Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Utility poles (definitely not telephone poles) for sale: 175,393 of them
Utility poles don't get much attention considering that they are the most visible part of both the telecommunication and energy system, but the state's Consumer Advocate wants that to change. The consumer advocate, Don Kreis, is drawing attention to a deal in which...
Online scammers have to educate people on tech, just like you with your parents
I don't want to make fun of people who suffer from online scams, which are repulsive and pernicious, but I couldn't help but chuckle at a quote from the assistant attorney general in my story warning about Valentine's Day-related romance scams. With bitcoin, he said...
N.H. decides cryptocurrency is worth studying
N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu said Wednesday he will name a 12-person commission to hold hearings and make recommendations on laws and regulations dealing with cryptocurrency and "digital assets". The commission will include the attorney general, state banking commissioner,...
Three NH wastewater plants are part of national COVID-19 monitoring
Three New Hampshire treatment plants are part of a CDC database detecting COVID-19 in wastewater. Judging from the map, I think they're Concord, Claremont and Conway. At the moment there is recent data only from Conway, which saw a drop of between 10% and 99% over the...
Now *this* would be useful: A way to detect lost or unsuspected electronics in the house
From Dartmouth News Service: Radar technology that has been used to track flying insects and detect explosives can also be used to discover and identify unknown or unwanted electronic devices in homes. Beatrice Perez, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of...
Planting a trillion trees requires a trillion seeds – easier said than done
Of all the efforts being promoted to battle climate change, “plant a trillion trees” might be the most attractive. There’s the alliteration, for one thing. Plus, everybody likes trees. And planting enough trees to pull significant carbon from the air is something we...
N.H. patents through Feb. 6
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire from Jan. 30 to Feb. 6.Parallel Wireless Assigned Patent for X2 Brokering with Aggregation Optimization Parallel Wireless, Nashua, New Hampshire, has been...
Carbon pricing, climate science and climate ignorance
This piece by John Gage, volunteer NH state coordinator for Citizens' Climate Lobby, appeared in the Concord Monitor on Feb. 3: On Jan. 20, in a hearing about HR 17 by the NH House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs committee, a travesty of scientific...
We’d be better off if ‘missing middle’ housing wasn’t quite so missing
If New Hampshire wants to tackle two of the biggest problems facing us — the climate crisis and painfully expensive housing — we need to make it easier to not follow in my footsteps. My problem? I live in a big single-family home on more land than I need and everybody...
Three ranked-choice voting bills in NH this year
Citizens Count notes that there are three - count 'em, three! - bills advocating ranked-choice voting in the NH Legislature this session. Prediction: All will die in the face of the GOP's effort to limit the effectiveness of voting. This is Citizens Count's quick...
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