Accidental invention could lead to death of light bulbs

[Engineer]

Click me!

Well, we've all heard that's the best thing since the light bulb. Well, this just might kill the traditional light bulb. 29% estimated "lighting" energy savings is nothing to sneeze at. Cudo's to our young scientists and engineers working to pave the future to tomorrow in energy use.

Bjorn Carey
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com
Fri Oct 21, 5:00 PM ET



The main light source of the future will almost surely not be a bulb. It might be a table, a wall, or even a fork.



An accidental discovery announced this week has taken LED lighting to a new level, suggesting it could soon offer a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative to the traditional light bulb. The miniature breakthrough adds to a growing trend that is likely to eventually make Thomas Edison's bright invention obsolete.


LEDs are already used in traffic lights, flashlights, and architectural lighting. They are flexible and operate less expensively than traditional lighting.


Happy accident


Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was just trying to make really small quantum dots, which are crystals generally only a few nanometers big. That's less than 1/1000th the width of a human hair.


Quantum dots contain anywhere from 100 to 1,000 electrons. They're easily excited bundles of energy, and the smaller they are, the more excited they get. Each dot in Bower's particular batch was exceptionally small, containing only 33 or 34 pairs of atoms.


When you shine a light on quantum dots or apply electricity to them, they react by producing their own light, normally a bright, vibrant color. But when Bowers shined a laser on his batch of dots, something unexpected happened.


"I was surprised when a white glow covered the table," Bowers said. "The quantum dots were supposed to emit blue light, but instead they were giving off a beautiful white glow."


Then Bowers and another student got the idea to stir the dots into polyurethane and coat a blue LED light bulb with the mix. The lumpy bulb wasn't pretty, but it produced white light similar to a regular light bulb.

White light from Bowers' lumpy new bulb. Credit: Vanderbilt University

The new device gives off a warm, yellowish-white light that shines twice as bright and lasts 50 times longer than the standard 60 watt light bulb.


This work is published online in the Oct. 18 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.


Better than bulbs


Until the last decade, LEDs could only produce green, red, and yellow light, which limited their use. Then came blue LEDs, which have since been altered to emit white light with a light-blue hue.


LEDs produce twice as much light as a regular 60 watt bulb and burn for over 50,000 hours. The Department of Energy estimates LED lighting could reduce U.S. energy consumption for lighting by 29 percent by 2025. LEDs don't emit heat, so they're also more energy efficient. And they're much harder to break.


Other scientists have said they expect LEDs to eventually replace standard incandescent bulbs as well as fluorescent and sodium vapor lights.


If the new process can be developed into commercial production, light won't come just from newfangled bulbs. Quantum dot mixtures could be painted on just about anything and electrically excited to produce a rainbow of colors, including white.


One big question remains: When a brilliant idea pops into your mind in the future, what will appear over your head?

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[dmcowen674]

Cool

Thanks for that article, I did not catch that invention.

The manufacturers just started cranking up CF's and still getting a premium price, a lot more than they are worth.

The LED technology already obsoletes the CF's.

They won't switch to LED mass production until they make a pre-determined profit from the CF ramp up.

It's all a scam.

 

[Pabster]

Well some cities are already using LED technology in traffic lights. Our city is saving an enormous amount with them yearly, can't recall the exact figure, but I believe it to be well over $25,000 a year saved.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Pabster
Well some cities are already using LED technology in traffic lights. Our city is saving an enormous amount with them yearly, can't recall the exact figure, but I believe it to be well over $25,000 a year saved.

Did the city lower tax rates? No of course not, they found a reason to raise rates.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Pabster
Well some cities are already using LED technology in traffic lights. Our city is saving an enormous amount with them yearly, can't recall the exact figure, but I believe it to be well over $25,000 a year saved.

Did the city lower tax rates? No of course not, they found a reason to raise rates.

Lexington, KY has switched to ALL LED traffic lights. Last over 10 years and use so much less energy.

As for taxes Dave, consider the amount of property taxes brought into the cities as the housing market has driven prices sky high. I would dare say that not a single city has cut tax rates and have gained huge increases in property tax. Lexington, KY charges a percentage of it's property taxes for trash service. Service was cut from 2 days to 1 day per week this year but my taxes remain the same. As soon as they evaluate my house again (every few years), my taxes will skyrocket again. Cities never give tax breaks. They just spend more.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Pabster
Well some cities are already using LED technology in traffic lights. Our city is saving an enormous amount with them yearly, can't recall the exact figure, but I believe it to be well over $25,000 a year saved.

Did the city lower tax rates? No of course not, they found a reason to raise rates.

Lexington, KY has switched to ALL LED traffic lights. Last over 10 years and use so much less energy.

As for taxes Dave, consider the amount of property taxes brought into the cities as the housing market has driven prices sky high. I would dare say that not a single city has cut tax rates and have gained huge increases in property tax. Lexington, KY charges a percentage of it's property taxes for trash service. Service was cut from 2 days to 1 day per week this year but my taxes remain the same. As soon as they evaluate my house again (every few years), my taxes will skyrocket again.

Cities never give tax breaks. They just spend more.

Elect me and that will be a thing of the past.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Did the city lower tax rates? No of course not, they found a reason to raise rates.

No, of course they didn't. They did, however, find the money to give themselves all a nice little raise and some more money for bogus projects. I guess that's what happens with a Democrat as Mayor. :laugh:

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Pabster
Well some cities are already using LED technology in traffic lights. Our city is saving an enormous amount with them yearly, can't recall the exact figure, but I believe it to be well over $25,000 a year saved.

Did the city lower tax rates? No of course not, they found a reason to raise rates.

Lexington, KY has switched to ALL LED traffic lights. Last over 10 years and use so much less energy.

As for taxes Dave, consider the amount of property taxes brought into the cities as the housing market has driven prices sky high. I would dare say that not a single city has cut tax rates and have gained huge increases in property tax. Lexington, KY charges a percentage of it's property taxes for trash service. Service was cut from 2 days to 1 day per week this year but my taxes remain the same. As soon as they evaluate my house again (every few years), my taxes will skyrocket again.

Cities never give tax breaks. They just spend more.

Elect me and that will be a thing of the past.

If you did that, you would be known as "Republican of the past" (fiscal conservative). Something that went the way of the dinosaurs!

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Did the city lower tax rates? No of course not, they found a reason to raise rates.

No, of course they didn't. They did, however, find the money to give themselves all a nice little raise and some more money for bogus projects. I guess that's what happens with a Democrat as Mayor. :laugh:

LOL. You think a Republican mayor of a city would have given you a cut. Dream on! :laugh:

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Engineer
LOL. You think a Republican mayor of a city would have given you a cut. Dream on! :laugh:

Of course not ... but the city was in significantly better financial condition under several years of Republican control.

 

[Sundog]

Wonder what the effects of LED lights will be on human eyes over the long run. That is when it comes to reading, especially when the eyes are tired.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: Engineer
LOL. You think a Republican mayor of a city would have given you a cut. Dream on! :laugh:

Of course not ... but the city was in significantly better financial condition under several years of Republican control.

When did that control end?

Wonder what the effects of LED lights will be on human eyes over the long run. That is when it comes to reading, especially when the eyes are tired.

IIRC, I saw a study within the last year that eye strain had absolutely nothing to do with how your eyes degrade over time, etc. I guess the LED light could cause your eyes to "feel" more or less tired, I don't think that it would degrade your vision in any way. That doesn't mean staring into a LED laser!

 

[Fern]

Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was just trying to make really small quantum dots, which are crystals generally only a few nanometers big. That's less than 1/1000th the width of a human hair.

Does anybody know these crystals are made of? Silica etc?

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Engineer
When did that control end?

In 2002, unfortunately. And things have been on a steady downhill slope ever since.

 

[MicroChrome]

I bought 6 LED bulbs on ebay for around 6 bucks a bulb shipped. Standard screw in 110Volt. Anyway they are 18 Super bright leds and consume 2W and produce 20W of regular bulb light. I'm useing them in my dusk to dawn out door lights. Just thought I'd share.

Also, target... Yes... Target is selling a brand of flashlight called River Rock that has new technology called Jupiter Led. I couldn't believe how bright 1Watt really could get! It's amazing!!! Check em out...

Here is a review I don't have that lantern I just bought a regular flashlight style.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/riverrock_lantern.htm

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: Engineer
When did that control end?

In 2002, unfortunately. And things have been on a steady downhill slope ever since.

Couldn't be the nationwide recession caused by 9/11 that all you GOP boys talk about, now could it? Nah, couldn't be.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Engineer
Couldn't be the nationwide recession caused by 9/11 that all you GOP boys talk about, now could it? Nah, couldn't be.

Nah, couldn't be.

 

[IdaGno]

Groovie! Brave New World insight: in the future, our land fills will glow in the dark from tectonic forces or when struck by lightning.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: IdaGno
Groovie! Brave New World insight: in the future, our land fills will glow in the dark from tectonic forces or when struck by lightning.

Let's hope there are no landfills!

 

[alchemize]

I saw this on Fark - very nice! I wonder if they have a more natural spectrum?