Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Report: Kamen teams with Toyota to update his i-Bot standing wheelchari
Back in September 1999 I saw Dean Kamen demonstrate the IBot in the DEKA offices in the Manchester millyard. The IBOT is - was? - a wheelchair that could stand upright and climb stairs using a variation of the technology that two years later fueled the Segway, and it...
Electric car fast charger for the North Country – no, it’s not from Tesla
The new fast-charging system unveiled Friday at a popular campground in Lancaster, in the part of the state known as North of the Notches, is the first such public facility in the North Country and the first non-Tesla Level 3 charger available in the state for the...
Looking at sea rise in a very specific place
Outside/In, a podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio, takes a look at the reality of sea rise and how it will affect coastal communities in its most recent session. The podcast focuses on the extremely vulnerable community of Nahant, Mass. (the aerial photo above...
Let’s bend some metal! Wait, I mean “Let’s deform some metal!”
If you're psyched by "deep drawing, hydroforming, and electromagnetic forming" processes, or finite element analysis modeling or "biaxial tensile testing equipment and portable and non-contact strain measurements using digital imaging correlation" then have I got an...
Who knew that making the right tire for electric cars was hard? (Not me)
Wired has a great story about the difficulty of engineering good tires for electric cars, a subject I'd never thought of. Great-handling tires don’t last. Durable tires are loud. Quiet tires can’t handle. The rubber wrapped around the wheels on every new car is a...
Deer version of ‘mad cow disease’ still isn’t here – but stay away from urine-based lures
New Hampshire’s deer population is still free of a form of mad cow disease that once seemed likely to arrive here, having moved as close as New York state, but to keep us safe the state is asking hunters to give up something useful: Urine-based lures. “While it is...
Hurrah! Area code 603 will reign supreme in New Hampshire for years to come
My favorite news stories are those that use a news hook - something that requires a story right now - to explain the workings behind everyday objects or processes we don't think about much. How does a culvert work? Why do we drive on the right side of the road? Why...
“Trillion” is so mind-bogglingly huge; how can we measure it?
My Monitor column today is spurred by ongoing issues with drinking water pollution via chemicals that are measured down to parts per trillion. Trillion! For crying out loud! It gives me an excuse to provide my favorite way to think of wicked large numbers, via time: A...
You can (almost) legally coast in NH – but only under 15 mph
One of the oddest laws on the books in New Hampshire is one that makes it illegal to coast your car in neutral. I wrote about the law last year but the story is currently stuck in limbo due to the Monitor's transition to a new computer system, so I can't link to it:...
Robots taking our jobs, cont’d: Burger-flippers & lawyers
The two latest bits of news on the "robots are taking all the jobs" beat: The national burger joint Wendy's says it will replace some workers with self-service kiosks at 6,000 of its eateries. A national law firm has "hired" an artificial-intelligence thingamajig from...
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