Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Grasslands beat forests in taking advantage of warming winters
From UNH News Service: As the climate changes, Northeast winters are warming more rapidly than other times of the year. While this may mean favorable growing conditions start earlier in the year, some ecosystems, such as perennial grasslands, can take better advantage...
Ranked-choice voting for the Democratic primary – now available in the Monitor!
If there was ever an election where ranked-choice voting would be useful, the upcoming Democratic Presidential Primary is that election. A slew of candidates! No obvious front-runner! A range of policies and personalities to choose from! It’s a textbook example of a...
Why are stone wall patterns different around the state? (Or are they?)
The citizen-science online program New Hampshire Stone Wall Mapper has generated a lot of interest since it launched in January. (Here's my story about it back then.) More than 146,000 walls, some 11,200 miles worth, have been found via LIDAR maps of New Hampshire...
Trumpeter swan seen in N.H. for first time in centuries
There are so many ecological disasters these days that it's nice to hear about an improvement, like the resurrection of the Trumpeter Swan, one of which returned to New Hampshire during migration this year for the first time in perhaps 200 years. By 1900, the...
By forcing our trash calamity, ‘the Chinese did us a favor’
There are a lot of surprises in a new state report about solid waste, including the fact that other states are shipping tens of thousands of tons of trash to our landfills because it’s cheaper here, but perhaps the most surprising thing is that it really shouldn’t...
Batteries kept 1,100 Vt. homes running during that recent storm
Green Mountain Power in Vermont is a pretty small utility, as electric utilities go, but it's pretty innovative. Its battery-storage program has drawn a lot of attention nationally, and this week's surprisingly damaging storm gave it a test, as GreenTech Media...
Rural broadband push in N.H. gets new life
The long-stalled effort to bring fast internet to rural towns in New Hampshire is getting a new look these days. Make that a bunch of new looks. “Folks have finally realized that existing carriers are not going to give it to them. If they want something in their town...
What are roadsides good for? Pollinator habitat
Here’s one way to think about the latest effort by New Hampshire Fish and Game to support pollinators: It’s the skinniest environmental program in the state. The target of the program, which just got a funding boost, are the rights-of-way that the...
“Challenge” to cut waste is actually a challenge to the entire system
Today’s lesson about the reality of fighting pollution starts on the floor of my barn. For years I have bought compressed bags of sawdust from regional lumber mills as bedding for a few sheep. It is good bedding, uses a byproduct of New England industry, and makes...
Less snow means fewer beetles in our woods (which is a bad thing)
A long-running study at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest - where long-running studies are the norm - found that the population of beetles fell an incredible 83% between mid 1970s and mid 2010s. The most likely cause? Less snow. The finding indicates "that snow cover...
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