Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Mirror, mirror, on the ground, can you keep the climate sound?
When it comes to the climate emergency, heat-trapping gases like CO2 and methane are the cause but not the problem. The problem is the buildup of heat that is changing global weather at an alarming rate. So maybe we should be trying to reduce the heat as well as the...
Nobody knows if those annoying campaign signs actually help
(This ran in 2018 and I'm rerunning it now because it's easy - I mean, because it's relevant.) New Hampshire is approaching our every-other-year election for state and federal offices, so political signs are littering the landscape. This always raises the question: Do...
Climate change is turning trees into carbon gluttons
From phys.org: A study recently published in the Journal Nature Communications, finds that elevated carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased wood volume—or the biomass—of forests in the United States. Although other factors like climate and pests can...
N.H. patents through Oct. 2
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through Oct. 2. *** autoLOTO Assigned Patent for Hazardous Energy Control System autoLOTO, Clive, Iowa, has been assigned a patent (No. 11,455,851, initially filed May...
Study: Rooftop solar helps the grid a lot, shifts costs a little
Rooftop solar panels slightly increase costs for other utility customers in New Hampshire but bring a big financial benefit to the system as a whole, according to a study that will guide the state’s future decisions on how much to pay customers for the solar power...
Projection: N.H. population will peak in 2040 after rising another 10%
Unless something changes soon, New Hampshire’s population will reach a peak in 18 years and then start to decline as the Baby Boomer generation dies off. That’s one conclusion of a report by the Department of Business and Economic Affairs Office of Planning and...
Automation is key when you handle a bazillion pieces of mail
One of the best parts of my job is that it gives me an excuse to go inside buildings that we drive past every day, and see what's going on. I went to the US Postal Service sorting center in Manchester, next to the airport, to look at a new package sorting machine that...
Mystery dog illness shows how bad we are at spotting new outbreaks
An unusual plea for veterinary clinics to donate money to a state laboratory so it can diagnose a mysterious syndrome hurting New Hampshire’s dogs is another reminder that we aren’t doing enough to spot emerging diseases – as if a reminder was needed after COVID. The...
Solar & energy efficiency will = 2.4 Seabrook Stations
The folks who run New England's power grid estimate that in a decade, behind-the-meter (rooftop) solar and energy efficiency programs will reduce the need for electricity production in the region by about 15%, from 165,000 gigawatt-hours to 141,000 annually. That's a...
N.H. patents through Sept. 25
By Targeted News Service WASHINGTON – The following federal patents were assigned in New Hampshire through Sept. 25. *** En Technology Assigned Patent for Digital Audio Communication, Control in Live Performance Venue En Technology, Keene, New Hampshire, has been...
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