might be having beers with an old frat buddy from college and have a conversation you probably shouldn't have, but who's going to find out?" Schaeper tells Hair Balls. "With Twitter, now there's a track record. It's out there forever."The problem lies in all those

  May 1, 2009

• “Terra Cotta Warriors”

  May 21, 2009

• What It's Like To Get Outed On The Blogosphere

  Photo courtest STCLBlevins the BloggerThe famous blogger was on the computer in his mother's basement when he got the news. A rival had uncovered his true identity and would soon reveal it to the world.And so John Blevins gathered his kids and went to lunch.Blevins, a professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston, has used the nom de blog "publius" for more than five years, currently with the popular group site Obsidian Wings. He was back in Kentucky visiting family when he became the cente

  June 12, 2009

• Social Distortion: Every Blog Has Its Day

  Stardate: 1999 (or 02254.5, if you're nasty). Also known as Pretty Much the Stone Age, when talkin' 'bout the internets. Al Gore had barely invented the term "social media," and no one called themselves social media gurus. Yes, those were the good ol' days. Amidst the tumult that climaxed in the dot-com bust, a new species of online content creator was swiftly emerging - the blogger. What'd "blogger" mean way back in the paleolithic past? To the world at large, blogging was a stupid, self-i

  June 15, 2009

• Burnin' for You

  June 25, 2009

• Outed on the Internet: A Houston professor's plight becomes a web phenomenon

  June 25, 2009

• Byte This

  June 18, 2009

• Social Distortion: The End-All, Be-All Cure For Your Social Media Sickness

  You log into Facebook, and you're hit with the sudden pang of 172 unread messages in your inbox, 146 unread updates, 59 event invitations, and a partridge in a pear tree. Your Google Reader is uncomfortably lodged at 1000 unread, and it hasn't been touched in ages, sorta like your sexy bits. You blindly scroll down the Twitter updates to which you subscribe, your bleeding eyes not focusing on anything in particular and nothing at all. Your blog, still blatantly hosted for free on WordPress

  July 3, 2009

• A Third Ward Pawnshop iPod and the Mysterious Fate of Previous Owner "Scooby"

  Whoever he is (was?), Scooby's iPod wasn't short on R. Kelly.​So a couple of weeks ago, after three or four years of increasingly faltering service, Rocks Off's 30 GB iPod finally died. Completely. Out of sheer broke-assedness, we had held on to it for longer than most. By the end, its quirks and shenanigans were endless, not least its inability to hold a charge whether or not it was actually turned on, so perhaps it was something other than foolishness that impelled us to wear it out in the r

  August 26, 2009

• Aaron Elkins

  September 3, 2009

• Houston Touts Its Clean-Air Credentials (Yes, Dammit, We Do Have Them)

  Photo courtesy GHCVB​Everyone knows that Houston is the smog-riddled energy capital of the world, so it was with a touch of irony that the annual Clean Air Through Energy Efficiency Conference awards were announced this afternoon in Houston.Attendees from across Texas and other states, munching on a typical banquet meal of chicken cordon bleu and asparagus, were supposed to hear self-proclaimed clean-air advocate Mayor Bill White, but alas, he was too busy to show. Instead, Issa Dadoush, direc

  October 15, 2009

• Tricks, Treats & T. Rex

  October 29, 2009