Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
A microgrid for UNH and environs, but details lacking
Eversource and officials with UNH and the town of Durham say they're planning a microgrid in that college town that bring all the benefits that such grids can bring, including resiliency, shaving of peak energy costs and cleaner power. Unlike a similar announcement...
Anti-vax folks will love this: N.H. measles case was a vaccine reaction
This is a breaking story as I am putting together the newsletter, and more details may emerge. This news is good for the patient who doesn't have measles, but it's unfortunate for those of us trying to prevent anti-vaccine foolishness from deluding the public. One of...
A ‘non-wires alternative’ to electric line upgrades
What is it with the little towns on the Connecticut River west of Keene? First Chesterfield sets up the state's first municipally-supported broadband network with Consolidated Communications, now its neighbor Westmoreland is the target of an unusual 'non-wires...
Sneaker-net lives!
I moderated my 60th - if I'm counting correctly - Science Cafe New Hampshire this week. It featured three UNH physics professors ( Francois Foucart, James Ryan, and David Mattingly) talking about black holes and other deep-space astrophysics stuff. Science fans came...
Small ‘nudges’ may undermine support for big (and necessary) change
An intriguing paper in Nature argues that the usual method of getting people into environmental activism by doing little things first (turn out that light! take a shorter shower!) is actually counter-productive for getting real change. Across six experiments,...
Animal + electric transformer = darkness
In the course of my career I have written several articles when an animal (squirrel, hawk, something else that I forget) gets into an electrical system and blows out power to thousands of people. Here's an example. Spring is prime animals-screw-up-power season, so...
Join a statewide makerspace flash mob
New Hampshire has had makerspaces for almost a decade, so the first one and by most measures the biggest wants to celebrate. MakeIt Labs in Nashua is holding its first regional festival next month. MakeIt Fest will have representatives from New Hampshire makerspaces...
No-till & other types of sustainable farming are catching on in N.H.
From UNH News Service: New Hampshire farmers are increasingly moving to more sustainable farming practices, with those adopting no-till, reduced-till, and cover crop practices dramatically increasing since 2012, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture....
N.H. hotel disclaims connection to anti-vaccine push in New York’s Jewish Orthodox community
Even as New Hampshire faces another measles scare (an infected child in Keene), a North County hotel beloved by parts of New York's Orthodox Jewish community is pushing back against that group's anti-vaccination claims. As I report in the Monitor (read the story...
Wood-burning power plant’s waste heat may grow some leafy greens
Burgess BioPower, a wood-burning electricity plant in the North County city of Berlin, has gotten a $500,000 state grant to heat a greenhouse for vegetables with its waste heat. From a press release: The recovered energy will be used to heat a state-of-the-art, $25...
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