Innovations in Light

Take a look at some of the innovations in lighting mentioned on this article:

Solar Bottle Bulb 2.0

SociaLite Lamp

How ingenious!

China Consolidates Grip on Rare Earths

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/business/global/china-consolidates-control-of-rare-earth-industry.html

Reading about fluorescent lamps in the assigned readings, you must be starting to understand the role of rare earth metals in helping fluorescent lamps emit light. How does its shortage affect you? What could be the solution?

Department of Energy announce Philips as winner of L Prize competition

"Philips Product Delivers on Department’s Challenge to Replace Common Light Bulb with Energy-Saving Lighting Alternative."

What do you think of the lamp? The lamp has been developed to replace the 60-W incandescent lamp. The lamp has 2,727 CCT; 93 CRI; 910 lumens; 93.4 lumens per watt and uses only 9.7 watts.

Impact of Light on Health and Welfare

We read three articles on the impact of light on health. To read individual student responses, please follow the links to the Fall 2009 blogs on the right column.

Edelstein, E. (2009). Influence of Architectural Lighting on Health. InformeDesign Newsletter, 7 (2), 1-5.

O’Connor, A. (2009). The Claim: Daylight Saving Time Can Affect Your Health. New York Times. March 9. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/health/10real.html?em

Weiss, R. (2008). Lights at Night Are Linked to Breast Cancer. Washington Post. February 20. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021902398.html?hpid=topnews

Earth Hour: Saturday March 28 at 8:30pm

http://www.earthhour.org/home/

Did you switch your lights off for an hour at 8:30pm during Earth Hour 2009?

Duke Energy, Chapel Hill Collaborate to Advance LED Technology in Lighting

http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2009032501.asp

Light Model poster at DATS 2009

This poster was displayed at the Design, Art, and Technlogy Symposium at High Point University that took place on March 5th & 6th. The poster includes light models by the students in the interior lighting design class from Spring 2008 and 2009. Keep up the good work!

Daylight Saving Time

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/health/10real.html?em

This NYT article talks about the imapct of daylight saving time on health.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2009/03/its_time_for_double_daylight_s.html

This Washington Post article provides a balanced view of daylight saving time, and an agument for double DST!

LEDs, lamp life, and energy

NYT has been running a series of articles on LEDS. Here are some pertinent to our discussions yesterday, during the field trip to Vanstory.

How Long Did You Say That Bulb Would Last?

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/how-long-did-you-say-that-bulb-will-last/

This article takes a look at the claim by LED manufacturers that LED lamps last 25,000-50,000 hours. What does it mean and how does it compare to other lamps?

Do Energy-Saving LED Lamps Save Energy?

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/do-energy-saving-led-lamps-save-energy/

This article presents the following questions: If LEDs are more efficient to use because they consume less power, is the process of manufacturing LEDs also as energy efficient compared to other lamps?

LED’s Good Housekeeping Seal

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/leds-good-housekeeping-seal/

This article talks about the certification "future" of LEDs.

Austine Wood Comarow's installations with polarized light!

http://www.austine.com/

Reinvent Wheel? Blue Room. Defusing a Bomb? Red Room.

The color red can make people’s work more accurate, but blue can make people more creative, a study suggests.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/science/06color.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Scientists Create a Black That Erases Virtually All Light

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/20/ST2008022001172.html

The article above discusses the invention of the blackest material till date that reflects only 0.045% of visible light! Compare it to the black surfaces that we saw in Jonathan and team's model!

Light Model Images

Trip to the Taylor Theatre for theatrical lighting demo

Light Model One pictures

On daylight-saving time and circadian rhythms

Check out this interesting article which discusses the impact of daylight-saving time on your body's internal clock.

Also this article on 'clock genes' and circadian rhythms by the University of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center. And this one which talks about how "we can't touch time, or smell it. Yet it is utterly inescapable. But, research shows, time is - at least partly - something we control in our head".

Total Lunar Eclipse

Did you see the lunar eclipse starting 8:43pm on February 28, 2008? http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/02/perfect-viewing.html

Lights at Night Are Linked to Breast Cancer

Did you know that a recent finding adds credence to the hypothesis that exposure to too much light at night can raise the risk of breast cancer by interfering with the brain's production of a tumor-suppressing hormone. Read more at :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021902398.html?hpid=topnews

Medical Myth

Did you know that common perception that reading in dim light ruins your eyesight is a medical myth!

Sketch Series One

We hope that you have started your Sketch Series One:

Choose an interior place that you will record through the whole semester. Observe how light changes throughout the day. Observe how light changes through the seasons from winter to spring to summer. Note how the space ‘feels’ or ‘works’. Sketch your observations; study the change in light, shadows, color, texture, activities in this space.

Document this place once every two weeks (every week is better!) close to the following days from the same viewpoint/s: January 19, February 2, February 16, March 1, March 15, March 29, April 12, April 26.