Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Granite Geek on the radio: We’re out of the solar system – really!
On NHPR this week I talked about the UNH research that explained anomalous readings from Voyager 1 and showed that it is, indeed, passing through the edge of the solar system (for certain definitions of "edge"). Listen or read the transcript right here.
Canadian firm uses bumblebees to apply pesticides
In response to an article I wrote about a New Hampshire pollinator conference on Monday, I was notified by a reader about an interesting Canadian company that has developed a system which it claims will let wild bees deliver precise amounts of pesticide or other...
Survey: 20% of pediatricians won’t treat unvaccinated babies
A story on the Boston Globe, part of its specialty Stat publication, tells of a pushback by some doctors against the anti-vaccination movement: More than 20 percent of pediatricians “always” or “often” turn away families who decline to get their babies vaccinated,...
My “water year” chart shows how dry we were
The above chart shows my measurements during the "water year" of Oct. 1 through Oct. 1 (an arbitrary period used by meteorologists to analyze precipitation). I make measurements as part of CoCoRaHS, a regional citizen-science precipitation-gathering group. Blue is...
GraniteGeek on the Air: Gender disparity (plus, “buzzwordify” is now a word)
My weekly talk with New Hampshire Public Radio's Peter Biello took a slightly different turn this week; we didn't discuss my Monitor column because NHPR had already done a story about the topic - instead we discussed a short story of that that started as a post in...
UNH: Yes, Voyager 1 did leave the heliosphere, despite those weird readings
By UNH News Service: Why did NASA’s Voyager 1, when it became the first probe to enter interstellar space in mid-2012, observe a magnetic field that was inconsistent with that derived from other spacecraft observations? A UNH-led study published today in the...
Don’t underestimate the joys of not going to the gas station
One of the main reasons I'd like to have an electric car is not having to go to the gas station. Gassing up at home every night (so to speak) sounds awesome, and I've interviewed a few owners over the year who say they love not having to go out of their way to fill up...
Hoisting a tree (not by its own petard, however)
This was my view driving home last night (picture taken through a rain-spotted windshield as I waited for the very damp guy with Mayer Tree Service to flip the Stop sign over to Slow). Instead of cutting down trees next to the power lines, they cut them upward. The...
Bitcoin developer (he knows Satoshi Nakamoto!) will be in Keene on Friday
Keenevention is an awkwardly named but intriguing annual event held by the Free State Project in Keene aimed at the activist portion of the libertarian crowd. I don't count myself among them - too many think "The Fountainhead" is non-fiction - but they bring up some...
In NH, 7.5 boys take AP computer science exam for every girl who takes it
If New Hampshire wants to get more females interested in computer science, they'd better get cracking, judging from high schoolers' interest: For every N.H. girl who took the AP exam in computer science last May, 7.47 boys took it. That 7.47-to-1 ratio is by far the...
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