The Future of Lights (On and Off the Bike)
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 467
Bikes: 2005 Orbea Dauphine, 1997 GT Timberline
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
The Future of Lights (On and Off the Bike)
Saw a post about this on slashdot this morning. Of course, my first thought wasn't about the lights in my house, but the lights on my bike.
https://msnbc.msn.com/id/9777070/
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.
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.
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.
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.
#2
Almost Immortal
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 820
Bikes: 2004 Trek 7500FX
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Science!
__________________
"Ignorance begets confidence more frequently than does knowledge." -Charles Darwin
https://blog.myspace.com/robcatg
https://therob.wordpress.com
"Ignorance begets confidence more frequently than does knowledge." -Charles Darwin
https://blog.myspace.com/robcatg
https://therob.wordpress.com
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,646
Bikes: Lemond Arrivee, Felt F1 Road, Tomac Revolver(full), GT race (hardtail)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
cool when can I get a prototype to test on the bike...
#4
34x25 FTW!
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 6,013
Bikes: Kona Jake, Scott CR1, Dahon SpeedPro
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Sounds cool, but I refuse to get excited over tech that's "five years away" from being a product (sounds like this one fits that description).
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland
Posts: 1,602
Bikes: Pugsley, fixie commuter, track bike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
The Blueish light produced by current HID and LED lights produces a greater contrast and higher reflectivity than the yellowish light produced by traditional bulbs, so I don't really see the application in vehicles as it does not improve efficiency. However for reading and general indoor lighting the Blueish light is too harsh and a softer yellowish light is more comfortable. So I am looking forward to indoor lighting applications.
Craig
Craig
#6
Sweetened with Splenda
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Brooklyn, Alabama
Posts: 2,335
Bikes: Too many 80s roadbikes!
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by CBBaron
The Blueish light produced by current HID and LED lights produces a greater contrast and higher reflectivity than the yellowish light produced by traditional bulbs, so I don't really see the application in vehicles as it does not improve efficiency. However for reading and general indoor lighting the Blueish light is too harsh and a softer yellowish light is more comfortable. So I am looking forward to indoor lighting applications.
Craig
Craig
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 193
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I've already decided that my next headlight is going to be a non-rechargeable LED. I just bought two Nite Hawk 10w LA halogens ($35 each). Those should last me a couple of years. I have gone through too many expensive lighting systems.
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 2,601
Bikes: Mercier Corvus (commuter), Fila Taos (MTB), Trek 660(Got frame for free and put my LeMans Centurian components on it)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by RobCat
Science!
Doo doo doooooooo doo
doo doo doooooooo doo
__________________
Sunrise saturday,
I was biking the backroads,
lost in the moment.
Sunrise saturday,
I was biking the backroads,
lost in the moment.
#10
2-Cyl, 1/2 HP @ 90 RPM
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 15,762
Bikes: 04' Specialized Hardrock Sport, 03' Giant OCR2 (SOLD!), 04' Litespeed Firenze, 04' Giant OCR Touring, 07' Specialized Langster Comp
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
It looks like just something to disperse light better on a LED. If you look at the picture of the bulb, it looks pretty much like a luxeon with a frosted bulb on it.
#11
Deported by koffee
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: So. Cal
Posts: 1,187
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Other things I found on the net(from the legitimate source) are some of the properties of carbon nanotube which include, ability to catch electron, ability to hold electron and letting the electron run freely in near super conductive state which could have achieved only at near absolute zero temp. before.
This could mean carbon nanotube bicycle frame can be mutitasking of, structual material, solar cells, battery and extremely efficient wiring altogether.
This could mean carbon nanotube bicycle frame can be mutitasking of, structual material, solar cells, battery and extremely efficient wiring altogether.