Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
How about a summer camp that goes back a couple millennia
If you could go back in time, would you go back 2,000 years or 200? That’s a trick question: you can’t go back in time. Alas! But you can come close by participating in the state’s annual archaeological field schools, helping excavations at a Native American site in...
Living off the grid gets tougher when you get old
Really interesting story in the Portland Press-Herald about some hippy types who went off the grid decades ago, and are finding the lifestyle harder to maintain as they hit their 70s. (The whole piece is here) Forget harvesting wood, even loading the wood stove...
Recent patents in New Hampshire
By Targeted News Service Recent patents issued to people or companies in New Hampshire include: Allegro Microsystems, Worcester, Massachusetts, has been assigned a patent (9,291,876) developed by two co-inventors for a "system and method for controlling a motor." The...
MIT is going to recalibrate the Smoot! (Wait – what day is today?)
This is the best news story for today's date: Nearly 60 years after the smoot first appeared on the Mass. Ave. bridge, the MIT-borne unit of measurement will be recalibrated to the exact measurements of its namesake, Oliver Smoot ’62. members of the MIT community...
AC/DC played really loud helps anti-cancer drugs work – honest
Vibrations caused by rock music have been found to increase a drug’s therapeutic window by creating a Teflon-like coating over the micro particles used in drug delivery. Researchers from the University of South Australia used AC/DC’s Thunderstruck to cause porous...
We have a weapon against robot overlords: Faded road paint
Reuters has a fun story about autonomous cars failing because they can't handle crappy roads. Shoddy infrastructure has become a roadblock to the development of self-driving cars, vexing engineers and adding time and cost. Poor markings and uneven signage on the 3...
How long can Zika virus survive in my private parts (and other questions from Science Cafe)
If you missed the March 16 Science Cafe NH in Nashua, here's a write up by a volunteer named Benjamin DiZoglio, released by Dan Marcek, who moderates the discussion: On Wednesday, March 16th, NH’s Science Café brought citizens and experts to Killarney's Irish Pub for...
Stirling engine has produced more discussion than anything I’ve ever written
My column Tuesday about the possibility of having a Stirling engine power part of a state-owned building has generated more online discussion that anything I've ever written, I believe - more than three dozen comments from two dozen people at the moment, and they're...
Efficiency, not sunshine, is why New England has great rooftop-solar potential
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory says claims rooftop solar by itself could provide 40 percent of the U.S. electricity needs. Which is cool, but what's really interesting is that, as the above map shows, New England does really well in terms of how much of its...
New Hampshire’s per-capita CO2 production has plummeted
New Hampshire's per-capita CO2 emissions have fallen 25 percent from 2000 to 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Energy - better than the national average of 19 percent. Massachusetts' figure also declined 25 percent, Vermont down 19 percent and Maine down a...
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