Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Surprising no. of NH people think a pandemic is a great time to have kids
After years and years of declining birth rates, New Hampshire has surprised just about everybody by seeing the country’s biggest baby boom last year with a birth rate that rebounded 7% since pre-pandemic times, far more than any other state. Whether it will...
I keep forgetting: Net metering isn’t just for solar
A city looking for 100% clean electricity could hardly ask for anything better than three hydropower sites within its borders, so I’ve often wondered why Concord doesn’t make more of a splash, so to speak, with the three small dams in Penacook. Wonder no more. As of...
Gulf of Maine productivity has fallen by half
Phytoplankton are about 65% less productive in the Gulf of Maine than they were two decades ago because water temperature and salinity have risen as a warming planet alters ocean pattersn, scientists at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine,...
Lyme vaccine trial coming to Maine
Pfizer is going to conduct the latest stage of tests of a Lyme vaccine in Maine. Long, long overdue. Short AP story is here.
N.H. patents through June 5
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire from May 29 through June 5. *** BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Assigned Patent for Dual Gain Imaging Digital Pixel Memory BAE Systems...
Plastic will never, ever be recycled
I have mostly soured on recycling in the past few years for obvious reasons but when you get down to it, most of the problem is plastic. Almost everything else can be recycled to a reasonable degree if we establish re-use markets, but not plastic. Why? Because it's...
Bat Counts project hints (but only hints) that our bat population may have stopped shrinking
It’s a sad reality that most wildlife projects for citizen scientists are created to quantify bad news, usually by counting the shrinking numbers of some plant, animal or bug struggling against climate change and habitat loss. So let’s celebrate the New Hampshire Bats...
Da Vinci’s machines in Vermont
This blog doesn't usually mention science-museum exhibits because there are too many of them but this one at Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vermont, sounds intriguing*: Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion is a interactive experience with full-size machines, using the...
N.H. patents through May 29
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire from May 22 through May 29 . *** BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Assigned Patent for Neural Network Kernels BAE Systems Information and...
Operator, please! Antique phone booth goes in the State House
I have a pleasant little story in the Monitor today (and goodness knows we need a few pleasant little stories) about a historic old phone booth installed in the State House thanks to my favorite New Hampshire museum, The Telephone Museum in Warner. Check it out here -...
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