by David Brooks | Dec 22, 2015 | None, Science-Technology
You’ll probably get at least one repeat present this year, so why not get a repeat Granite Geek column? Come to think of it, it won’t be a repeat for you lucky Monitor readers. I’m new here, so I can dust off tons of old columns, and you’ll be none the wiser! And tons...
by David Brooks | Dec 8, 2015 | None, Science-Technology
Energy efficiency and demand response are paid for via something called the Forward Capacity Market, an auction run by ISO-New England at which generators and others bid on electricity production three years from now. Basically, ISO-New England predicts how much...
by David Brooks | Dec 8, 2015 | None, Science-Technology
If you take a close look at the winter electricity forecast from the folks who run New England’s power grid – that sounds like fun, doesn’t it? – you’ll see an interesting line amid all the numbers and verbiage: “Forecasts take into account the 1,663 megawatts in...
by David Brooks | Dec 1, 2015 | None, Science-Technology
In 1975, a bright young man named Joseph Arsenault patented a lug strap for a Concord company that made industrial products out of leather, especially power transmission belts for machinery – a fading technology even then in the face of direct-drive motors and...
by David Brooks | Nov 24, 2015 | None, Science-Technology
Lawmakers may consider a bill next session that would prevent companies from requiring employees to get a flu shot, posing a potential problem for hospitals, which are graded by the federal government on this issue. “I’m not anti-vaccine,” said state Rep. John Burt, a...
by David Brooks | Nov 24, 2015 | None, Science-Technology
NHTI professor Nathan Strong knew that inviting a prominent opponent of vaccination to speak to a class about the science of vaccines would be a little controversial. That turned out to be a good prediction, as long as “a little” is translated as “very.” Maybe even...