Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Tantalyzing hints of some geeky lawmaking as NH legislators return
In New Hampshire lawmaking there is something called an LSR, for Legislative Service Request, which is basically a very first draft at a bill that lawmakers want to get passed. Hundreds of them land at this time of year, jostling to get into line for hearings and all...
There’s no way Amazon is coming to N.H., but inviting them was still worth our time
Like a bunch of places, I wrote about New Hampshire pitch to host Amazon's second headquarters. Since there's zero chance it will come here, I was prepared to be pretty snide about the effort, but the state's pitch is pretty good. It didn't offer any tax breaks but...
Why is it so hard to grow organic strawberries?
Scientists with the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire have launched a research project that aims to develop the first varieties of strawberries designed for organic agriculture in the United States. The organic strawberry...
It’s probably true that weak foliage, not peak foliage, is going to become more common
This fall's leaf peeping has been something of a dud - "peak foliage? how about #weakfoliage" is one Twitter comment I've seen - due largely to the ridiculously warm September and early October we've had, which squelches the production of some of the chemicals that...
ICAD cancer detection systems wins NH High Tech Product of the Year
Manchester, NH – iCAD, Inc., a Nashua-based company, won the favor of the judges and the crowd at the NH High Tech Council’s (Council) 12th Annual Product of the Year Awards. The event was held Thursday, October 12 at the Manchester Country Club. One of the Council’s...
If you see something, say something – about rabbits, that is.
From N.H. Fish and Game: NH Rabbit Reports (nhrabbitreports.org), a new citizen science project sponsored by UNH Cooperative Extension and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, with support from the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire, is seeking...
The greatest direct-democracy petition ever: Fixing the geometry of road-sign soccer balls
This has no New Hampshire connection, but it's too good to pass up. There's a petition to the government of the United Kingdom to alter the picture it uses on road signs pointing to soccer ("football") stadiums, because the current logo is geometrically impossible: It...
It’s not easy to make a river stay in place when it doesn’t want to
The Suncook River in Epsom jumped its banks during the 2006 Mother's Day Flood and moved into a sand pit, much to the dismay of the sand pit's owners and owners of other nearby property. It has been chewing its way through the sandy banks ever since, to the point that...
Concord mayors cast a light on The Great Disappearing Facial Hair Mystery
(If you want to listen instead of read, listen to me talk about this weird topic with Peter Biello on NHPR) If you’d like to see an intriguing example of how technology can alter human behavior, pause on the landing between the first and second floors of Concord City...
With driverless cars coming way faster than anyone figured, NH lawmakers scramble to catch up
Last year I reported on a law to study what to do about driverless cars in NH - it was sent to a study committee, which can be sensible for a death knell, depending on how it goes - but the pace of autonomous vehicle adoption just keeps speeding up. A bill is being...
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