Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
A (very) local history of the telephone system
I love the history of telephone systems - the way they grew from tiny separated systems, with a wire connecting two buildings, into town-wide networks, then regional, then national. The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in Peterborough, published a nice look at how they...
Rooftop solar in N.E. boosts grid reliability even in winter
I missed one of the big stories in the recent ISO-NE analysis of the New England grid. I reported on the way it shows rooftop solar reduces costs for everybody, even those without solar - but I didn't notice that ISO-NE acknowledged that behind-the-meter solar has...
Combined heat and power: The leafy greens edition
In a recent column about wood-fired cooling I celebrated combined heat and power as the combination that makes burning wood a viable option for society. There's an interesting example coming to the North Country, but unfortunately they're using natural gas to generate...
Triangulating New Hampshire
One hundred and fifty years ago, something odd was taking place on Mount Moosilauke. Poles 12 to 15 feet tall were being carried to the peaks and set upright, topped with a nail keg painted black and secured from “being moved by winds, cattle, or any other cause.”...
NH patents through July 23
(Links to each patent can be found here, using the patent number or inventor’s name.) By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through July 23. *** Fitting for Brace Member ASC ENGINEERED SOLUTIONS, LLC,...
Trying to be slightly less wasteful: The used-clothing edition
From today's New Hampshire Bulletin (full story here): Last year, Apparel Impact, a for-profit company, diverted 10 million pounds of textiles from landfills in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York. At its Hooksett headquarters, bloated capsacks...
With all this flooding, should we still be removing dams? (Spoiler: Yup)
For years I have written enthusiastically about programs to remove the thousands of outdated dams in New England, freeing up rivers to let fish swim free and ecosystems recover. But then came the recent floods and the promise (or should I say threat?) of much more to...
Vermont was supposed to be a haven as the world burned
Vermont has long been an escapist fantasy in sci-fi - the vampires won't get you there! - but it has become something of a real-world escapist goal for people who realize the reality of the climate crisis - as in this CNBC report, titled "Americans are fleeing climate...
Wildfire smoke reduces solar output but also reduces air conditioning
ISO-NE, the folks who run the six-state power grid, say the wildfire smoke that makes the air unpleasant on some days makes forecasting power demand more complicated. (The whole release is here) Smoke from wildfires in Canada has traveled to New England, significantly...
The geology of why the Old Man of the Mountain fell
On Thursday July 20, at 7 p.m., Dartmouth College grad student Matthew Maclay will be speaking at the Museum of the White Mountains in Plymouth about the factors that led to rapid erosion at Cannon Cliff, and how bedrock weathering and frequent rockfalls over the...
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