Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Future electricity prices in New England keep going down, down, down
Making electricity in New England is going to keep getting cheaper, judging from the results of the latest regional auction for power production three years down the road. The 14th annual Forward Capacity Auction, in which firms predict the cost of...
Looking for a better flight schedule? Math to the rescue!
Recently I flew to D.C. to visit my family and had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to make my flight in Manchester because the next flight was way too late. Between yawns, I muttered deprecations about American Airlines all day. Vikrant Vaze, an assistant professor of...
The Iowa caucus was like ranked-choice voting, except not really
(Update: In response to this piece, a former colleague noted that he has described the Iowa caucuses as "ranked-choice voting presented as performative dance" - which is such a great line that I had to include it here.) Here in New Hampshire we pretend the Iowa...
Speaking of ranked-choice voting, Maine’s faces another obstacle
Maine might be the nation's leader in alternative voting systems, since it is the first place to hold them for statewide races as we've discussed many times (including at Science Cafe N.H. in Concord in January). But that doesn't mean everybody is happy about it. The...
Long-disputed N.H. wind farm is finally finished
New Hampshire has its fourth utility scale wind farm: The 29-MW Antrim Wind Farm has finally gone online, reports the Keene Sentinel. Like pretty much anything being built these days, the wind farm was opposed by neighbors and groups who thought it was ugly, or would...
Amtrak sets passenger record while Manchester airport’s numbers keep slipping
Two pieces of New Hampshire transportation usage data came out over the weekend. First, Amtrak's Downeaster, the passenger trains that run between Boston and Brunswick, Maine, (not Bangor, as I initially said) with several stops in the Seacoast area, is doing quite...
N.H. wants to be a leader in flying cars (without mandatory seat belt usage, though)
When it comes to New Hampshire’s future with flying cars – or “roadable aircraft,” to give the preferred term – advocates have their main argument ready. “Somebody’s got to go first. Why not us?” said Rep. Steven Smith, R-Charleston. Smith was...
Do those networked doorbells break New Hampshire wiretapping laws?
New Hampshire is one of 12 states that require everybody who is in a conversation consent to audio recording because it can be done. (That's why reporters as "do you mind if I record this interview?" instead of just turning on the app.) But those networked...
If cross-country skiing requires snowmaking, is it really cross-country skiing?
We all know things are going to change as the climate warps around us. But it’s still startling when a change actually arrives. Like this one: Cross-country skiing in New Hampshire needs snowmaking. This seems very wrong, even to a downhill skier like me. Donning skis...
UNH heading back to the sun – its orbit, at least
When the new Solar Orbiter blasts off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in early February, it will carry with it an instrument designed and built by researchers from the University of New Hampshire Space Science Center (SSC) to study the Earth’s closest star, the sun....
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