Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
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...
How much rooftop solar in N.E.? Three Seabrooks!
ISO-New England, the folks who run the six-state power grid, estimate that there are 4,000 MW of "behind-the-meter" solar (i.e., rooftop, although some of that is ground-mounted) in the region. That's a little more than three times the output of Seabrook Station nuke...
N.H. patents through June 27
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from June 20 to June 27. *** University of New Hampshire Assigned Patent for Opto-Coupler with Field-Shaping End Caps The University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, has been...
5,000 tons of concrete to help submarines float into dry dock
From AP: A $158 million project that’s part of the Navy’s plan to make Portsmouth Naval Shipyard more efficient and less dependent on tides took a big step forward Monday with the arrival of a key component. The 5,000-ton precast concrete entrance for one of the...
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...
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