Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
NH science around the eclipse with balloons (big ones) and ham radio
Next Monday I will be lazing around while watching the solar eclipse up near the Canadian border, having received assurances that there will be no clouds whatsoever, but some folks around New Hampshire will be approaching the event more seriously as part of two...
Maine could be the Saudi Arabia of seaweed in cow feed
UNH researchers found a lot of interest among dairy farmers in Maine t supplementing feed with seaweed to reduce their herd's methane emissions from burps (about 14% reduction). Its combination of small dairy farms open to organic markets and an existing...
Can New England preserve its forests and also make better use of them?
A new report calls on New England states to permanently protect roughly 70% of the region’ slandscape—a significant increase from the 25% currently protected—while expanding sustainable forest management across two-thirds of New England’s forests. The report is by...
NH patents through March 31
(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 March 31. *** Water Vapor Distillation Apparatus, Method and Systems DEKA...
NH startup is trying to re-invent the compressor (which would be a big deal)
It's a long, long way from prototype to actual product that affects industry, but this startup in Peterborough (of all places) has a plausible-sounding technology in the form of a heat pump turbocompressor "that can replace conventional turbocompressors used in any...
81% carbon-free electricity in New England on Sunday
At noon on Sunday, ISO-New England reported that electricity being used in the six states came from these sources: Rooftop solar: 5964 MW (estimated, since it's behind the meter) Nuclear: 3361 MW Fossil gas: 2331 MW Utility solar and wind: 1765 MW Hydro: 1027 MW...
A very big (by US standards) wind farm coming off Mass. coast
The folks behind Vineyard Wind, which is in the process of building the first big (800 MW) offshore wind farm in the US* south of Martha's Vineyard, have put forward a proposal to build a very big (1.2 GW) wind farm a little bit further out to sea. Details (such as...
Feb. cyber attack still big problem for NH health care
A cyberattack on a company that provides back-end services for hospitals and other health-care providers, including approving types of care and processing payments, is still affecting patients and providers throughout New Hampshire and the rest of the country,...
Solar, batteries coming to NH coal plants, but coal isn’t leaving yet
The region’s last coal-fired power plants, located in Bow and Portsmouth, are expected to add large-scale solar power and battery-storage under plans put forward by their owner, Granite Shore Power, marking New Hampshire’s first big transition into 21st-century...
Worrying about measles isn’t the sort of ‘blast from the past’ we need
The last person who had to live inside an iron lung due to polio recently died but it didn’t draw much attention even though it marked the symbolic end to a plague that haunted humanity for millennia. The truth is that it’s hard for people to worry about a disease...
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