Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
If SARS-CoV2 is a German shepherd, is the delta variant a Rottweiler-Dachsund-Terrier?
I have flown on Delta Airlines, visited the Mississippi Delta and written my share of deltas in math class, but the only delta I care about these days is molecular. I refer, of course, to the COVID-19 virus formerly known as B.1.617.2 or the “India variant,” now...
What’s with all the new news-gathering organizations in New Hampshire?
It’s a truism in newsrooms that few readers notice story bylines, but Monitor regulars who do check names at the start of articles have seen something odd in recent months. Along with the usual “Monitor staff” attached to people like me, there have been bylines from...
N.H. patents through July 4
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from June 27 to July 4. *** BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Assigned Patent for Wireless Resilient Routing Reconfiguration Linear Program BAE Systems Information...
One more thing climate change may cause: Bumpier frost heaves
From UNH News Service: The frost heaves that turn New England roads and their drivers into a bumpy, grumpy mess are one of many consequences of the seasonal soil freeze and thaw cycle that impacts about half of the northern hemisphere. “Seasonal soil freezing is...
There’s climate and microclimate; connection between the two can be complex
If you have a garden of any size you’re familiar with the concept of a “microclimate,” mostly because it’s an excellent scapegoat. The sugar snaps did lousy? Garden’s in a low spot where cold collects. Lettuce wilted? Storm blew down a nearby tree and now it’s too...
Fiber-to-the-home broadband spreads in southern NH due to – wait, the phone company?!?
Spurred by a 2018 change in state law and new private investment, the state’s biggest phone company is building fiber-optic connections to tens of thousands of homes in southern New Hampshire, the most extensive expansion of fast internet that rural New Hampshire has...
‘Gluten free’ means something. ‘Natural’ doesn’t.
There aren't many things more complicated than determining a "healthy diet." A new website, launched by Vermont Law School helps those of us with the patience to read the confusing food labels. The Valley News has a story (here); Beyranevand said that “the most...
SEC case against NH’s LBRY video/crypto business continues
Mark Hayward of the Union-Leader takes a look at the SEC case against Manchester's LBRY video hosting service that also issues a cryptocurrency. In case you missed by earlier stories, like this one in March, it's a good catch-up. His story is here; nothing new seems...
The Russians were here, the Russians were here!
Going through old stuff in boxes, I found a copy of an article I wrote in 1993 that starts like this: "It's a scene straight from a Cold War spy novel: several Russians huddled around a computer in an unmarked apartment, receiving information from satellites overhead...
Why do wind turbines have three blades? Why not just two?
I will go down in history as the person who asked the last question on AskSam, the NH Public Radio series in which reporter/podcaster Sam Evans-Brown answers listener questions. Sam is leaving radio to become a clean-energy advocate. My question was: Why do all wind...
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