Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Vineyard Wind is now the biggest offshore wind farm in the U.S. (which isn’t saying much)
Vineyard Wind has snuck past South Fork Wind and is now the nation's biggest offshore wind farm, at 136 MW capacity. (South Fork is 132). Story is here. It seems like the project is a little behind schedule; it won't be up to full 800+ Mw by the end of the summer as...
Better soil health on the farm? Take that, agrichemical giant!
Changing your farming technique to improve long-term soil health is a great idea, of course, but farming is complicated enough without adding another variable to the equation, so I suspect it's done very often. A study from some Dartmouth professors found an...
We drove away the browntail moth once, why can’t we do it again?
There’s a surprising backstory to the latest nasty invasive insect to arrive in New Hampshire, the browntail moth: We already eradicated it once. But we can’t do it again. At least, we can’t do it again in the same way. The browntail moth has just been found on the...
Adding a solar farm to the grid is still a mess
The process for adding power plants to the grid, making sure that the grid operators can factor in the electricity they supply while balancing the back-and-forth of power needs and production, grew over decades to serve the old model of relatively few large plants...
NH patents through June 23
(Links to each patent can be found here, using the patent number or inventor’s name.) By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through June 23. *** Methods and Systems for Efficient Cyber Protections of Mobile...
1 MW landfill gas project for NH
Every landfill of any size should have either solar panels or gas-to-energy systems, or both. Lebanon is installing one, which, says the Valley News, "is expected to provide 80% of the electricity used by city facilities. The remaining 20% is being provided by solar...
When Mass. 911 crashed, old fire alarm boxes still worked. Analog rules!
On Wednesday an alert went out saying that our 911 system was down - then another alert came out saying, no, it's just Massachusetts. Same thing happened in Vermont and Maine. So what happened to Massachusetts? The Boston Globe has a story (here): Massachusetts is one...
Ham radio remains surprisingly relevant
It says something about amateur radio that despite its high-tech trappings – they can bounce signals off the moon, chit-chat with the International Space Station, and have to keep track of solar storms – one of the tools used in the field is a rock tied on a string....
Even if Concord isn’t record-hot this week it will be record-miserable
Concord may not break pure temperature records for the next few days as the Heat Dome arrives (although we might, it's close) but it will probably be more miserable than ever before and for a longer stretch. The record high temperature for Concord for June 18 through...
Science Cafe discusses ocean currents – will climate change alter them?
Science Cafe New Hampshire in Nashua will discuss "Ocean Currents: Their State and Our Future" on Wednesday, June 19, from 6:30 t 8 p.m. at The Rambling House, 57 Factory St Nashua. Very interesting topic, I think. Ocean Currents are critical to moving heat and...
Return to the Concord Monitor