Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Everybody’s looking at Framingham for that district geothermal pilot
The district geothermal pilot in Framingham, Mass., that I wrote about last year has broken ground and it's getting a lot of attention. "A New Kind of Clean Energy Utility is Born in Massachusetts" is how Heatmap, an online media company covering climate news, put it...
Keeping out deer with ‘slash walls’ (very big slash walls)
Of all the problems that are plaguing New Hampshire’s forests these days, the cutest are the deer. Those deep eyes! Those big ears! That flash of white tail as they bound through a field! Who doesn’t love them? Anybody (like me) with a deer-ransacked garden,...
Doom-scrolling alternative: Loon cam
The Valley News lets us know: The Lake Fairlee Association debuted its LoonCam — believed to be the first in Vermont — at the start of the month. Mounted on 12-foot iron pole, the camera is about 60 feet offshore and focuses on a floating nest 40 feet away occupied by...
N.H. patents through June 11
(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 June 11. *** Adult Vibrator SUKI LLC, North Hampton, New Hampshire has been...
An old NH name returns as an online-only aeronautical college
State legislators have approved an new, online aviation school that bears an old New Hampshire name. The state Department of Education announced Friday that the online-only New England Aeronautical Institute has been approved to offer a bachelor’s degree in aviation....
Here’s an interesting idea: A utility for stormwater, not wastewater
New Hampshire Bulletin has a story about the city of Dover may become the first place in New Hampshire to have a separate utility for stormwater, the stuff that runs off parking lots and roofs into sewer systems when it rains. The whole story is here. Property owners...
Local man finds Gmail bug & Google bows down
(I don't get to write "local man" headlines very often! They're a local-newspaper staple) NHPR has the story of a Manchester cybersecurity worker who alerted Google that scammers were bypassing the blue checkmark on Gmail that's supposed to signify authenticity. At...
Nature hates us: Disease bacteria helps ticks survive cold weather
An analysis of the spread of several species of disease-carrying ticks included this depressing finding: the bacteria that causes the disease anaplasmosis in mammals when ticks bite them also helps the ticks survive extreme cold snaps. It's like a nastiness two-fer:...
We need to get control over AI while we can
Timing is everything and the time to keep the technologies called A.I. from spinning out of our control is now. That’s the argument that Jim Isaak makes, and I’m afraid I agree with him. The technologies known as artificial intelligence are so powerful and developing...
When Southwest turned Manchester airport into a real player
You can forgive folks at Manchester airport for feeling nostalgic Wednesday morning as they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the most important event in its recent history: The 1998 arrival of Southwest Airlines. “That changed the dynamic overnight,” said...
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