Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Near-space balloon launch on both coasts, including in N.H.
Transcontinental Space Weather Balloon Launch is a pretty good headline, especially when it partly involves high school and college students in New Hampshire. As I write about in an upcoming Monitor story (am I allowed to scoop myself?), high school students who do...
Salmon becomes first genetically modified non-plant approved for U.S. consumption
Speaking of genetic modification of living things, as we were a couple posts ago, the FDA today approved the sale of genetically modified salmon. The salmon, which grows much faster than unmodified fish, is the first GMO non-plant to be approved for human consumption...
Companies’ biggest cyber threat problem works in their own cubicles
New Hampshire Business Review held a "cybersecurity" forum recently (yes, that term is still used - I kind of like it, actually) that looks like it was pretty good, judging from the paper's report on it (read it here). The headline gives the bad news: "Employees pose...
The fast rise of genetically modified beasts: a future Science Cafe
The last Science Cafe NH of the fall was held last night at Killarney's Irish Pub in Nashua, discussing solar power. There were lots of questions about financing and regulations, but geekiness also abounded (sine waves!). Science Cafe in Nashua is undergoing meiosis -...
Keene’s public bitcoin machine has a lonely birthday – the others have shut down
If you’re in the retail business, it can be helpful if your competition disappears . . . all over New England. “They’ve got people driving in from Boston, from New York. It’s the only place for them to go,” said Ian Freeman, concerning what appears to be the only...
America’s “best bathroom” is a public toilet – but what a public toilet
This is a function of design more than technology, but geeks love good design, so let's celebrate the outdoor public toilets in a small Colorado town that have been named America's Best Bathroom by the corporate-identity firm Cintas. Reports the Denver Post: The two...
670 trillion (or maybe 425 trillion) : The number of ‘peep-able’ leaves on New Hampshire trees
In 2009, in the spirit of finding something to write about when news gets slow over the holidays – no, wait, I mean in the spirit of providing an innovative service to readers – I calculated how many “peep-able” leaves exist in New Hampshire. I just did something...
Checking out a game jam (the event, not the confiture) in Concord
My favorite part of the Game Jam held last weekend at NH Technical Institute in Concord are the house rules: Participants MUST sleep at least four hours, eat meals and take one shower every 24-hour period. Here's the story.
2,538 tons of leaves at 5 grams per leaf equals …
I have a story in today's Monitor about collecting leaves in Concord which includes numbers - numbers! Granite Geek loves numbers, so here they are: A few numbers about leaf collection by the street department of the city of Concord: Amount collected: 2,538 tons in...
200,000 miles on my car – I remember when 100,000 was astonishing
Until this week, I have never owned a car with 200,000 miles on the odometer despite our family policy of driving cars into the ground. We have owned lots of Subarus, which tend to rust out somewhere around 175,000, so congratulations to Honda for making a Civic that...
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