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Remote weather monitoring expands on Mt. Washington - Granite Geek
On November 21, five new remote weather monitoring stations went live along the Mount Washington Cog Railway, on the western side of New England’s highest peak. The expansion of the Mount Washington Regional Mesonet (MWRM) kicks off an extensive expansion to enhance weather monitoring in the White Mountains and across New Hampshire. At the end […]
Finding early (very early!) evidence of fish-trapping in Belize - Granite Geek
UNH News: An archaeologist from the University of New Hampshire and her team have collected data which indicates the presence of a large-scale pre-Columbian fish-trapping facility. Discovered in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (CTWS), the largest inland wetland in Belize, the team dated the construction of these fisheries to the Late Archaic period (cal. 2000-1900 […]
NH solar net metering program left unchanged but timeline isn't extended - Granite Geek
New Hampshire regulators have left in place the state’s net metering program, which pays owners of solar panels when they send power to the grid, but a looming expiration date could make financing more difficult. The order from the Public Utilities Commission makes no substantive changes to the program. Notably, it does not extend the termination […]
NH patents through Nov. 17 - Granite Geek
(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 Nov. 17. *** Optical Identifier and System for Reading Same NEURSCIENCES LLC, Bedford, New Hampshire has been assigned a patent (No. US 12142308 B2, […]
NH patents through Nov. 17 - Granite Geek
(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 Nov. 17. *** Optical Identifier and System for Reading Same NEURSCIENCES LLC, Bedford, New Hampshire has been assigned a patent (No. US 12142308 B2, […]
Now typewriters are riding the analog wave - Granite Geek
It’s hard to remember now, but in the Good Old Days – the decade through my teenage years, which is everybody’s definition of Good Old Days – the typewriter was just about the most interesting piece of technology in people’s homes. Whether manual or electric, the clickety-clack information machine was the product of a century of […]
Dartmouth course eyes A.I. from the humanities point of view - Granite Geek
Dartmouth College has a new class called Critical AI that looks at the history and sociocultural impacts of the technologies known as artificial intelligence. Dartmouth News story is here. The Department of English and Creative Writing class is being taught this fall by James “Jed” Dobson, an associate professor of English and creative writing and director […]
Thomas Kurtz, Dartmouth co-creator of BASIC and DTSS, has died - Granite Geek
Thomas Kurtz, the Dartmouth professor who co-created BASIC and DTSS with John Kemeny, helping launch the whole idea of computing and networks, has died. He was 96. MSN has a good story. I interviewed Kurtz via email in 2018 as part of my successful push to get a highway historical marker honoring the creation of […]
Esports - competitive video games - becomes a varsity sport in NH high school - Granite Geek
The NHIAA – New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association – has added esports to the list of competitive high school varsity sorts, reports the Monitor in this story. NHIAA has designated two games for official tournaments hosted at SNHU’s Esports Arena. The first tournament will take place on Dec. 14 for Rocket League on PC (desktop […]
Our winters have really, really warmed - Granite Geek
An analysis from the site Climate Matters quantifies what is already obvious to those of us pining for the days when there was ice skating before Thanksgiving: winters in the Northeast have warmed faster than just about anywhere. The whole analysis, with county-by-county data, is here. Spotted via Axios.
Maine’s kelp forests face ‘widespread collapse’ as oceans warm - Granite Geek
The Boston Globe has a well-reported but depressing article about the effect that the warming Gulf of Maine is having on kelp forests, which are almost up there with coral reefs in terms of supporting ecosystems. Researchers found temperatures have become too warm, especially in the spring and summer, in the southern parts of the […]
We're in the midst of a 'flash drought' - Granite Geek
Three years ago I first learned of the concept of a “flash drought,” the dry flip side of a flash flood. As I wrote at the time, the term ” sounds like an oxymoron since ‘drought’ usually reflects accumulated dryness rather than a quick-hit event. But as we saw last summer and fall, it doesn’t […]
Storing electricity as water. (Wait - what?) - Granite Geek
Last week I wrote about interesting stuff that UNH is doing in space, but there’s something interesting on the ground in Durham, as well. A big something. Big and cold. Admittedly, it doesn’t sound all that interesting. It’s just a giant water storage tank that has arisen in the middle of campus over the past year. […]
NH patents through Nov. 10 - Granite Geek
(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 Nov. 10. *** Methods and Systems for Design and Production of Customized Wearable Equipment BAUER HOCKEY LLC, Exeter, New Hampshire has been assigned a […]
Growing peaches in New Hampshire? Lots of testing is required - Granite Geek
From UNH Cooperative Extension: Although the scale of production for peaches in New Hampshire is far less than that of apples, it’s increasing every year. Extension is supporting growers by researching peach and nectarine varieties. Which are most cold-hardy? Least cold-hardy? Tastiest? Prone to skin tearing or cracking? These are some of the questions that […]
For political signs: plastic film good, Coroplast plastic bad - Granite Geek
Now that the election is over, for better or worse*, the question arises of what to do with all those roadside signs. The Monitor has a nice story on it (read it here) but in summary: Many rigid plastic signs are made from Coroplast, the same polypropylene plastic used in yogurt containers and other packaging […]
Hunting coyotes can sometimes increase their population - Granite Geek
UNH News Service: Research led by the University of New Hampshire sheds light on how coyotes, North America’s most successful predators, are responding to various environmental pressures, including human development, hunting and competition with larger carnivores. Surprisingly, the study’s findings suggest that human hunting practices may actually contribute to increasing the number of coyotes. “Intensive […]
How did UNH become a space-weather hotbed? - Granite Geek
I posted the press release about the latest NASA award to UNH last week. This is my follow-up column in the Monitor. New Hampshire is known for a lot of things: Mt. Washington, the presidential primary, our slightly alarming motto. And then there’s heliophysics expertise. “I checked and in the last 30 years we have […]
If they don't take climate change seriously, don't vote for them - Granite Geek
This ran before the primary. It’s even more relevant for the November election. Pretend it’s 1944, deep in World War II, and you’re sizing up a candidate for state representative, or executive council, or Congress, or local planning board, or president – any office at all. Just like you are doing now. You talk about […]
Science on Tap: Hurricanes - Granite Geek
Science on Tap, the Manchester science cafe series, will discuss hurricanes at their next session on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The ‘official’ hurricane season is coming to a close. Join us to discuss how this season stacked up to predictions and what new insights it has provided to scientists. Learn how factors from across the globe contribute […]
NH patents through Nov. 3 - Granite Geek
(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 Nov. 3. *** Autonomous Underwater Beacon Locator AJC INNOVATIONS, LLC, Auburn, New Hampshire has been assigned a patent (No. US 12129822 B1, initially filed […]
NH: In utility solar, we're No. 2! (from the bottom) - Granite Geek
One-half of one percent of New Hampshire’s front-of-meter electricity generation came from utility solar last year, which is the second-lowest of any state (even lower than Alaska!) according to Canary Media. Only Nebraska, which doesn’t have any utility-scale solar at all, did worse. Vermont is high on the list, with about one sixth of its […]
Unfortunately, it's still sensible to be a one-subject voter - Granite Geek
This ran before the primary. It’s even more relevant for the November election. Pretend it’s 1944, deep in World War II, and you’re sizing up a candidate for state representative, or executive council, or Congress, or local planning board, or president – any office at all. Just like you are doing now. You talk about […]
US first floating offshore wind lease is in Gulf of Maine - Granite Geek
It still seems weird to me that you can build some of those gigantic wind turbines and have them float in the ocean without getting blown over – but what do I know? The Biden administration on Tuesday completed its sixth offshore wind lease sale with the first commercial sale for floating offshore wind on the Atlantic […]
Deep in space, UNH to help monitor solar explosions - Granite Geek
The University of New Hampshire was awarded $24.3 million to build sensors for a high-priority alert system that will monitor the effects of space weather and the solar wind—caused by explosions on the sun—for potential interruptions to satellite communications, electric power grids and GPS systems. As part of the Solar Wind Plasma Sensor contract awarded […]
Warming oceans are supercharging the storms we are used to seeing - Granite Geek
UNH Today has an essay (here it is) telling what most Granite Geek readers already know, but it’s a good reminder: “The same thing that’s happening to hurricanes is happening to nor’easters – warmer ocean temps are pumping more heat and water into the storms, so they are getting bigger, wind speeds are getting stronger […]
After some disasters, it's easier to charge EVs than to get gasoline - Granite Geek
Electric vehicles are so new that we have questions about how they’ll react to some situations, such as recovering from the weather disasters that increasingly hit in these climate-emergency days. After Hurricane Milton in Florida, despite wide ranging power outages, charging EVs was usually easier than refilling cars’ gas tanks reports CleanTechnica.. That’s largely because […]
NH patents through Oct. 27 - Granite Geek
(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 Oct. 27. *** Batch Processing Signal Acquisition BAE SYSTEMS INFORMATION AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS INTEGRATION INC., Nashua, New Hampshire has been assigned a patent (No. […]
The seamy side of those fun 'ballot selfies' - Granite Geek
Eleven years ago an amusing little controversy arose around New Hampshire elections: Whether the novel act of posting “selfies” online (this was 2013, remember) could legally be applied to pictures of your completed ballot inside the voting booth. The issue went to federal court where a judge eventually ruled that “ballot selfies” are OK. And […]
Vineyard Wind blade inspection drags on - Granite Geek
The Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm is one of the best pieces of energy news that we’ve had for a while – or, rather, it was until one of the blades broke and made a mess in the ocean. Inspection of all the other blades continues, reports the Boston Globe. In August, the developers began […]
Small-scale solar chargers for parking lots - Granite Geek
A Vermont company called Solaflect Energy is trying to make a business out of directly charging cars from a smallish (6 KW) solar array deployed in parking lots. Each unit has four chargers attached. Seven Days Vt has the story, which unlike a lot of popular press accounts of solar power does the math. There […]
Quebec thinks about maybe possibly perhaps dropping Daylight Saving Time - Granite Geek
People in all the New England states have been talking for a while about doing something different with time zones, usually dropping the twice-yearly switcheroo and sticking with one or the other of the possibilities. Nothing has come of it and I suspect nothing will because Boston doesn’t want to get out of sync with […]
Live near Concord airport? Weather system need you! - Granite Geek
If you’re one of those people who loves to brag or complain about how much snow you get – and since this is New Hampshire, of course you are – now’s your chance to one-up everybody else. With one caveat: You have to live close to Concord Municipal Airport and not on a big hill. […]
NH patents through Oct. 20 - Granite Geek
(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 Oct. 20. *** System and Method for Free Space Estimation DEKA PRODUCTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Manchester, New Hampshire has been assigned a patent (No. US […]