Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Enjoy winter snow while you can, southern New England
I have mostly stopped writing about "here's another thing that climate change is damaging" studies because they're too numerous and depressing. I try to focus these days on things being done to respond to the climate emergency. But here's a reminder that the emergency...
Offshore wind turbines are cool, sure, but an offshore substation is cooler
You can't move large amounts of electricity without substations to control the voltage, so it's significant that America's first offshore wind substation has been built. It will serve Vineyard Wind 1 south of Cape Cod, which will have a capacity of 806 MW (about 75%...
NH gets its first zero-waste grocery store
I'm leery about giving too much attention to ways for consumers to shop in a "green" fashion because our pollution problems are much too big for individual actions to solve them. Emphasizing personal responsibility has become a way for corporations and governments to...
A.I. has our political biases because it’s echoing us
AI language models are, at heart, statistical echoes of what humans have written in the past. Human writing inherently has political slant so it's no surprise that ChatGPT and the like have political slant - they're just echoing us. But the slant differs among models,...
College students with disabilities are more food insecure
From NH Agricultural Esperiment Station: New England is one of the least food insecure regions in the United States, with New Hampshire consistently ranking among the most food secure. However, averages can obscure significant variability that can occur among...
N.H. patents through Aug. 6
(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 Aug. 6. *** Networking Module for Instrumentation and Control Devices...
PSU robot program has a new goal: Fixing robot scarecrows
They don’t look much like the dancing co-star of “Wizard of Oz,” but the clunky robots at the heart of a new program at Plymouth State University actually are scarecrows. Or used to be, before they broke down. “They had been working on and off. It’s been about two...
Work is restarting on that Maine hydropower line
I thought the future wasn't settled yet for the HVDC line bringing Quebec hydropower into Maine, but the company has resumed work, according to this AP story. The cost of the project, originally estimated at around $1 billion, has grown to $1.5 billion as litigation...
Good news about pedestrian deaths in NH
I’m sure you’d like to hear a little bit of good news these days, so how about this: At a time when pedestrian deaths are soaring in this country, New Hampshire has the best record of any state by a pretty good margin. Don’t get too carried away with your high-fives;...
N.H. patents through July 30
(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 30. *** Medical Pump DEKA PRODUCTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Manchester,...
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