Granite Geek: Recent Episodes
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Granite Geek discusses why antibiotic resistance is a problem and what Dartmouth researchers are doing to help fix it.
Granite Geek discusses how people have, perhaps unknowingly, ceded privacy by installing digital devices that monitor their home.
Granite Geek David Brooks explains how New Hampshire's dated ballot-counting technology actually makes elections pretty secure from being hacked.
An inconveniently timed flight inspires Granite Geek to look at variables of scheduling airplanes.
Granite Geek discusses the drop in gas stations and why gas-powered cars might be starting to have the same "range anxiety" as EVs.
Granite Geek discusses a project in New Hampshire to save the old, weird apple varieties in the area.
In mid-November, the Monitor tried to test ranked-choice voting by printing a pretend Democratic primary ballot and seeing what readers thought. The response was far more than anticipated.
Granite Geek looks at a 3D printing conference at Dartmouth College and what it says about a technology that has gone through the whole hype cycle.
Granite Geek explains why some foresters are adding trees and branches to smaller streams.
Granite Geek discusses a Dartmouth study that looked at what people thought of Tripadvisor reviews.
Granite Geek David Brooks tells you about a planned housing development in Amherst, N.H., that is taking an innovative approach to carbon. The homes would be carbon neutral and the surrounding farm would help make the development carbon negative.
N.H. recently tightened its arsenic regulations to 5 parts per billion, leading the way in the country. Arsenic is naturally occurring in groundwater and linked to illnesses such as bladder cancer.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Granite Geek will be hosting an extra special Science Cafe at the McAulliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.
Granite Geek takes a look at new tech adopted at the Manchester Boston Regional Airport where people who have sight impairments can have an app give auditory directions about what is around.
Granite Geek David Brooks shares what went down this month at Science Cafe. Hint: It has to do with tree, microbes and hidden communications.
This week, Granite Geek David Brooks tells us about a study at SNHU that measured the lasting effects of smartphone use.
After 10 months of effort, the Granite Geek has succeeded in having a geeky historical marker for the programming language BASIC installed near Dartmouth College.
Granite Geek David Brooks talks about how a small-town New Hampshire hotel ended up being a raffle prize at an anti-vaccine conference without their knowledge.
Each week, you dutifully recycle your cans, your bottles, and, yes, your newspapers. It's your contribution to the health of our planet. But your recycling may not be going where you think it is. Granite Geek David Brooks explains.
The next Science Cafe will be held at Makris Lobster and Steak House on April 24. RSVP at 603-225-7665.
The Granite Geek went out to dinner and decided to do an experiment: taste-testing a beef and meatless burger.
The small town of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, is moving forward with a municipal broadband project shortly after a state law made it easier for communities to do so.
A New Hampshire company is looking to harness Brayton-powered energy system to heat and cool your home, produce electric and heat water.
Learn more at https://www.concordmonitor.com/generator-24484391
Granite Geek discusses a recent conference in which medical stakeholders, state officials and others gathered to tackle antibiotic resistance.
Access to a growing number of genetic databases, like genealogy sites such as Ancestry and 23 and Me, are helping law enforcement solve criminal cases, sometimes decades-old cold cases. But what does it mean for personal privacy? A panel of experts will take your questions at the next Science Cafe at Makris Lobster House on Sheep Davis Road in Concord on Wednesday, March 27, at 6 p.m.
Granite Geek talks to Concord native Erika Rydberg about her research at Plymouth State University and her upcoming trip to the Mars Desert Research program in Utah.
Researchers are starting to warn of the "insect apocalypse" but the N.H. state etymologist says it may be too early to panic.
David Brooks discusses the total solar eclipse those in Northern New Hampshire will be able to view in 2024.
Granite Geek covers two topics in one with a look at a recently released study that found that road salt correlates to metals in water.
Should companies provide information so that you can alter or repair your appliances yourself? Some say yes, since you bought the item; others say no because you could injure yourself or others. Granite Geek David Brooks explains the State House showdown.
David Brooks gives an overview of some of the geeky bills going through the state Legistlature this session.
Determining limits of toxins in the water can be a tricky thing - but important - to do.
Is fascination with aviation fading? The Granite Geek answers. Also, the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire is looking for someone to help repair teletype machines.
Granite Geek is getting it's BASIC historic marker in 2019! Hooray! Now he's looking for suggestions on other geeky N.H. people or things that deserve some attention.
Granite Geek David Brooks looks into Bristol, N.H.'s, efforts to create a municipal broadband network to bring high-speed internet to a rural community.
Efforts to help restore salmon to the Merrimack River have helped out another species, herring.
Granite Geek David Brooks discusses what road crews have to consider when winter's snow and wet make driving difficult.
Boothbay, Maine, saved $12 million dollars by rethinking how to create and store energy instead of building a larger transmission line.
Climate change will cause less snow to fall on New England in the future. Just how much less? It's a bit hard to pin down.
Granite Geek David Brooks explains how DNA technology was used to track down a serial killer, but someday, it could be used to track you.
Read more: https://www.concordmonitor.com/gnetic-geneaology-NHPR-public-radio-Bear-Brook-21420103
Nanocomp was founded in 2004 by a trio of researchers in Lebanon, who figured out a better way to get carbon atoms to join together and form tubes a billionth of a meter in length, in what is known as the nanometer scale, and then convincing these tubes to line up in ways that let them transfer mechanical or electrical energy in useful form.
Read the story: https://granitegeek.concordmonitor.com/2018/10/31/after-succeeding-in-space-n-h-firm-wants-to-bring-carbon-nanotubes-down-to-earth/
A Utah firm called Q Hydrogen Solutions wants to build the first of its proprietary hydrogen production systems. It says it can split H2O molecules taken from the Upper Ammonoosuc River and use the hydrogen to create cheap power.
Read the story: https://granitegeek.concordmonitor.com/2018/10/30/could-the-hydrogen-economy-be-born-in-an-abandoned-mill-north-of-the-notches/
UNH is doing research on aquaponics, the practice of growing fish and vegetables in a controlled greenhouse.
Learn more at https://www.concordmonitor.com/aquaculture-unh-hydroponics-research-nh-20961546
Granite Geek David Brooks discusses a new innovation in the old technology of dug wells. Learn more at GraniteGeek.org.
Science says that people who jump from team to team, depending on who is winning, are happier.
Learn more at: https://www.concordmonitor.com/red-sox-sports-fandom-granite-geek-nh-20407951
Granite Geek David Brooks discusses the electric car chargers at NHTI, a Concord community college. With VW money coming to the state, other car chargers could see upgrades.
What's with the high number of squirrels in Southern New Hampshire? Why so much roadkill? The Granite Geek explains.
Granite Geek David Brooks wades into a political debate on whether New Hampshire should subsidize biomass power, which provides heat and/or electricity through the burning of wood.
Read more on concordmonitor.com.
In West Lebanon, an affordable housing apartment building is being constructed as a net zero facility with solar panels. Granite Geek David Brooks of the Concord Monitor explains why it's unique.
Read the story online at concordmonitor.com.
The founder of the Ig Nobel Awards, Marc Abrahams, will answer your burning questions at the next Science Cafe on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at 6 p.m. at the Draft in Concord.
More details
Despite the wettest August on record, New Hampshire is still abnormally dry. How does that even work? The Granite Geek explores an answer in this week's episode.
Read more.
Two Dartmouth mathematicians created BASIC and timesharing for computers; Granite Geek thinks they should have a state historical marker.
Read story on Concord Monitor site.
Ron Pike spent 55 years working on the Monitor's presses and has seen a few changes in that time.
Read article: After 55 years working on printing presses, only a ‘bunged up’ leg led to retirement
As China cracks down on the quality of recycling it buys from overseas, cities and towns in the U.S. have to rethink single-stream recycling operations.
When does "lake" go before a name and when does it go after? Is there any rhyme or reason? The Granite Geek explores naming geographical fixtures.
Over the next two years, television channels you can access for free with an antenna will be moving around the "spectrum." Granite Geek David Brooks explains.
It may be 80 degrees outside, but Granite Geek David Brooks (and our readers) are already thinking about firewood.
The Sewalls Falls area of Concord, N.H., is popular today for its wooded trails, boat ramp and riverside beaches, but that wasn't the case 120 years ago. Granite Geek David Brooks looked into the early days and history of the Sewalls Falls hydroelectric facility.