Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Solar & energy efficiency will = 2.4 Seabrook Stations
The folks who run New England's power grid estimate that in a decade, behind-the-meter (rooftop) solar and energy efficiency programs will reduce the need for electricity production in the region by about 15%, from 165,000 gigawatt-hours to 141,000 annually. That's a...
N.H. patents through Sept. 25
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through Sept. 25. *** En Technology Assigned Patent for Digital Audio Communication, Control in Live Performance Venue En Technology, Keene, New Hampshire, has been...
Study finds some N.H. beaches can withstand storms better than others
By Rebecca Irelan, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space: After a particularly raucous bout of weather in April 2019, Rick Cliche and his wife, Leslie, pulled up to Hampton’s North Beach and found, to their utter surprise, ancient peat moss and weathered...
In the pandemic era, 3 1/2 more NH residents have died every single day
As we debate whether the COVID-19 pandemic is “over,” whatever that means, here’s a number to consider: Three and a half people each day. This is the number of excess deaths that have occurred in New Hampshire during the pandemic era. This counts all deaths, not just...
NH gets a cool new monument to video games
As I'm sure you know, the late Ralph Baer of Manchester led the team that developed the first home video game while working at Sanders Associates in Nashua. That's the state's big moment in the video game arena, memorialized in a life-size statue of Baer in a...
Can forests store carbon and still be – well, forests?
We live in a capitalist society, for better or worse, so if we want something done we need to attach some money to it. One of the things we want done in the face of the climate emergency is to have our forests absorb and store as much carbon as possible while still...
Guess I’d better buy my wood pellets soon …
The price hikes and supply crunches that have clobbered fuel supplies and raised prices throughout the world are starting to affect the one fuel we can call our own: Wood pellets. “There is quite a bit available right now but with the ongoing situation, there might be...
Historic NH newspapers join Library of Congress, digitally
The first newspaper known to be printed by an enslaved person, the nation’s oldest school newspaper, and a newspaper printed on top of Mount Washington will soon be part of the digital Library of Congress as New Hampshire joins the project known as Chronicling...
N.H. patents through Sept. 18
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through Sept. 18. Vapotherm Assigned Patent for Quiet Nasal Cannula Vapotherm, Exeter, New Hampshire, has been assigned a patent (No. 11,439,784, initially filed...
NH EV-charging plans approved by feds
New Hampshire is one of 35 states that have had their plans for federally-funded EV charging stations approved in the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. The plan is still kind of vague: For example, it says there will be a station in Concord, but...
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Science Cafe NHAbout Granite Geek
Dave Brooks has written a science/tech column since 1991 – yes, that long – and has written this blog since 2006, keeping an eye on topics of geekish interest in and around New Hampshire, from software to sea level rise, population dynamics to printing (3-D, of course). He moderates monthly Science Cafe NH discussions, beer in hand, and discusses the geek world regularly on WGIR-AM radio..
Brooks earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics but got lost on the way to the Ivory Tower and ended up in a newsroom. He has reported for newspapers from Tennessee to New England. Rummage through his bag of awards you’ll find oddities like three Best Blog prizes from the New Hampshire Press Association and a Writer of the Year award from the N.H. Farm and Forest Bureau, of all places. He joined the Concord Monitor in 2015.