Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Tallest chestnut tree in North America found in Maine
The Bangor Daily News reports that the tallest chestnut tree in North America has been found in Maine, not far from the New Hampshire border. It may not be the biggest, because others are fatter, but it's taller by a good 20 feet over the next competitor. The American...
Looking for Sims2 cheats? You are so typical …
A site called Decluttr, a place for selling used CDs, has created one of those comparing-states maps using data from Google. Most such maps are pretty lame ("what's the drunkest state?!") but this one is clever: "Using data from Google Trends we looked at which...
At 90,000 feet up, balloons don’t last too long
These photos were sent from the recent launch of the weather balloon in New Hampshire as part of the educational/research project known as SMART (I wrote about it last week). When the balloons get to 90,000 to 100,000 feet up, the air is so thin that the pressure of...
Dreaming of a drone? You may have to register it
(This story ran in Wednesday's Monitor, but I couldn't post it yesterday because of GraniteGeek's web hosting problems) If you hope to unwrap a new drone for Christmas, be ready to register with the government – an idea that isn’t necessarily popular, even if it’s...
If demographics is destiny, N.H. employers have a problem
There is a saying that "demographics is destiny," meaning that everything which human society does depends on the makeup of its population. If you're a New Hampshire employer, you may want to read this story, which ran in Saturday's Monitor: CONCORD – Economist...
A bitcoin debit card gets rolled out, because nobody’s actually spending the darn stuff
The telling part of the Wired.com story about Coinbase releasing a bitcoin debit card is this: Coinbase, the Silicon Valley startup that operates digital bitcoin wallets for over 2.8 million people across the globe, about 20 percent of the transactions on its network...
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 -...
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