dominator24 moved to a new apartment and needed to do something about all the bare walls. They did what any geek would do, and decided to make something cool, instead of just buying another crummy IKEA fixture – a wall lamp based on the level signage from Portal’s test chambers.
It was a simple design since it had to be able to fit in the car (due to college, dominator24 moves every three months.) It also had to be cheap. He came up with the idea of using white cloth stretched over a wooden frame with LED rope backlighting.
The detailed drawings are made from cut out bits of duct tape – the black ones on front of the cloth, and the grey ones taped on back.. It’s a simple and cheap way to geek up your room. If you want to try making one for yourself, head on over to Instructables for the details.
If there’s something that you need to be careful with, it’s definitely your bike when you’re riding late at night. I’ve had one accident where I woke up in the hospital, and I was on a cycling path! Needless to say, good lights are paramount to keeping you riding safely in the dark.
Lumigrids is a concept LED projector for bikes that aims to improve night rides. The device would project a square grid onto to the ground, allowing riders to see the terrain ahead, akin to what some jet fighters use(d). The concept calls for the LEDs drawing power from an internal battery or the rotation of the bike’s wheels, like a dynamo of some sort.
On rough surfaces, the grid will deform, allowing riders to adjust their bikes accordingly. The design won the team from the Sichuan University which developed it a Red Dot award.
It’s unclear what’s next for Lumigrids, but the technology to pull off such a feat is readily available (Microsoft Kinect, Picoprojectors), so hopefully we’ll see something like this go into production sooner rather than later.
These days, it’s not uncommon for automotive manufacturers to use LEDs to replace light bulbs for some of the lights on vehicles. This is particularly common with taillights. However, until now, all of the vehicles out there still use incandescent light bulbs for some needs, particularly in the headlights and interior. Mercedes-Benz has announced that its new S-Class is the first car to use not one single traditional light bulb.
Everything from the tail lights to the headlights and every light on the interior of the high-end S-Class will use LEDs. Each headlight has 56 individual LEDs, each taillight uses 25 LEDs, and there are about 300 LEDs on the interior of the vehicle.
Another very impressive bit of tech is a suspension system that is able to scan the road ahead and prepare for any coming road imperfections for a smoother ride. The car also has a pair of 12.3-inch displays on the dash giving the vehicle one of the largest dashboard video displays of any car on the road. The left video screen is for vehicle instruments and the right is for the infotainment system.
One detail Mercedes didn’t offer was exactly how much the S-Class will cost. Considering that the vehicle is aiming at people who previously purchased incredibly expensive Maybach luxury cars, the new S-Class will undoubtedly be exceptionally expensive.
Gollum is far from being cute and cuddly. Most kids I know don’t like him because he’s a shady character overall, but that’s probably because he wasn’t meant to be a cute or cuddly creature anyway.
That said, it’s probably clear that this Gollum night light wasn’t made or intended for kids to have, because it kind of defeats the purpose of having a night light in the first place.
“Look son, there are no monsters under your bed. I’ll just leave this Gollum night light in your room so you can see for yourself…” Yeah, I’d like to imagine how that’d turn out for the son (and the father, when he eventually wakes up to howls and cries from his terrified child.)
On the other hand, the Gollum night light would be awesome for fans of the Lord of the Rings franchise, as it’s made with intricate details and is hand-painted to boot.
It’s available from the Neatoshop for $17.96 (USD).
“What’s new with Hue?” Philips’ connected light bulb just picked up a bounty of fresh tricks, thanks in no small part to the Hue 1.1 app update. The refresh, available for download today on iOS, brings a variety of additional features. Most significant, perhaps, is a partnership with IFTTT, which lets you create macros (called “recipes”) for an unlimited number of functions. For example, if the forecast calls for rain, Hue can glow blue when it’s time to leave in the morning. You can set visual notifications (a flashing light or change in color) to remind you of calendar appointments, let you know there’s a new post on your Facebook wall, you name it.
The new app also uses your smartphone’s GPS for geofencing, so you can program the system to flip on lights as you approach your home, or turn everything off after you walk out the door. An alarm tool can wake you at a specific time, while the timer function will tweak the lights when the clock hits zero. The LED bulbs will run you $60 a pop, or $200 in a pack of three that also includes a (compulsory) wireless bridge. You can snag the updated app for free at the source link below, then join in on some pun-filled fun in the video after the break.
Sure, the novelty may have worn off years ago when it comes to those miniature USB-powered accessories that reside on your desk and suck power from a PC, but this nifty lamp from Satechi has a bit more going for it. The simply named USB LED Bottle Lamp consumes just 1.2 watts of power, and while it won’t likely have enough output to fill a room, it’ll probably do a fair job of bringing some warmth to your workstation. The kit includes only a lampshade, LEDs (rated for 50,000 hours) and a USB cable — that’s right, it’s BYOB (Bring Your Own Base). A heavy liquor bottle might be the best fit when it comes to support, but you can use a vase or any similar vessel to keep the lamp upright, too. The USB Bottle Lamp can be yours today for just 25 bucks. Hit the source link below to pick one up.
You know how your mother always told you not to stare into the Sun? Well, the same guidance holds true with this small flashlight that can blast out a whopping 3500 lumens of brightness.
The NiteCore TM26 “Tiny Monster” Flashlight uses four superbright CREE XM-L U2 LEDs to light up the darkest of nights. Despite its monstrous brightness level, it can actually run for up to 1000 hours using four 2600mAh Li-ion 18650 or eight CR123 batteries. You can also use fewer batteries in an emergency.
The TM26 gives you eight selectable brightness levels, and displays this information, as well as voltage and battery levels on a built-in OLED display. It’s also IPX-8 waterproof, so it can be submerged safely in up to two meters of water. The flashlight measures about 5.59″ long, and weighs just under a pound (without batteries).
Keep in mind that you’ll pay dearly for the power to blind your neighbors. The Tiny Monster flashlight is available for order over at ThinkGeek for $389.99(USD).
Scientists in Uruguay modified the genes of sheep using the fluorescent protein from an Aequarea jelly fish, causing the sheep to glow-in-the-dark. The sheep were born last October at the Animal Reproduction Institute of Uruguay. The sheep glow when they are exposed to certain ultraviolet light, emitting a glowing green color. Aside from glowing in the dark, Uruguay scientists assures everyone that these sheep are developing normally.
Alejo Menchaca, the leader of the research team, stated that the genetically modified sheep are roaming about the fields like any normal sheep. He states that, in this case, the team did not modify the sheeps with the fluorescent protein because of medical interests, but because they wanted to “fine-tune the technique”. They also used the green protein because the color is “easily identifiable in the sheep’s tissue.”
While these sheep may be the first glow-in-the-dark sheep to exist, they’re not the first living creatures that scientists have genetically modified. Scientists have also genetically modified zebrafish using the same green fluorescent protein from the Aequorea jelly fish to make them glow-in-the-dark. These zebrafish were them renamed “GloFish”, and have since been genetically modified using various other proteins, such as red, orange-yelow, blue, and purple fluorescent proteins.
Scienctists have continued this glow-in-the-dark trend with a variety of other living creatures, including cats, dogs, pigs, scorpions, worms, monkeys, mice, and more. However, most of these scientists aren’t just modifying these animals for fun. They believe that research on these genetically modified animals can help scientists better understand diseases and how diseases develop, not just for animals, but for humans as well. Scientists from the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh told The Guardian that their research with glow-in-the-dark cats would help them study HIV/Aids. The scientists stated,
“Cats are susceptible to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), a close relative of HIV, the cause of Aids. The application of the new technology suggested in this paper (Antiviral restriction factor transgenesis in the domestic cat) is to develop the use of genetically-modified cats for the study of FIV, providing valuable information for the study of Aids.”
A group of researchers from both Taiwan and Mexico have developed a new design for an LED streetlamp that will limit light pollution all the way down to 2%. Currently, LED streetlamps can leak as high as 20% of their light into areas they weren’t intending to target. These new streetlamps will only shine light in areas they are configured to light up, and will only leak a tiny amount of light into the night sky or surrounding objects.
According to the New Jersey Astronomical Association, around 30% of electricity generated from out door lights is being wasted illuminating areas that aren’t meant to receive the lighting. This light leakage also has adverse affects on nature as well. Birds are confused and sent off course, turtles who require the night sky to navigate become lost on their way towards the ocean, and many other animals have their sleeping patterns disrupted.
These new LED streetlamps would combat those adverse affects. The streetlamps’ design is also very adaptable, meaning that it can be adjusted to fit various environments. Ching-Cherng Sun, a member of the team behind the LED streetlamps, stated that current streetlamps either lean into the middle of a road or are posted in a zig-zag formation on different sides of a street. Those current designs are good for high-traffic areas, but not for other areas. Sun says that the new streetlight design is flexible enough to be used in a variety of situations and can be used to maintain a high efficiency in lighting.
The lamp is based on a 3-part fixture. The first part holds a cluster of LEDs, each fitted into a TIR (Total Internal Reflection) lens that helps focus the light making the rays parallel to each other instead of intersecting. The TIR lens-covered LED lights are then mounted inside a reflecting cavity, which recycles the light and makes sure that most of it is used to illuminate its target area. Lastly, the light leaves the lamp through a microlens sheet that reduces unwanted glare.
The new LED streetlight would reduce the amount of light pollution around the globe, and also reduce the amount of electricity used up by wasted light. It would also be beneficial to homes that have to deal with the unwanted glare produced by a nearby streetlight. Sun and his team are working diligently on their streetlamp prototype, and may finish it within 3-6 months. They hope to have these new streetlamps available by next year.
Those little LED garden lights are a nice way to add a little illumination to your outdoor paths and walkways. However, most of them emit the same boring white light. Not the LED lights from MoodLights. No, sirree, Bob.
Artist Felicia Renaud of MoodLights hand paints solar LED garden stake lights so they cast beautiful colored patterns on the ground and your garden at night.
She guarantees that her high-temperature water-based paints will hold up to the elements, so assuming the LED fixtures themselves hang in there, you’ll get many seasons of enjoyment out of these.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
