LEDs

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Health Warning Prompts Cities to Rethink LED Street Lights

American Medical Association says high-intensity bulbs emit dangerous levels of blue light

(Newser) - Many US cities have been making the move from sodium street lights to LEDs—the bulbs are not only up to 50% more energy efficient than their predecessors, but they last for as many as 20 years and distribute light more evenly. Unfortunately, numerous studies suggest that the levels of...

Boy Sees Mom Clearly for First Time: 'She Was Pretty'

Chris Ward's community more than foots $15K bill

(Newser) - Chris Ward, a 12-year-old fifth-grader from Bedford County, Va., was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, a condition that limits his vision to objects within just 5 inches of his face. He's learned to read Braille and do math using an abacus. But when his mother and teacher took him...

GE: Say Goodbye to CFLs, Hello to LEDs

Company is phasing out curly compact fluorescents

(Newser) - Valentine's Day is just a couple of weeks away, but there's a big split making headlines. "GE is breaking up with compact fluorescent lamps" is how General Electric broke the news in a Monday release on its latest development: It will phase out compact fluorescent lights, or...

Wear Orange Glasses to Get Better Shut-Eye
Wear Orange Glasses
to Get Better Shut-Eye
STUDIES SAY
Apr 7, 2015 2:18 PM CDT

Wear Orange Glasses to Get Better Shut-Eye

Tinted eyewear, filters block blue light emitting from electronic devices: study

(Newser) - You may be tempted to stay up to check out all the new late-night TV hosts , but make sure you've got your orange glasses on first. Various studies and expert opinion suggest that special filters, light bulbs, and the aforementioned orange-tinted eyewear can help block melatonin-disrupting blue light emitted...

Physicist Paid Only $200 for His Nobel-Winning Invention

Company that Shuji Nakamura worked for also sued him for trade infringement

(Newser) - Shuji Nakamura's world got a little bit brighter yesterday morning when he found out he'd won the Nobel Prize in physics , along with Japan's Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano. But even though McKinsey guesses that Nakamura's invention—blue light-emitting-diodes, or LEDs—will be worth about $80...

Physics Nobel Goes to 3 Who Produced Blue Light

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, Shuji Nakamura win

(Newser) - Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and American scientist Shuji Nakamura won the Nobel Prize in physics today for the invention of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs)—a new energy-efficient and environment-friendly light source. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says the invention is just 20 years old, "but...

Sistine Chapel Getting Better Lights

Given the surge in visitors, it needs a new A-C system, too

(Newser) - Michelangelo probably never would have imagined: His masterpiece on the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel soon will be illuminated by 7,000 LED lights, reports the Wall Street Journal . Visitors have been complaining that the current lighting is so bad they can't make out details of the...

Empire State Building Dazzles With New Lights

New, eco-friendly LED lights wow New Yorkers

(Newser) - In the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning, as most of New York slept, something big and bright lit up the Manhattan skyline for just seconds, a tightly held secret to all but a handful of people. It was a tiny test for the huge public surprise four days later: the...

LED Traffic Lights Efficient— But Can't Melt Away Snow

Bulbs blamed for bad-weather accidents across US

(Newser) - Cities around the country that have installed energy-efficient traffic lights are discovering a hazardous downside: The bulbs don't burn hot enough to melt snow and can become crusted over in a storm—a problem blamed for dozens of accidents and at least one death. "I've never had to put...

Race for Better Light Bulb Heats Up

Philips bids for US government's $10M 'L Prize'

(Newser) - Dutch electronics giant Philips has created an LED light bulb that, if it lives up to its billing, could claim the US government’s coveted “L Prize.” More important, the new bulb could inherit the 60-watt bulb’s throne. The Energy Department is offering $10 million—and a...

Barcode of Future Is Tiny, Shiny

MIT researchers design an alternative with 'Bokodes'

(Newser) - MIT researchers have designed a possible replacement for the conventional barcode, the BBC reports. Called Bokodes, the tags are made up of a powered light-emitting diode, a mask and a lens, and can store much more information than the black-and-white stripe variety. More, the scientists say, the Bokodes can be...

LED Spells End of Disposable Light Bulbs

Long-lived fixtures could cut energy use in half in 20 years

(Newser) - The rapid advance of light-emitting diode technology is blazing the way to greener lighting, the New York Times reports. LED lighting, once used only in the likes of traffic lights and scoreboards, is now being adopted by a growing number of cities and businesses. Experts say the lights, which last...

Venture Capitalists See the Eco-Friendly Light

LED and other cleaner, efficient options attracted $100M in first quarter of '08

(Newser) - Venture capitalists are swarming around firms developing LED (light-emitting diode) and similar lighting technologies beyond their current applications in calculators and cell phones, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Investors see new sources, using one-sixth of the power of incandescent bulbs, as environmentally friendly replacements for indoor and outdoor lighting.

One if by Land, LED if by Sea...
One if by Land, LED if by Sea...
Mar 3, 2008 8:30 PM CST

One if by Land, LED if by Sea...

Paul Revere's famous church stops living in the past, installs eco- friendly light bulbs

(Newser) - The green bulbs are coming, the green bulbs are coming! That’s the appropriate contemporary cry for a Paul Revere impersonator, who might still be able to use the Old North Church’s lanterns to warn of a British invasion—but would have to settle for LEDs. The Boston landmark...

Electronics Giants Join Forces
Electronics Giants Join Forces
Dec 26, 2007 7:08 AM CST

Electronics Giants Join Forces

Panasonic, Hitachi, and Canon announce tie-up

(Newser) - Hitachi, Canon, and Panasonic have announced plans to work to together in moving flat-panel display technology forward, PC World reports. Competition is heating up in the industry, and the companies hope the alliance will accelerate development time. The firms will work together on LCD displays and organic light emitting diode...

What's the Next Bright Idea for Light Bulbs?

Two next-generation contenders emerge

(Newser) - Retailers will be banned from selling inefficient incandescent bulbs in 2012, but manufacturers say their bright idea about compact fluorescents came years ago and the industry was heading in that direction anyway. In fact, the coming years will see a wave of more efficient light sources—not only flourescents, but...

LEDs Light Up Europe, As Bulb Makers Switch

An Italian village goes LED, and Philips makes a multi-billion bet

(Newser) - Europe is going low-e with LEDs, presaging a trend about to spread worldwide. The Italian village Torraca, for example, just switched all of its streetlights for light-emitting diode fixtures, and Dutch electronics giant Philips has snapped up an American firm in a plan to push similar changes in the states....

Africa: Let There Be Light
  Africa: Let There Be Light
Nov 16, 2007 2:50 AM CST

Africa: Let There Be Light

World Bank initiative aims to bring electric power to 250 million Africans

(Newser) - Even after decades of development, most African communities have no electrical power and still go dark when the sun goes down. Only 5% of Ugandans, 6% of the Congolese population and 15% of Kenyans have electricity. Now the World Bank has launched an initiative to light the homes of 250...

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