Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Town meeting 2020: Carbon fee push; solar support (or not)
Tuesday was voting day for town and school district meetings. Communities with traditional system will be having meetings throughout the next week, and a couple do it in April and May. Here are a few tidbits of GraniteGeek interst: A non-binding push for carbon fees...
If you want to really understand ice storms, you have to create your own
If you live in New Hampshire, then at least once in your life (and probably far more often) you have been flummoxed by an ice storm. Supercooled rain that turns to ice on contact with roads and branches has lengthened your commute, mangled your fruit trees or...
Very little new natural gas power proposed in New England, which is a surprise
The six-state power grid has a queue of proposed generators. Getting the OK for feeding into the electrical system (and thus being paid for your output) is a necessary step if you want to get financing, among other things. UtilityDive points out in an article the...
My Covid kludge (or kluge – you choose) is a hand bandana
Since I'm in the high-risk group for being felled by the Covid-19 virus (male, over 60) I think I should be adult enough to take some precautions. Here's my kludge (or possibly kluge with varying pronunciaition): I carry one of the bandanas I've accumulated in my life...
Does cloud seeding really work and if so, how much?
Cloud seeding is one of those ideas that seems useful and obvious. Just sprinkle particles from a plane flying through storm clouds, and moisture will condense around the particles and fall onto the ground as rain or snow. Voila: Drought is ended or ski season is...
A little data exercise: How many women are frustrated getting Real IDs
The Monitor has been getting contacted for months by married women who had trouble getting REAL ID licenses because their marriage certificates don’t reflect that they took their husband’s name. Since REAL IDs will be required to board an airplane as of...
West Virginia gave us wild turkeys 50 years ago because we gave them fishers
This is the 50th anniversary of wild turkeys being reintroduced to New Hampshire after hunting and deforestation had wiped them out. New Hampshire Fish and Game's magazine "Wildlife Journal" reprinted an article from 1969 that carried hopeful headline "Turkeys Again?...
Super Tuesday could have really used ranked-choice voting
If a fan of ranked-choice voting sat up all night to devise a scenario that would bolster their argument, they could hardly do better than the Super Tuesday Democratic primary in Maine and other states. It’s not just that ranked-choice voting is best when there are a...
Berry growers are psyched about UNH research
Growing Procuce, an industry news site for "specialty crop growers"*, is very excited about research at UNH that uses tunnels and different varieties to greatly extend the berry-growing season in the Northeast. They more than doubled the annual yield of strawberries...
Maine voters soundly reject anti-vax law
An attempt to expand parental vaccine exemptions for kids was soundly defeated in Maine on Tuesday, with 74% rejecting the ballot initiative. From the Portland Press-Herald (story here): The “no” vote was widespread throughout Maine, winning big in the cities, small...
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