by David Brooks | Sep 8, 2015 | Blog
Several readers politely pointed out that I was an idiot in an article about the high-voltage DC power lines proposed for Northern Pass, switching the positions of Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison in the AC-DC wars when the electricity industry was first getting...
by David Brooks | Sep 8, 2015 | Computers-Digital Devices, Science-Technology
In many ways, the best part of bitcoin isn’t bitcoin – it’s the stuff hidden underneath. Vermont, of all places, thinks it can take advantage of this. “This is a very interesting, potentially widespread tool. . . . If we can be six to 12 months ahead of the pack on...
by David Brooks | Sep 7, 2015 | Blog
An Associated Press story about the status of New England’s ports (summary: Not so hot, but working hard to be an effective minor league for the big ports) ended with this intriguing success story: “From Portland (Maine), electric cars are shipped to...
by David Brooks | Sep 7, 2015 | Blog
Maine’s blueberry harvest attracted more than 5,000 migrant farmers 10 years ago and it’s down to about 1,500 today, said David Yarborough, a University of Maine professor of horticulture. That quote comes from this AP story about increasing mechanization...
by David Brooks | Sep 5, 2015 | Blog
Simple shapes are easier to insulate, so a simply-shaped house (think Quaker rather than Gehry) will have less heat loss. That’s what I learned, plus the term “thermal bridge,” which is a place like a corner where you can’t shove in insulation,...