Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Zero-waste at home is hard – and to a certain extent, irrelevant
I am not a fan of "challenges" - you know, when a group or person says "I am issuing a challenge for you to do XYZ!" rather than saying "You should do XYZ because of these reasons". Challenges strike me as a cheap way to make a point of view seem more noble or...
A 99% accurate medical test is wrong half the time. Why?
Here’s a riddle for you: How can a medical test that is 99% accurate be wrong half the time, even when it is performed correctly? The answer: When the disease is rare. That doesn’t seem to make much sense – testing is even more important when a disease is rare, isn’t...
Despite that small coastline, N.H. wants a piece of offshore wind
The United States seems to be finally waking up to the realization that offshore wind farms are a relatively painless, although not cheap, method of generating large-scale renewable energy. As NHPR reports, New Hampshire doesn't want to be left out: New Hampshire,...
4,000 sticks along North Country highways – appropriate technology in action
If you want to make sure that your snowplows don't hit roadside reflector poles that are buried in snow, how do you mark them? If you're in a tree-filled place like the White Mountains, why not use trees? Like, say, 4,000 of them? That's what I wrote about in the...
Flying cars! Times two!!
There are not one but two companies with a presence in New Hampshire working on flying cars, although the vehicles more accurately described as planes that can drive. If you want to learn more - and you know you do - click through to my story in the Concord Monitor....
“The Placebo Effect Works And You Can Catch It From Your Doctor”
That excellent headline is on this excellent NPR article about an interesting study by Dartmouth researchers who found evidence that "patients can pick up on subtle facial cues from doctors that reveal the doctor's belief in how effective a treatment will be. And that...
Vt. city tries out a blockchain-fueled polling app
Since June, South Burlington, Vt. has been partnering with Consensus, a Toronto-based tech firm, on a new smartphone application that allows South Burlington to poll its residents on public policy questions. That's from an article on Seven Days Vermont, one of two...
If first frost is coming later, it’s hard to see in Concord
My weather wishfulness is split this time of year. I want it to get cold so skiing will start, but I want it to stay warm so all those green tomatoes in my garden will ripen before frost. This mental quandary led me to wonder how the date of our first frost is being...
Another makerspace in N.H. (Concord will *finally* get one)
Concord will soon be joining the ranks of New Hampshire cities with a community do-it-yourself center known as a makerspace. A nonprofit that has long been working on bringing a makerspace to the city has signed a lease on a portion of the former Beede Electric...
Other NH towns would like that broadband deal
This year the little town Chesterfield partnered with Consolidated Communications to bring fiber-to-the-home to the towns. The Keene Sentinel reports that a number of other towns in the region would like to do the same thing (story is here): Officials from several...
Return to the Concord Monitor