Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Old copper mines are polluting the Upper Valley
It's taken 20 years and $96 million or so to clean up a closed copper mine in tiny Strafford, Vermont. Two other closed mines in the region are still a problem. The Valley News has a story here. Old mines can be a real environmental disaster. Yet another thing that...
N.H. considers regulations for sidewalk delivery robots
By MIKE DUNBAR/ Citizens Count HB 116 is a such bill that would regulate how ground-based delivery robots would be allowed to operate in New Hampshire. New Hampshire wouldn’t be the first state to invite delivery robots to our sidewalks. Last week in Austin, Texas,...
Powerline inspection by drones shows why drones aren’t everywhere yet
When electric drones came on the scene they seemed to be one of those technologies that were going to change everything because they’re so cool. But reality isn’t science fiction; quadracopter air taxis and drone pizza delivery remain far off. The main impact I’ve...
Vaccination rate is close to stalling in N.H.
The vaccination rate is getting close to stalling out in New Hampshire: only about 4% of the state population has become fully vaccinated so far this month by the state’s reckoning and barely 1% got their first shot. Even viewed from the most optimistic angle, looking...
Is energy ‘peak shaving’ really useful or just a shell game?
New Hampshire Bulletin is a new reporting group in the state, featuring some very experienced former Concord Monitor reporters among the small staff. I figured it would be all-politics-all-the-time, because that's the easiest high-impact topic, but they're also doing...
N.H. patents through June 20
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from June 13 to June 20. *** Parallel Wireless Assigned Patent for Paging Optimization for VeNB Parallel Wireless, Nashua, New Hampshire, has been assigned a patent (No. 11,039,419,...
Ransomware hits New Hampshire businesses all the time; just don’t ask for details
There’s a pretty good chance that right now, as you’re reading this, at least one business owner in New Hampshire is freaking out over ransomware. “Yeah, it’s happening daily here – weekly for sure,” said Jason Golden, a partner at Manchester cybersecurity firm...
Dartmouth cheating/not-cheating mess is another algorithm failure
Dartmouth's medical school accused 17 students of cheating during remote exams based on data from Canvas, a software package used by lots of colleges to handle online courses. Then they said oops, sorry, Canvas misinterpreted data and dropped all the claims. Expect...
In ‘landscape of fear’ bears may protect foxes from coyotes
From UNH News Service: Bears are known for being devoted to and protective of their baby cubs, but new research from UNH shows that they may also play a significant role in shielding gray fox from predators like coyotes, who compete with the fox for food and space....
Some think natural burials are unnatural
It pisses me off that if I die I have to be filled with preservatives stuck in a big expensive box inside a cement vault. What a stupid waste! That's what compost piles are for. But allowing "green" burials often faces obstacles, as this story from the Valley News...
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