Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
A humongous 3-D printer is making wood houses in Maine
In my career, I’ve encountered several non-traditional ways to build a home, from stacking hay bales to rolling out plastic tubes to using 3D-printed concrete. They’ve been fun to talk about but never made the slightest dent in the industry. The labor-intensive...
Local electric rates whipsawed by global fuel prices (whipsawed in a good way at the moment)
When it comes to our electric bills, sometimes global fuel trends giveth and sometimes they taketh away. Right now they’re giving. Eversource on Thursday said it has asked state regulators to cut its energy supply rate as part of the twice-yearly adjustment, a move...
Mountain forecasts and avalanche prediction
From the Mount Washington Observatory: The White Mountains are renowned for adventure and extreme weather. Specialized weather information like the Higher Summits Forecast helps search and rescue teams, avalanche experts, and the outdoor community at-large anticipate...
NH patents through Dec. 10
(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 Dec. 10. *** Bearing and Bearing Liner NEW HAMPSHIRE BALL BEARING, INC.,...
In Vermont, dogs help hunters find wounded game
Cool story in the Valley News about a volunteer group that uses tracking dogs to find game that was wounded by hunters but got away: "Since 1996, when the practice was legalized, hunters who shoot but lose track of big game — deer, bear, moose, wild turkey — can ring...
The man who brought back our wild turkeys has died
IndepthNH, an independent online news organization, lists notable New Hampshire deaths each week. This is one of them listed today: Theodore “Ted” W. Walski, 79, of Langdon, died Dec. 2, 2023. A U.S. Army veteran, he was well-known for his efforts as a state wildlife...
Solar installs are growing in NH
A solar company called Ohm Analytics does a lot of number crunching. Above is their analysis of New Hampshire solar permits. We're coming off a slow start but finally speeding up. This is part of a national trend, as Canary Media reports. Here's their national chart:...
92% of NH (including my family) speaks only English
New Hampshire is pretty homogeneous but it's not completely a bunch of English-speaking white folks. The New Hampshire Center for Justice and Equity summarized our bilingual status: Roughly 8% of the state’s population (roughly 103,500 people) speak a language other...
Not-total-despair counts as optimism when it comes to combating anti-vax errors
I went to a vaccine conference at Dartmouth last week to learn more about the most depressing piece of research I’ve ever encountered. Amazingly, I came away a tiny bit more optimistic. The ongoing research by Brendan Nyhan, a professor of government at Dartmouth...
Water-temperature lawsuit against Bow plant is rejected
A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit saying that the Merrimack Station coal-fired power plant in Bow was releasing too much hot water into the Merrimack River, violating its operating permit. The ruling by Judge Joseph Laplante is very long – 86 pages...
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