These photos were sent from the recent launch of the weather balloon in New Hampshire as part of the educational/research project known as SMART (I wrote about it last week). When the balloons get to 90,000 to 100,000 feet up, the air is so thin that the pressure of their innards makes them explode. These photos were taken from a video, says UNH Prof. Charles Smith: “The video takes 3 or 6 frames each second (I cannot remember which) so the 4-image sequence is a little less than or a little greater than 1 second in the life and death of latex.”
About Granite Geek
Dave Brooks has written a weekly science/tech newspaper column since 1991 – yes, that long – and has written this blog since 2006, keeping an eye on geekish topics in and around the Granite State. He discusses the geek world regularly on WGIR-AM radio, and moderated the monthly Science Cafe NH sessions when they were still a thing. He joined the Concord Monitor in 2015.
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, Writer of the Year award from the N.H. Farm and Forest Bureau (of all places) and his 2024 induction into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.
Recent Posts
- Want to visit a working New England granite quarry? You’re out of luck
- 161 mph winds were barely in the top 10 (Yes, I’m talking about Mount Washington)
- NH patents through Feb. 16
- NH gets a housing-loan law that’s good for clean energy
- We’re having a great winter – not so much for the rest of the globe