
Drowning in Light - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/issue/11/light/drowning-in-light
======
kepano
I believe the fact that current displays glow all the time will seem like a
temporary aberration when we look back in a couple hundred years. I just wrote
a couple short pieces about it. [1][2]

That said, I don't think we'll go back to a world with less artificial light,
in fact most people seem to view sleep/night as problem to be solved. Light =
productive time, so as a culture obsessed with productivity, I can only see us
wanting to create even more time.

[1] [http://edgemade.com/2014/9/16/the-
unglowing](http://edgemade.com/2014/9/16/the-unglowing)

[2] [http://edgemade.com/2014/9/18/the-unglowing-
continued](http://edgemade.com/2014/9/18/the-unglowing-continued)

~~~
lxmorj
I bet someone clever could hack together a quick script that makes a laptop
screen dim instantly when you look away, provided your face is in the field of
view of the builtin camera...

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crishoj
[http://justgetflux.com/](http://justgetflux.com/)

~~~
Houshalter
Flux is an aesthetic thing. It just tints the screen reddish to match
incandescent lighting. If you wanted to remove blue light, which is what
affects melatonin production in your brain, your screen would actually look
very yellow.

~~~
Dylan16807
Flux can go far past matching incandescent. I generally set it to get rid of
the vast majority of non-red light when activated. Removing green is more
benefit than harm because it overlaps the critical blue range somewhat.

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pandatigox
I'm guessing the article is mostly related to the USA? As an Aussie, I thought
the articles was hyperbole, but I then remembered this image [1], which showed
how bright the world is at night.

Is the problem that serious in the USA? Out of curiosity, can someone give me
an example? Thanks.

[1]
[http://www.lightpollution.it/download/mondo_ridotto0p25.gif](http://www.lightpollution.it/download/mondo_ridotto0p25.gif)

~~~
existencebox
Having lived on the east coast (in cities) my whole life until recently,
seeing the stars was a notably rare occasion. Even just one or two was asking
too much on most nights, the sky just sort of glows an off-orange color near
the horizon, becoming more visible as you are nearer to light sources.

I for one would love to see far far less light pollution, but I don't think
that will happen until technology enables us to make doing * in the dark as
safe/easy as doing it in the light.

~~~
DanBC
There's a bunch of light going into the sky for no reason at all - pure waste.
Better reflectors and lighting design would cut that down dramatically.

Then there's a bunch of light going into the sky for sub-optimal reasons.
Lighting up the exterior of buildings at night time is something that should
be more expensive. See, for one example, the San Diego temple which is a
bright white building with an insane amount of exterior night time lighting
for very little reason. (You have to see it in person - it's a particarly
egrarious waste of energy) [http://sealofmelchizedek.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/05/San-...](http://sealofmelchizedek.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/05/San-Diego-LDS-Temple-designed-with-Seal-of-
Melchizedek-Symbol-Night-1-Crop.jpg)

~~~
existencebox
I agree with both of your points. That being said, there's also the matter of
the less low-hanging-fruit, street lighting for instance. I know in densely
trafficked areas the street lighting is sufficient to completely obfuscate the
sky, up to a few tens of miles away. Perhaps we can improve how we do said
lighting but I see a lot of resistance in scaling it down until as I said, our
capabilities are improved.

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obblekk
If we expose ourselves to light patterns that different from the historical
precedent from birth, should our brains, over time, learn the new way of
interpreting light?

I guess my question is, why don't I notice any particular problem with my
sleep patterns.

~~~
Houshalter
No, it's a physiological thing:

>Production of melatonin by the pineal gland is inhibited by light to the
retina and permitted by darkness. Its onset each evening is called the dim-
light melatonin onset (DLMO).

>It is principally blue light, around 460 to 480 nm, that suppresses
melatonin, proportional to the light intensity and length of exposure...
Kayumov et al. showed that light containing only wavelengths greater than 530
nm does not suppress melatonin in bright-light conditions. Use of blue-
blocking goggles the last hours before bedtime has also been advised for
people who need to adjust to an earlier bedtime, as melatonin promotes
sleepiness.

>When used several hours before sleep according to the phase response curve
for melatonin in humans, small amounts (0.3 mg) of melatonin shift the
circadian clock earlier, thus promoting earlier sleep onset and morning
awakening.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin)

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ISL
Isaac Asimov's Nightfall:

[https://www.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/nightfall.pdf](https://www.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/nightfall.pdf)

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VLM
Depth of field is biologically relevant. I can see more, better, when an area
is well lit.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field)

Also your visual cells don't do color below a certain flux level, so brighter
"world" means not just are the colors physically brighter, but your eyes can
perceive colors "better".

Finally brightness is sometimes a side effect of smooth even writing. I have
track lighting with 17 LED lamps in my basement to eliminate shadows. I use
tracks instead of cans to make it very easy to adjust the position of light to
where I'm working.

So there are at least three scientific appeals to bright light that were not
covered in the article.

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allegory
Interesting article. They just installed LED street lights outside my house
and I had to buy a pile of black curtains before I could sleep again. People
have even knocked over a couple of the lights down our street because of the
negative effects.

~~~
DanBC
Feel sorry for these people who have a street light bolted to their house wall
by the bedroom windows.

[http://imgur.com/osQ0ycb](http://imgur.com/osQ0ycb)

~~~
allegory
Ouch - that sucks badly!

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vfclists
When it comes to light pollution, am I the only one who thinks that blue LEDs
are particularly weird?

Although it is not bright as white light, probably because it doesn't
stimulate all our cones, I find blue LED light strangely bright and intense.
As blue is the highest frequency among the primary colors I suspect that there
is an energy intensity aspect to it, that I may be sensitive to, that sets of
some subconsious alarms.

I think they should be banned or their usage reduced.

Anyone feeling the same way?

~~~
baldeagle
If you own it, paint over the led with translucent nail polish. Layer until it
is an acceptable level of brightness.

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ggchappell
Isn't this article just a bit confused?

It talks about light as drug (an interesting topic IMHO), but then it veers
off into smart networks that keep lights on only where the people are. This
doesn't deal with the over-drugging issue at all. In fact, such a network
actually allows us to get our drug more easily; if the lights are off where
the people aren't, then it costs less to keep the lights on where they are.

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earlyriser
For a moment I thought this was a link to a Gabriel Garcia Marquez short tale:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Pilgrims#Light_is_Like_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Pilgrims#Light_is_Like_Water)

I know this is off-topic but it's a delicious reading and one my favourites
(non Macondo related )from him.

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guard-of-terra
Can't we instead have a pill that fixes us our suprachiasmatic nucleus?
Preferably one that comes with the remote control

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vfclists
LOL. I understand that there is too much light around, especially at night.

But really how long winded an article with all kinds of economic theories
about light usage and resource allocation etc, can a correspondent drone on
about? It sounds like someone wanting to put their some expensive university
education and research to good use.
[http://youtu.be/4dbgljZFi1A?t=15s](http://youtu.be/4dbgljZFi1A?t=15s)

~~~
vfclists
Dudes! What's going on here? I feel you. I live close to the commons and at
night when you walk across it,the lights from the shop signs are so bright
when you want some darkness around you. I've even wanted to complain to the
local council about it. The light is really 'noisy' so I totally understand
where this issue is coming from.

But really, how many column inches can one read about concerning its costs and
what nots? It sounds like another new case for the IoT, the Internet of
Things. But dudes?!?

~~~
wuliwong
hah, i'm with you. i thought the same thing reading the article. if there was
anything new or interesting in it, it was way too longwinded for me to dig
through and find it.

~~~
SectioAurea
Well, percent of GDP spent on light has remained steady for 300 years at .72;
that was buried rather far in.

The article also mentioned Jevons’ paradox, which is something I didn't know
had a name.

