In these countries, the latest developments in the lighting industry
The world’s first bat-friendly lighting system made public in the Netherlands
The rare bats in the Dutch town of Zuidhoek-Nieuwkoop can now carry out their nightly business undisturbed, thanks to newly installed LED street lights that have been specially designed to emit light that does not affect the natural feeling and rhythm. These street lights come from Signify (formerly known as "Philips Lighting").
The world’s first bat-friendly lighting system made its debut in the Netherlands
According to reports, a year ago, Signify announced a study that showed that its ClearField red LED street light, unlike a traditional street light, would not affect bat behavior. The street lamp emits red light and uses wavelengths that will not interfere with the bat’s internal compass.
Many bats have evolved to feed in near-totally dark environments, often avoiding white LEDs and yellowish sodium lamps. Given that the city is full of these lights, the area where animals can effectively hunt is very limited. In addition, insects that the bats often prey on are attracted by the light, attracting them where bats do not want to be close.
The world’s first bat-friendly lighting system made its debut in the Netherlands
With this in mind, Philips Lighting conducted an experiment in 2017 in which red, green and white LED lights were installed in extremely dark and undisturbed natural habitats. The red light combines the company's proprietary ClearField technology, which was developed in cooperation with the Wageningen University in the Netherlands and other non-governmental organizations.
Zuidhoek-Nieuwkoop is home to many rare animals and plants. The town and its surroundings are part of the entire European nature reserve, including breeding and nesting sites for rare and endangered bat species.
Nieuwkoop committee member Guus Elkhuizen stated that 'Nieuwkoop is the first city in the world to use smart LED street lights and its design is friendly to bats. “In the development of our unique housing plan, our goal is to make this project as sustainable as possible while protecting our local bat species and minimizing their habitat. ”
"We have managed to do this and keep our carbon footprint and energy consumption at a minimum." The city government also installed Signify's Interact City smart interconnect lighting system. This lighting management system can remotely manage LED lighting points in near real-time, which saves up to 70% of energy compared to high-pressure sodium lamps. The system can remotely control each light spot so that the authorities can respond to residents' requirements, increase or decrease the brightness of the home's lighting, and can quickly increase the brightness of the area to help emergency services.
NASA Introduces LED Grow Lights to International Space Station
According to NASA, LED growers will be used to grow tomatoes and fresh salad leaves to provide food for astronauts on the International Space Station.
The researchers did a growth room at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to dim the LED lighting system to provide optimal conditions when the system was finally installed on the International Space Station.
The team is adjusting lighting conditions to optimize plant growth under various conditions, and then replicate these scenes in the Advanced Plant Habitat of the International Space Station to meet the complex needs of producing food in space.
Through the radiation of different wavelengths of light, the growth cycle of plants can be controlled and accelerated, so that plants can be harvested more frequently or on an as-needed basis. The special light formula can not only optimize the yield and growth time, but also increase the content of vitamins and nutrients in the plant, and can enhance certain flavors. LED can not only provide customized biologically active lighting, but also very effective.
The researchers used Osram's Phytofy RL system, which includes a UV channel, allowing researchers to add transient UV light to understand how plants react and change. It also includes irradiance maps so scientists do not need to measure irradiance separately before changing light settings.
In recent years, NASA has been exploring the possibility of growing food crops in a controlled environment for long-term space missions. A research team led by NASA plant physiologist Ray Wheeler has been studying how to effectively grow safe and fresh food crops in space.
Recently, astronauts of the International Space Station harvested and eaten a variety of red lettuces. They grew in a plant growth system called Veggie.
OSRAM's Steve Graves said: "In the past few decades, many of the coolest and most useful inventions in the world have come from NASA scientists. It is a glory to use our technology to further promote innovation."