Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
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...
Is maple syrup causing earthquakes through reverse fracking?
The Monitor just got a joking email - at least, I hope it's a joke - speculating that the recent small earthquake in Warner was caused by sap being pulled out of maple trees as part of sugar season. Fracking causes earthquakes by pumping water into the ground, so why...
Science fiction based on climate change – “sci-cli”? “cli-fi”?- is a big thing
I started reading science fiction around the time the first Earth Day was created, so climate-related disasters have always been part of the mix. But with real climate-related disaster on the horizon, that mix is getting more potent and is getting the message across...
Northern Pass dwarfed by proposed Midwest wind-power transmission lines
The NY Times has a story about federal approval of some Midwestern wind-power transmission lines, which shows how long and powerful they are - think Northern Pass times three or four. I've swiped their map above, which makes our massive proposal look kind of small. Of...
Recent New Hampshire patents
By Targeted News Service: DEKA Products, Manchester, N.H., has been assigned an ornamental design patent (D751,690) developed by four co-inventors for an ornamental design for an “apparatus to control fluid flow through a tube.” The co-inventors are Bob D. Peret,...
A fifth of New England’s electricity will be distributed generation within “a decade or so”
"In the next decade or so, New England’s power grid is on course to becoming a hybrid grid where up to 20% of the power system’s resources are made up of smaller power resources connected directly to retail customers or to local distribution utilities—and not the...
Forget global disaster – this is really important: Climate change is going to hurt real estate values!
I suspect that UNH researcher Cameron Wake, who has been warning about climate change for a couple of decades - I've been writing about him since at least 2004 - is getting a little tired of operating within academic restraints. At a recent editorial board meeting...
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