Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
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...
If you think it’s a really bad year for ticks, you’re not alone. But are you right?
The online forum Reddit is infamous for some foul-minded communities, but earlier this month somebody posted a photo to its New Hampshire section that shook even hardened online veterans to the core. What was this appalling sight? It was a toilet seat in an outhouse;...
Solar eclipse added to Concord’s unique solar system walk-around
There’s something new in a parking lot on South Main Street. It’s a moon; specifically, our moon. “It works quite well, I think, that post with the moon on it. It really lets you see what happens … in an eclipse,” said Rob Kramer, who got permission to put up the tiny...
N.H. gets first large, grid-tied battery storage site
What I believe is the first utility-scale electricity-storage project in New Hampshire is getting turned on: a 2.45 MW battery alongside a solar farm in Moultonborough. A Here's the announcement from New Hampshire Electric Cooperative: The 2.45 megawatt (MW) / 4.9 MwH...
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