Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
UNH ginkgo tree, N=1 climate research
The Durham campus of UNH loves the ginkgo tree outside James Hall because it drops its leaves all at once in dramatic fashion. The school's department of natural resources has been keeping track of when this happens since the 1970's, and guess-the-day contests are...
In an electric car world, who will be the auto mechanics?
It is becoming increasingly clear that electric vehicles are the future of vehicles. But who’s going to fix them when they break down? The world’s greatest grease monkey (as a mechanical dunderhead I use that term with respect and admiration) can’t do much if your...
All together now: ‘Extreme claims require extreme evidence’
When hearing claims of technology breakthroughs from inventors, there are certain things that should raise your eyebrows: extreme claims yet lack of details how it works; talk of years of secret development; patents and government accountability are in the works;...
Dartmouth research: ‘Shared neural code’ between brains helps us recognize faces
This is interesting: "shared neural code" shows up in different people's brains under certain circumstances and it;s part of how we instantly recognize familiar faces. Dartmouth News report on the research is here. I was going to try to give tl;dr versio but I think...
Mushrooms were the star in Bioblitz 2021
The taxpayers of Concord may not realize it, but they own a lot of mushrooms. There’s ghost bolete in Marjorie Swope Park. Slippery Jacks in Morono Park. Dyer’s polypore in the Emerson Tract. And earthballs – lots of earthballs. Those are some of the fungi found...
Daylight Saving has been around a century and we’ve argued about it the whole time
The twice-yearly clock switheroo known as Daylight Saving Time is one of those aspects of life that many (most?) people don't like but which continues nonetheless. It has been fiercely debated in the U.S. and around the world since it was first instituted during World...
Century and a half to mess it up, 20 years to clean it up
A former copper mine in Stafford Vermont is about to be declared cleaned up after 20 years and $90 million, reports the Valley News. (The story is here.) The 250-acre mining area was declared a Superfund site in 2001 — a designation preserved for the most polluted...
N.H. patents through Nov. 7
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from Oct. 31 to Nov. 7.*** Parallel Wireless Assigned Patent for Power Budget Calculation Using Power Headroom Parallel Wireless, Nashua, New Hampshire, has been assigned a patent (No....
Changes are coming to the New England power grid
In the next 10 years New England will see more electricity used on peak days in summer and a lot more used on peak days in winter due to an increase in electric vehicles and electric building heat, according to an analysis by the group that oversees the six-state...
UNH to lead Atlantic Marine Energy Center
UNH has just announced the new Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC), led by UNH in partnership with several East Coast universities, has been awarded $9.7 million over four years from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The center will focus on research and...
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