Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Talking about research on Mars (well – Utah)
Erika Rydberg, a 3D printing expert with the interesting job title of Digital Creation Technologist at Plymouth State University, spent two weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, where people go to simulate life on Mars (except for the gravity) to help...
You can either listen to me or you can listen to me
You can listen to me talk about the collapse of recycling with Chris Ryan on Concord's WKXL radio (here) or you can listen to me talk to the Monitor's Steve Leone on our Granite Geek podcast (here). Or I suppose you could listen to one with your left and the other...
A gigantic 3-D printer turns wood waste into – whatever
A 3-D printer the size of a small room that can produce pieces up to 6 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet made of a 50-50 mix of plastic resins and wood cellulose, at the rate of 110 pounds an hour, is being installed at the University of Maine, with hopes that it will open new...
Hybrid-vs.-GMO disagreement is heating up in efforts to restore the chestnut tree
As I mentioned in March, an effort to develop a genetically modified American chestnut tree to resist the blight that largely destroyed the species a century ago has split long-running effort to develop a resistant strain through cross-breeding. Researchers at the New...
Letting trains know what’s going on around them is surprisingly complicated
150 years ago a New Hampshire native named Thomas Hall received U.S. Patent No. 89,308 for improved electrical signals to trains - basically, using new-fangled electricity to move large round signals known as a "banjo switch" to let train engineers know what was...
How do you map three billion acres of ocean?
From UNH News Service: The University of New Hampshire is one of five ocean science institutions chosen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over the next five years to explore an estimated three billion acres of U.S. ocean territory as part...
It’s time I stopped patting myself on the back for recycling
The collapse of the American recycling industry has made me face what has been true all along: Recycling is a band-aid at best and a distraction at worst. This is depressing because I've been something of a recycling rock star and feeling very impressed with myself...
UNH finds new strain of canine distemper in wild animals here
From UNH News Service: A distinct strain of canine distemper virus, which is a widespread virus of importance to wildlife and domesticated dogs, has been identified in wild animals in New Hampshire and Vermont, according to pathologists with the New Hampshire...
Citizen science study: Ticks are dangerous all year – plus, a new disease
A citizen-science study based in Plymouth has found what appears the be New Hampshire’s first case of a new tick-borne disease and also produced some unwanted news: Tick bites are dangerous all year round. The first year of research by the nonprofit BeBop Labs has...
When is a tiny house not a tiny house? When it’s (maybe) an in-law apartment
I've written a lot lately about the state's housing crunch and the possibility that alternative buildings can help. (I think the most recent story - read it here - is the most interesting, because it tries to find causes for a housing shortfall when our population is...
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