How a ‘lamp’ for Hurricane Irma helped save lives
A new generation of LED light fixtures have been developed by a group of scientists in the US and the UK to combat the rising tide of natural disasters in the future.
The LightWave Lighting team, led by Dr. Andrew Cripps of Duke University, is trying to make LED light bulbs safer, more environmentally friendly and more resilient in the face of climate change.
In the US, the group’s researchers have designed a light bulb that can turn on and off as a hurricane approaches.
“LightWave is a prototype of a new kind of light bulb, where instead of turning on and on, the bulb turns on and shuts off, so that the whole system can switch off,” Dr. Cripp, who is also an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Duke, said in a press release.
LightWave uses LEDs that are made of transparent glass that emit light at frequencies that match the frequency of the hurricane.
This can cause light to leak from the LED, or “heat up,” and “heat down” the light bulb.
The researchers have now created an LED light bulb with a light-emitting diode (LEDD) that can shut down the LED when the hurricane passes through the area.
A prototype LightWave light bulb has an LEDD and an infrared sensor.
The infrared sensor measures the temperature of the bulb.
Image: Duke University/LightWave lightbulb/Shutterstock The researchers are hoping to build a lightbulbs that can be used in disaster zones around the world.
“The technology could be useful in places where the sun doesn’t shine and there’s no electricity,” Dr Cripp said.
The team hopes that the technology will be able to help people and governments in places that face extreme weather such as disasters like hurricanes and typhoons.
As climate change continues to worsen, Dr. John Hickey, the lead scientist on the project, said that the number of natural hazards will increase.
The researchers hope to eventually replace traditional light bulbs with LEDs, and also hope to create a new class of light bulbs that can provide relief from the heat of hurricanes and wildfires.
“There are a lot of challenges ahead of us.
There are still a lot we need to figure out and work out,” Dr Hickey said in the press release .
“LightWave lighting has the potential to help provide power to those areas without having to pay for it.”
Image: Duke’s LightWave Light Bulb/Wikipedia/Lightwave LightWave LED lightbulbes were first developed in 2010, and have since been used by many businesses in the area of natural disaster relief.