Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Syrup is a tradition-filled industry adapting to climate change
If you’re looking for an industry that is adapting to the pain that accompanies climate change, take a walk in a hardwood forest until you find plastic tubing stretching off into the distance. That’s the tradition-bound maple syrup industry tossing tradition aside....
Vehicles took out 275 utility poles in NH last year (actually, lots more than that)
There are approximately 500,000 utility poles in New Hampshire, plus or minus 100,000 or so (as I noted in 2016) and every year roughly 1/20th of one percent of them are knocked down by cars. That's my conclusion based on data from Eversource New Hampshire, the...
N.H. patents through Jan. 8
(Links to each patent can be found here, using the patent number.) By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through Jan. 8 *** C-Arm With Integrated CT System DEDICATED2IMAGING, LLC., Portsmouth, New Hampshire...
If chestnut trees can avoid the blight, can they avoid the deer?
As regular readers know, there are two ongoing efforts to restore the American chestnut tree to our forests after it was virtually exterminated by disease. One cross-breeds it with resistant Chinese chestnut trees, the other uses genetic modification and is getting...
Power prices went insane on Xmas Eve – why?
Wholesale power prices in New England rose more than 10-fold for a while on Christmas Eve, apparently because an unnamed power plant stopped producing as much as expected and we couldn't import as much electricity from New York and Canada - presumably because they...
As we enter Year 4 of the Pandemic Era, my mask is (sigh) still on
Three times in 2022 it looked like I might be able to finally stop wearing that annoying face mask in public. In late February, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in New Hampshire, which is the best metric for the spread of the disease, plummeted downward...
Museum exhibit about Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
The Hubbard Brooks Experimental Forest is one of the hidden scientific gems of New Hampshire. There's an interesting-looking art/science exhibit about it opening at Plymouth State that could be worth checking out. Here;s the press release: Plymouth State...
Why is NH still burning coal for power?
Two reporters with the Granite State News Collaborative took a long look at why Merrimack Station in Bow is still burning coal for electricity - the last plant in New England to do so. (Spoiler alert: Capacity auction.) The story doesn't cover anything that I and many...
Patents in NH through Jan. 1
(Links to each patent can be found here, using the patent number.) By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through Jan. 1 *** Sanitization Device and Adaptor for Use With the Same SOCLEAN INC., Peterborough,...
Home battery backup is rare in NH but it does exist
Robert Holt’s reaction after his neighborhood lost power in the recent storm was different than mine. “This is, like, perfect! This is how it’s supposed to go!” he said, looking back at how his home performed. Holt was happy because his home is one of the few in New...
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