Research

The propeller is quietly being reinvented, in both marine and aviation. The new invention is toroidal propellers that move more efficiently and quietly through both air and water. A company named Sharrow Marine is poised to start selling toroidal propellers to replace traditional twisted-aerofoil bladed props that have been used for thousands of years, going back [...]

The December issue of designing lighting (dl) magazine has an interesting story about recent research into running infrared (IR) LEDs in reverse polarity to create active cooling. One caveat for this approach to work is that the object to be cooled has to be incredibly close to the IR LED — less than 1 wavelength’s [...]

Tony Esposito and Kevin Houser published a new study in Scientific Reports demonstrating that CCT is not suitable for predicting the biological potency of light. The experiments utilized a 5-channel LED lighting system to show that significant variation in CS and EML/mEDI exists at any fixed value of CCT and photopic illuminance. For many years, [...]

The field of photocatalysis chemistry is producing important breakthroughs in industrial chemistry. In July, LightNOW reported on a new photocatalyst revolutionizing the conversion of methane into liquid methanol, here. Now Rice University researchers have created a small, LED-powered device that converts ammonia to hydrogen on the fly Ammonia might carry hydrogen exceptionally well, but if [...]

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) published their Non-Residential Lighting Northwest Market Model report, this Summer. The report provides a characterization of the non-resi lighting market (commercial, industrial, & outdoor).

In February 2022, the US DOE released its 2022 SSL Research & Development Opportunities report. While the report covers many promising directions for SSL R&D, one of the most significant evolutions predicted for LED light sources is the shift from phosphor-converted white LEDs (PC-LED) to color-mixed white LEDs (CM-LED).

Cannabis Business Times released the seventh-annual “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report. Results from the 2022 report demonstrate the increasing usage of LED lighting technology across all growth stages of cannabis cultivation. For the first time ever, at least 70% of study participants from commercial indoor or greenhouse operations with supplemental lighting used LEDs in cannabis propagation, vegetation and/or flowering stages.

University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers conducted a thorough examination of peer-reviewed literature on the most prevalent mental health disorders and found that circadian rhythm disruption (CRD) is present in nearly all of them. However, correlation is not causation, so it is not clear if the mental disorders cause circadian disruption, if circadian disruption causes mental disorders or both in a positive feedback loop.

A research team from Sejong University in South Korea has demonstrated a new system which uses infrared light to safely transfer high levels of power. Laboratory tests showed that it could transfer 400 mW of light power over distances of up to 30 meters.