Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
‘Pee-cycling’ group wants to expand from Vermont (where else?) into NH
A Vermont organization is turning human urine into fertilizer that is being used on a half-dozen farms in that state and would like to expand the service into New Hampshire. “We have people who are interested in New Hampshire, certainly,” said Arthur Davis, operations...
UNH researchers wonder if controlled burns really do help red oak
From UNH News Service: Research led by Matthew Vadeboncoeur, a research scientist with UNH’s Earth Systems Research Center at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, is investigating how prescribed fire could be used improve red oak regeneration and...
A surprisingly excellent NH museum is built around telephones
There’s something a little surprising about one of New Hampshire’s best museums, the small but mighty New Hampshire Telephone Museum in Warner: You’re not supposed to touch most of the exhibits even though they’re the kind of thing we’ve touched all our lives. “These...
Tesla is coming; better late than never?
Tesla is finally coming to New Hampshire after years of false starts and while the news is exciting for many people, it would have been more exciting a couple of years ago. A 50,000-square-foot Tesla dealership and service center is under construction in Londonderry...
11% of NH electric outages are caused by – wait for it – squirrels!
Electrical utility Unitil is holding “Squirrel Week." This is the third year that Unitil has dedicated a week in May toward highlighting the challenges posed by squirrels and other wildlife. Unitil will focus on squirrel-related issues and the efforts the company...
NH patents through May 19
(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 May 19. *** Display Screen With Icon BOTTOMLINE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.,...
State’s biggest workplace charging site has 25 ports. Is that a lot? I’m not sure
Merchant Fleet in Hooksett recently added 13 charging ports to its existing supply of 12, to meet employee demand for places to plug in their cars during the day. NHBR has a story about the unveiling here. I can't decide if we should be impressed or depressed about...
The murky world of town and city flags – yes, flags
When the Monitor ran a story recently that some residents in Boscawen were disagreeing about the design of a town flag, it produced this reaction among an awful lot of readers: “Wait – towns have flags?!? Who knew?” Not many people, it turns out, because the idea that...
Those anti-vax bills got shelved (whew!)
The two anti-vaccine bills that I wrote about last month have been shelved and are dead this year, although they can always come back. After they passed the House due to GOP support, the Senate Health and Human Services committee is sending both to "interim study,"...
Could you grow radishes on the moon?
If you, like me, often despair of producing a garden in the mix of stones, sand and grit that New Hampshire optimistically calls “soil,” remember that it could be worse. You could be working with dirt from the moon. “It’s hard to grow in this material. It’s basically...
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