Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Can the power grid get greener and stronger at the same time?
On my roof are some solar panels. They’re good for me but the question is, are they good for the power grid? Some people say no, that they destabilize the system providing electricity throughout New England by ruining the finances of “baseline” plants and leaving us...
Why are people sure they’ve seen a UFO? “Our brains suck.”
So says an Air Force officer who has seen a UFO but realized that like all other UFOs, it’s actually quite well identified.
There are still N.H. homes that heat with coal. (Coal?!?)
Coal, once the dominant fuel for heating buildings while driving industry in New England, has faded almost entirely from view. Julie Kinney can point to one remnant that she wishes would fade with it. “We have an ash pile right now. At some point we’ll have to talk...
Forensic anthropologist is a job beloved of TV crime shows, and it’s real
When human remains are found in New Hampshire, as happened recently, there's a chain of expertise to determine a response depending on whether they're new (cops), new-ish (medical examination) or really old (forensic anthropologist). The Laconia Daily Sun has the...
Somebody actually wants to hear your energy opinions, N.H.-ers!
Do you have opinions about energy in New Hampshire? Then I have good news for you - this arrived in my inbox this morning: Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) is required to update the New Hampshire 10-Year State Energy Strategy in 2021. Consistent with that...
State tests putting aluminum in lake to foil cyanobacteria blooms
Last month I wrote about research indicating we have underestimated the effect on creating cyanobacteria blooms made by nutrients, especially phosphorus, lurking in mud at the bottom of lakes. (Here it is, if you've forgotten.) Well, the state is trying to do...
Centrifugal governor shows up on another N.H. seal
Regular readers know that the seal/flag of the city of Manchester includes a centrifugal governor, one of the inventions that made the Industrial Revolution possible. It's the device with weighted arms hinged to a vertical spindle that rise or fall as the central axis...
This blog can now get a driver’s license
Happy birthday to me: The Granite Geek blog launched 15 years ago. I'm not sure exactly when it started, since almost everything before 2015 has disappeared in a haze of changing software/servers/owners. But we'll pretend it's this week. That's the original logo up...
Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness is now an International Dark Sky Park
Last year, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument became the east's first "Dark Sky Sanctuary" (as I noted at the time). Now the nearby-ish 100-Mile Wilderness, infamous to Appalachian Trail through-hikers, has received a similar designation from the...
How dry was it last summer? This dry
As New Hampshire teeters on the edge of another drought (most of the state is "abnormally dry" right now), the above graphic shows what led us here: 2020 was really dry. This is chart of the flow rate of Smith River in Bristol over the course of spring and summer. The...
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