Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Vermont faces the “EVs don’t pay gas tax” question
Vermont, like many places, is looking at how to pay for roads as we get more electric vehicles, which don't pay gasoline tax. About 20 states have an annual EV "registration fee" - New Hampshire is considering one - but that's a pretty clumsy mechanism. VTDigger had a...
N.H. patents through Jan. 2
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from Dec. 20, 2021, to Jan. 2, 2022. *** Parallel Wireless Assigned Patent for Federated X2 Gateway Parallel Wireless, Nashua, New Hampshire, has been assigned a patent (No. 11,206,584,...
10-digit dialing is slow to arrive, but what about an initial 1?
Remember that big splash we heard in October about the arrival of mandatory 10-digit dialing to New Hampshire? It’s not really mandatory yet. Sometimes you can still connect in-state calls with good old seven digits, like 867-5309, no 603 area code necessary. It’s...
Some fun posts from this past year
No newsletter next week, between Christmas and New Year's, so here's a year-end roundup of sun fun posts from 2021. No COVID, no climate emergency, no ticks or invasive species - and, of course, no politics. November: When it comes to area codes, I can be very wrong....
Shaking up computational algorithms like a bowl full of jelly
(After this column appeared in the Monitor, a reader pointed out an unspoken assumption: Who says Santa exists only in 3 dimensions? "Free yourself of the constraints imposed by a XYZ-based mindset and posit that Santa exists in 5 dimensions!" he wrote.) As Santa...
N.H. patents through Dec. 19
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from Dec. 12 to Dec. 19. University of New Hampshire Assigned Patent for Determining Quantum Efficiency of Camera The University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, has been assigned a...
If there’s a drought of snow, is that a snow drought?
From Dartmouth New Service: Periods of record low snow levels over the past decade have increased the urgency of snow research. As snow studies expand, usage of the term “snow drought” to describe seasons of abnormally low snowpack has become common. But disagreements...
Mail fishing, not email phishing
Some public mailboxes in the area have been closed after people reported that checks had been stolen, possibly having been “fished” out of the openings. The investigation apparently began after reports of altered checks came to the Warner Police Department. “We had...
Expanding broadband in NH has a mapping problem
There was a telling moment in a Friday web discussion held by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen about how the state should take advantage of millions of dollars in new federal funding for high-speed internet, and it came right at the very beginning. “Michelle (Cota) is not in...
Electric Coop tests ‘transactional energy’ to cope in a climate-emergency world
Rooftop solar power may seem like 21st-century energy tech but to a certain extent, it takes a 19th-century approach. After all, a solar panel is a machine that sends out electricity to be used by somebody else, just like Seabrook Station or the Sewell’s Falls...
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