Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Car tires are a huge pollution problem that recycling can barely touch
The Valley News has a good story about the difficulty of dealing with all the used tires that our transportation-happy economy produces. Burning, reusing, landfilling - all have problems - and the cost is rising. The story is here. Tires are a significant stream of...
N.H. patents through April 17
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire from April 10 through April 17. *** BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Assigned Patent for Link 16 Time Base Approach for Long Ranges...
A golden age of wildlife in New England?
"Science-based wildlife management, based on a set of principles developed in the 19th century, brought New England wildlife from its darkest days into an era in which state agencies are pleading for hunters to eat more animals." That's a line from this Boston Globe...
Electric plane startup at Burlington Vt. airport
The New York Times has a long article about a startup called Beta at Burlington International Airport (Canadian flights make it sound bigger) that's developing an electric piloted airplane with the idea of carrying cargo on short trips (batteries don't last that long)...
More guilty pleas in NH case of unlicensed Bitcoin exchange
Three of six defendants - including the one who legally changed his name to Nobody - have now pleaded guilty in the case of what prosecutors have alleged was an unlicensed Bitcoin exchange based in Keene that skirted rules against money laundering. Prosecutors allege...
Another thing we’re doing to the planet: Reducing the nitrogen that plants need
When talking about nitrogen in the ecosystem, the problem is usually an excess caused by human activity, such as runoff into New Hampshire waterways. But on a global scale, the problem might be too little nitrogen entering the ecosystem due to the usual culprit: the...
Maine’s got a lot of wind power but it wanted to have 3X as much
More than a decade ago, Maine said it wanted to generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity from onshore wind by 2020. That was a very aggressive goal and the state has fallen well short, even though it's the Northeast's leader in wind power: It generates about 1,000...
Time-of-use rate for electric car charging OK’d is parts of N.H.
By Amanda Gokee, New Hampshire Bulletin: The Public Utilities Commission has approved new rates for charging electric vehicles for those in Liberty and Unitil coverage areas. The decision advances what’s called “time-of-use rates,” which means the price you pay for...
Induction stoves beat gas stoves and I won’t set fire to any more potholders
My brother is something of an electronics pack rat and I often get his hand-me-downs. I’ve learned not to be surprised when gently used laptops, routers, MP3 players and the like suddenly arrive in the mail, but his most recent gift was surprising. It was an induction...
Idea: Launch polar rockets from the ocean off Maine
A company called BluShift that wants to send small rockets into polar orbits from coastal Maine has switched plans to using a "liftboat" - a large, flat boat with long retractable legs that can be lowered to the ocean floor, stabilizing it. The Bangor Daily News has...
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