Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Here a chipmunk, there a chipmunk, everywhere a chipmunk
No, you’re not imagining it: Chipmunks really are everywhere. “We have no formal monitoring of chipmunks,” said Matt Tarr, a wildlife biologist with UNH Extension, “But my observation and what I’m hearing from folks all over New Hampshire is: There’s a lot of...
Maine may shift recycling cost onto companies instead of taxpayers
From the Washington Post via Yahoo: "Lawmakers are trying to make Maine the first state to shift some of the costs of its recycling onto companies - not taxpayers. If the bipartisan bill passes, Maine will join several Canadian provinces, including neighboring Quebec,...
It’s daring, it’s jumping, it’s an official spider
New Hampshire, I'm happy to say now has an official state spider: The daring jumping spider, which is an awesome name for an awesome arachnid. The story is here; a bunch of third-graders were behind the push. South Carolina has an also-awesomely-named state spider,...
N.H. patents through June 13
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from June 6 to June 13. *** DEKA Products Assigned Patent for RFID System With Eddy Current Trap DEKA Products, Manchester, New Hampshire, has been assigned a patent (No. 11,031,693,...
Maine might end an odd quirk: Obscene license plates
Geeks like clever vanity license plates - e.g., FEATURE on an original Volkswagen Beetle - and while you can't exactly call FUCKU "clever", many find it amusing that this plate and similar swearing-filled plates are allowed in Maine. Not, perhaps, for long,...
Attempting some extreme climate adaptation for a tree species
I'm familiar with the idea of assisted migration for trees to help them survive climate change - generally, planting them further north because the populations can't naturally migrate fast enough to avoid the altering climate. I've never heard of trying to get a...
A bunch of people will be on the beach Thursday to watch a semi-blocked sun rise
People will be going to the beach early Thursday morning – very early Thursday morning – and not just to beat the heat. When the sun rises at 5:06 a.m. that day, it will be partly blocked by the moon, creating an annular eclipse. For the next hour, if the weather...
Tackling an aquatic pest produces possible insight into where our brains came from
A little over 700 million years ago, our ancestors were presented with a choice: Do you want to be immortal or do you want to be able to see, smell and hear stuff? The simple creatures that eventually evolved into us wanted to enjoy sensory input rather than never...
UNH records a deer traveling 180 miles in three weeks
A UNH researcher has discovered the longest travel distance ever recorded by an adult male white-tailed deer — 300 kilometers, or about 200 miles, in just three weeks. The study, led by assistant professor of wildlife ecology Remington Moll and published in the...
How long is our coastline, really? And is there really a “really”?
With everybody flocking to the beach on this hot and humid day, it's appopriate to revisit my 2016 I wrote a column looking at why some sources say New Hampshire’s ocean coastline is 18 miles long but some say it’s 13 miles and some say it’s 235 miles, and why people...
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