Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Mow, mow, mow your lawn, gently down the clime
("Clime" is a perfectly acceptable synonym for "climate" and is not a word I made up to fit the silly headline. Honest.) This is the time of year when that defining outdoor chore of homeownership, mowing the lawn, becomes a bit problematic. The “No Mow May” campaign...
NH joins other states in saying: Since Congress won’t regulate A.I., we should
New Hampshire’s attorney general has joined his peers to tell Congress that they shouldn’t block state efforts to do what the federal government won’t do in terms of “protecting consumers from the harmful effects” of artificial intelligence. Attorney General John...
Patents in NH through May 18
(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 May 18. *** System and Method for Clutter Suppression BAE SYSTEMS...
After 20 years of decline, electricity use is about to rise in New England
NOTE; Bad link fixed ISO-New England, which oversees the six-state power grid, has released a report talking about ways energy use is changing. From their point of view the big difference is that peak usage is going to happen in winter, when solar power is low, which...
There’s a very big battery in Moultonborough; we need more of them
Note: This is my column in this week's Monitor. A reader pointed me to a battery-storage system set up near hydropower on the Androscoggin river; part of it is in Maine, but it totals a whopping 30 MW so maybe this isn't the biggest in the state after all. Before we...
Maine is doing some really innovative energy stuff, unlike a neighboring state
Canary Media has a big story about a couple of interwoven programs being rolled out in Maine to boost heat-pump use in the state that has the highest percentage of homes heated by (ugh) heating oil, combined with efficiency and demand-response systems that will reduce...
‘No mow May’ at Science Cafe (hey – that rhymes!)
Yes, you can help save the planet, nurture the pollinators and strengthen the food chain from the comfort of your couch! Come learn about a growing movement called "No Mow May" where letting your yard grow wild provides a critical bridge for insect pollinators across...
The rare occasion when lazier is better: Mowing
From UNH News: Cutting the grass less may actually be better for the environment. Research shows that trimming the number of times you run the mower around the yard can help create more biodiverse ecosystems, reduce carbon emissions, build soil organic matter and...
Growing crops indoors in a tough, tough business, even for high-return greens
In 2018 I wrote about a company called Freight Farms that had grew lettuce for Concord's Marriott Hotel inside one of its hydroponic trailers. It was one of several indoor-crop-growing startups that garnered a lot of attention at the time. Alas, it just went bankrupt....
Hooray – NH patents are back!
The weekly list of New Hampshire-related patents has been on hold because of problems caused by Doge team's uninformed "efficiency" (ha!) drive amid federal agencies. Targeted News Service has fixed the problem. (Links to each patent can be found here, using the...
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