Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Science Cafe is back in Concord: Genes, genealogy and cold cases
One of the most surprising big-picture changes that has taken place during my life is the way biology has taken the mantel of “most interesting scientific field” from physics. When I was a kid, all the little geeks wanted to become physicists. Physics had relativity...
It’s March Madness month, for CoCoRaHS
Regular readers will know that for close to a decade I've measured precipitation every day for a national citizen-science group called CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain Hail Snow network). I mention it so often that some readers have made fun of me for it ("go...
Celebrate World Water Day – tour a sewage plant
What better way to spend your lunch hour than visiting the local sewage-treatment plant? That's not a joke - wastewater plants are fascinating places full of interesting engineering solutions and they usually don't smell bad. I heartily recommend touring one if you...
Living on Mars (well – Utah) with 3-D printers and drones
If you were looking to set up a geek trifecta, you could do worse than to combine 3D printing, drones and a mission to Mars. Erika Rydberg, a Concord resident and 3D printing expert with the interesting job title of Digital Creation Technologist at Plymouth State...
Why do boys have so much more autism than girls?
From UNH News Service Researchers at the University of New Hampshire are one step closer to helping answer the question of why autism is four times more common in boys than in girls after identifying and characterizing the connection of certain proteins in the brain...
‘Tiny homes’, big debate
As the debate about tiny homes makes its way through the state Legislature the discussion often hinges on items like square footage and septic hookups, but there’s another factor that one fan says is important to keep in mind: School loans. “A friend of mine was going...
Offshore wind – its lobbying, at least – comes to New Hampshire
I don't usually pay attention to news about business groups but I think this announcement from Clean Energy New Hampshire, a lobbying/networking industry group, is interesting: EnBW North America, a subsidiary of German-based EnBW AG – one of the leading offshore wind...
Hey cell phone addicts: You’re allowed to turn them off!
There is, of course, endless discussion both online and in real life about people's addiction to their smartphones and many solutions being proposed: apps that dampen your usage, social compacts among friends to cut back, boxes with time locks to hold the phone for a...
George Squashington Pale Ale!
From UNH News Service: University of New Hampshire brewing science students have taken a trip back in history to brew a butternut squash pale ale using squash grown as part of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station’s cucurbit (a.k.a. gourd) breeding program. The brew,...
They celebrated video game pioneer Ralph Baer in Manchester
Last weekend Manchester celebrated Ralph Baer, a local boy led the team that created the first home video game, Magnavox Odyssey, while working for Sanders Associates (now BAE) in Nashua. Part of the celebration was playing a giant ping-pong game in honor of his first...
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