Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
A reminder: The Atlantic salmon isn’t completely gone from the U.S. yet
We've given up trying to bring the Atlantic salmon back to New Hampshire - decades-long programs on the Connecticut and Merrimack rivers were abandoned a few years ago because they weren't accomplishing diddly-squat - but they're still trying hard in Maine. The U.S....
How do you put a dollar value on forest (except for the value of cutting it down)?
The first-ever inventory of community-owned forests in New Hampshire that was released last week included an interesting number: $146 million. This was the “economic value” researchers put on the 180,439 acres divided up among 1,691 parcels, each 10 acres or larger,...

‘Right to repair’ energizes fans, alarms companies
If you want to be terrified about living in your own house, may I suggest you attend a legislative hearing about right-to-repair laws. If the hearing goes as one did in Concord last week, you will learn from industry representatives that you can be killed or maimed by...
Making a vortex in water is like heating it, from bubbles’ point of view
Until sent me a press release about a company incentive used by two ice rinks in the N.H. Seacoast to install REALice systems (that goofy capitalization is the trade name) to save money: Ice rinks traditionally use extremely hot water to resurface the ice to remove...
Solar-and-storage sneaks into New England power’s mix
A solar-and-battery mix from the national company Sunrun was included in the recent forward capacity auction held by ISO-NE, marking the first time it has been included along with power plants and demand response in figuring out whether we're safe from brownouts over...
No Wile E. Coyote jokes here, please
Coyotes are the only major fur-bearing animal that has no hunting limits in New Hampshire: You can shoot them any time of the year (although only during daytime, unless you have written landowner permission - night hunting is generally illegal in NH). There's an...
Mass. students taxing state exam online did worse than those taking it on paper
Massachusetts students who took state exams online in 2015 scored significantly worse than their peers who took the same exams on paper, especially in English/language arts, although the effect faded after a couple years of testing. That's from an article in Education...
Americans are moving out of rural counties as fast as they can
Americans like to tell ourselves that at heart we're rugged individualist farmers and cowboys people living close to the land, modern descendants of Daniel Boone and Hiawatha and Laura Ingalls Wilder. But the reality is that we can't wait to move away from country...

Spelling matters – for one New Hampshire lake, at least.
What a difference a K makes. “It has been an aggravation and irritation for some time,” is how David Thorpe of Meredith puts it when talking about whether the letter K belongs in the name of a small lake. “In the last 10 to 15 years, with GPS becoming so ubiquitous,...
Vein pattern analysis! Bitcoin! Phone spoofing! And more NH lawmaking fun
Evading politics while working in Concord is no easy feat – the other day I had to shoo away a presidential exploratory committee before I could get into my car – but newsroom colleagues can attest that I’m pretty good at it. Yet, even a government-phobe like me has...