Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Flying to Mars vs. social isolating – which is more stressful?
From a personal-stress point of view, COVID-19 lockdowns are kind of like going to Mars, although the view isn’t quite as interesting. We don’t have cosmic radiation or microgravity to concern us while living in small spaces for weeks at a time, but we do have plenty...
Lots of vacation homes, lots of virus
Data-crunching by Jess Carson, a research assistant professor with the Vulnerable Families Research Program at the Carsey School of Public Policy., finds a correlation between lots of vacation homes and relatively high rates of COVID-19. Notice I said correlation, not...
Peak-bagging is another activity being put on hold
I'm not a big fan of peak-bagging lists - climbing various places according to some arbitrary measure (prominence above 4,000 feet, every month of the year, etc.) but there's no doubt that they are a spur for people to hit the hills. Too much of a spur right now, it...
N.H. patents, March 29 to April 5
For four years the Concord Monitor has published New Hampshire patents in its print pages as collected by Targeted News Service. However, the COVID constriction in advertising revenue has shrunk the paper and it doesn't have the room any more. So from now on, I'll run...
Rattling the tin cup as you walk by
Local advertising revenue, such as it was, has completely disappeared overnight due to COVID-19 and local newspapers are falling by the wayside as a result. The family-owned Concord Monitor, financial and spiritual home of Granite Geek, is not folding but our business...
Calling all COBOL cowhands!
(UPDATE: IBM wants to train more COBOL programmers.) Regular readers will remember my 2018 story about the state upgrading its tax system because they were still running COBOL. After it ran I heard from COBOL programmers as far away as Brazil who offered their...
Accidental experiment shows ‘nuclear-free’ means ‘gas-abundant’
NHPR reporter Sam Evans-Brown pointed out an interesting electric-power experiment going on in New England: By coincidence, our nuclear power plants have all been offline for a few days. (Some were undergoing refueling, which happens every spring when demand dips, and...
To mask or not to mask – that is the question
Apologies to William Shakespeare, but these days when we step outside most of us become miniature COVID Hamlets and start to soliloquize: “To mask or not to mask – that is the question.” It’s not that we’re poetic, it’s that we’re confused. Which is understandable...
When you come home from the store, what should you do with your clothes?
(While reading this story, you might want to play this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2CWfSLyjx8) Here’s yet another surprising effect that COVID-19 has produced in everyday life: Stripping once inside the front door has become routine. As you’ve probably guessed,...
Turnpike traffic keeps falling
When you're staying at home, you're not driving. The number of trips by cars and trucks paying to go through tolls on New Hampshire turnpike system fell below 1 million last week, maybe for the first time ever since all the tolls were set up. Car trips are at about...
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