Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
More on that metaphor about the electric grid as a bathtub
Science Cafe Concord on Tuesday discussed the power grid, and how its being forced to change in the face of renewable energy, distributed energy, microgrids, storage and other technologies, all fueled by our growing worries about climate change. It was a very good...
UNH tool helps colleges keep track of how much carbon & nitrogen they produce
Thousands of institutions use a UNH tool to track their greenhouse gas emissions. The new tool lets them also track nitrogen pollution, which can hurt local water and air quality.
Free talk to discuss drones as a research tool
I recently wrote a column about researchers using drones to study archaeology in NH, but that's far from the only way scientists are using drones. They are cropping up in lots of research, from agricultural studies to creating three-dimensional models to surveying...
That disturbing video of a giant crab attacking a sea bird came from a Dartmouth researcher
The video brings out our inherent species-ism – we root for the warm-blooded creature over the invertebrate – as well as reminding us that Nature can be really, really mean.
Watching a ginko tree at UNH dump its leaves and getting a look at (yeah, you guessed it) climate change
Serita Frey, a soil microbiologist and a professor at UNH in Durham, got curious and found old data about the date that a campus ginko tree dumps its leaves in late fall. (The species famously drops all its leaves at once, like a strip tease for attention-deficit...
With fewer places to sell low-grade wood, loggers are hurting
Forests’ effects on wildlife, water management, carbon sequestration and other geeky topics is affected by the financial status of our logging industry. So while it’s boring to think about economics and regulation and statehouse fights over subsidies (yawn), it makes a difference.
New Hampshire’s famous alien abduction case is going to be a virtual-reality thriller
Betty and Barney Hill’s 1961 “alien abduction” while returning to Portsmouth from Canada has been made into books, a real movie, a made-for-TV movie, and for all I know an anime and shadow-puppet show. Now it’s going to be a virtual reality thriller.
King Canute couldn’t hold back the tides, but UNH thinks beach grass might do it
It’s expensive to build a wall to keep out the rising ocean. Maybe a better idea is to get nature to do it for you.
Manchester city flag celebrates one of the coolest inventions from the Industrial Revolution – happily, they won’t change it
UPDATE: This item, my column in the Concord Monitor, ran Tuesday morning, on election day. Manchester voters soundly rejected any change, choosing the original flag by a margin of 15-1 over any other choice, reports the Union-Leader. I didn't realize I had such sway...
Solar panels & energy efficiency mean N.E. power plants are going to be selling less power in years to come
Forecast: Total annual use of electric energy declines 0.6% per year. Without solar and energy efficient, it would grow by 0.9% annually.
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