Forget the merely invisible, scientists at Columbia Engineering School have created a new material that behaves as if it doesn’t even exist, at least when it comes to light. The new material is a nanoscale structure that allows light to pass through as if it was traversing empty space. In very general terms, that means the light does not slow down or “bend” when it exits the material.
Most of us have grown up in an environment where power comes from a plug in the wall, and lights are fixtures or lamps that take advantage of that system. But in many parts of the world, this infrastructure doesn’t exist, and so people spend a lot of money on dirty, smelly Kerosene to light their houses at night. Something so simple as a bright, dependable LED flashlight can be an excellent leapfrogging technology for people in such places, as it can provide clean, safe light that can be ‘filled up’ with a tiny solar battery charger.
Incandescent lighting enthusiasts who like bright lights but have witnessed a shrinking list of options can have some refreshment; Switch Lighting has announced the first ever LED equivalent to a 100-watt bulb
Vertical farm concepts for the urban environment are not new, but now, a Swedish-American architectural design company (Plantagon) seems to have solved once of the biggest challenges of urban vertical farming: the need for uniform, sufficient natural light to provide even growth of vertically-farmed plants.
Energy efficient light bulbs are cool already, but they are getting a whole lot cooler. The new LED EcoBulb by Seokjae Rhee raises the green bar with innovative features to save more energy.
The battle between CFL and LED bulbs may finally be over thanks to researchers at Cambridge University who have developed a $3 LED bulb that lasts for 60 years. The bulb, which is smaller than a penny, is 12 times more efficient than tungsten bulbs and three times more efficient … [continued]
LED light bulbs are already more efficient than your average bulb, but researchers at the Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new kind of LED that exhibits both improved energy efficiency and lighting performance. The researchers‘ polarization-matching LED shows an 18 percent increase in light output and a 22 percent … [continued]
I’m always on the lookout for dependable flashlights, so the upcoming release of 5.11 Tactical’s Light for Life has really piqued my interest. Instead of batteries, the flashlight uses an ultracapacitator to hold its charge.
