Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
A crypto mogul and an alleged fraudster tussle over closed Vermont college
Marlboro College was a classic small liberal-arts New England college, tucked in a small (1,000 people) Vermont town. It's also classic in that it went bust, as I fear many such schools will do as the demographic collapse continues. The story of what will happen to it...
Can I think of a better name for a vaccine lottery than Ohio’s Vax-a-Million?
As you probably know, New Hampshire was a leader in the lottery game, approving the nation’s first state-run lottery in 1964, back when tickets cost $3 and the winning number was based on horse race results at Rockingham Park. With the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations...
No electricity shortfalls in the cards for New England this summer
The region has more than enough electricity production to meet demand this summer under typical or extreme weather conditions, according to the organization that oversees New England’s power grid. In its annual forecast for the summer, ISO-New England says it expects...
N.H. now has the region’s last coal-burning electricity plant
Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 3 in Connecticut shut Monday, as had long been planned. The 400-MW unit had been in operation for 53 years. That leaves Merrimack Station in Bow as the last coal-burning plant producing electricity in New England. There are still...
N.H. patents through May 23
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from May 16 to May 23. *** Parallel Wireless Assigned Patent for Secure Software Update in Wireless Mesh Radio Network Parallel Wireless, Nashua, New Hampshire, has been assigned a patent...
Treatment that curtails bacteria blooms in lakes is not – repeat: not! – a magic bullet
The original plan for today’s column was to dazzle the world by unveiling a magic elixir that solves a yucky environmental problem. Then I talked with David Neils, an aquatic biologist with the state. “This is not a magic elixir,” he said, flatly. Not even a little...
Patents issued in N.H. through May 30
By Targeted News Service The following patents were assigned in New Hampshire from May 23 to May 30. *** BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Assigned Patent for Optimized Motion Compensation BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems...
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...
Return to the Concord Monitor