Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
COVID can cause ‘face blindness’ says Dartmouth researchers
COVID-19 can cause difficulty recognizing faces and navigational problems, according to a new Dartmouth study in Cortex. You can read Dartmouth News report here: It’s widely known that COVID-19 can cause a range of neurological problems, including the loss of smell...
The pandemic is dead; long live the endemic
The pandemic is dead. Long live the endemic. Wishful thinking? No, more like a not-as-good-as-it-sounds prediction. The good part is that the Monitor’s COVID Tracker is prepared, at long last, to call the pandemic over in New Hampshire. Several factors led to this...
Coal-fired power plant fails, for the first time, to win in regional power auction
For the first time, the coal-fired power plant in Bow has failed to win funding from an annual program designed to guarantee future electricity supplies. Bids from two coal generators at Merrimack Station were passed over in the forward capacity auction...
There are so many bears now that hunting rules are changing
People are seeing a lot more bears in New Hampshire these days and bear hunters are having a lot more success, to the point that Fish and Game wants to change the way they oversee the season. Among a set of proposed changes to hunting regulations that will be the...
How do they forecast avalanche danger? All snow looks the same to me
Last week’s dramatic rescue of a skier who was buried in snow for 6 minutes in Carter Notch was a reminder, if one is needed, that paying attention to avalanche forecasts is vital in the White Mountains backcountry during winter. But that raises a question: How do...
N.H. patents through March 19
(Links to each patent can be found here, using the patent number.) By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through March 19. *** Methods for Serving Interactive Content to a User YIELDMO, INC., Nashua, New...
N.H. battery storage program worked – can we please have some more?
A very small test (96 customers) of a virtual power plant from home batteries in New Hampshire was a success, say state regulators, and with any luck Liberty Utilities will expand it. "Liberty Utilities in November released a report finding that the first phase of its...
GOP in NH legislature kills a slew of new energy bills
By small margins of 6 to 10 votes (out of 400 lawmakers), the slim GOP majority in the New Hampshire legislature killed pretty much every bill trying to ease the state into the 21st century's energy economy. Net metering, greenhouse gas emissions, RECs, solar...
Workforce and weather threaten Maine’s cedar-log industry
Bangor Daily News has a story about how erratic winters and shrinking forestry workforce is threatening the state's industry of cutting cedar for log homes and fence posts. Cedar is rot-resistant and has long been favored for these jobs. Northern white cedar thrives...
Where are all the birds?!?!
From NH Audubon: Early returns from NH Audubon’s annual Backyard Winter Brid Survey point to fewer birds at feeders this winter. Why? It turns out the answer is not that simple. According to Dr. Pamela Hunt of NH Audubon, “there are many factors that influence the...
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