Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
New Hampshire’s C&S grocers is a robot leader, says NY Times
A big article in Saturday's Times about the arrival of robots in industrial settings talks about C&S Wholesale Grocers, which is based in Keene (it's owner is the state's richest person, although you don't hear about him much). The company is a wholesaler for...
Climate change is making insurance a lot more important, and more complicated
With massive floods to the west of us, huge wildfires to the north and continuing sea-level rise to the east, New Hampshire homeowners would be wise to prepare for the worst. They can start by checking their home insurance. That’s the message from the New Hampshire...
It’s your own personalized placebo
No New Hampshire angle here, but I am fascinated by this study which shows that placebos - fake medicine that patients think is real - work better if they are presented as being tailored specially for the individual. Our minds are wondrous things. Check it out:...
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...
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