A Source of en-LIGHT-enment

Another Nutrient for Depression: Folate

Something I've not seen before is a link between an indicator of Alzheimer's and depression. Sufferers of both tend to have high blood levels of homocysteine.    High blood levels of homocysteine are associated with Alzheimer’s disease and depression, although a cause-and-effect relationship hasn’t been proven.

Folate (Vitamin B9) along with Vitamin B6 and B12 help break down homocysteine.  You can get these from green leafy veggies (you know that salad is good for you anyway).  Homocysteine is an amino acid that is a precursor to SAMe which seems to have natural antidepressant abilities. 

An interesting statement from the MSN article is that folks without enough Folate in their blood do not seem to be able to use antidepressants as effectively when prescribed, at least in an analysis of some studies.  Well, it's something to think about at least, and I guess I should go find a salad for lunch.

Link: http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100159754

Moiré Patterns

Earlier in the week, I came across a blog post that was talking about Moire patterns used in a lamp to give the impression that a butterfly was flapping its wings.  A simple and elegant idea to imply motion, the Moire effect is an optical illusion that blurs the original images because of interference from the dots or overlapping patterns. Moiré effect is a visual perception that occurs when viewing a set of lines or dots that is superimposed on another set of lines or dots, where the sets differ in relative size, angle, or spacing. The moiré effect can be seen when looking through ordinary window screens at another screen or background. 

Link: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/moire/moire.html

Astronomy: Infrared Photos

Most everyone has heard of the Hubble Space Telescope.  Not everyone has heard of its counterparts Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope.  These are some of the most stunning images I've seen in a while.

For more, check out: http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/image_galleries/legacy/index.html

Slowing Light to 1/300th of It's Normal Speed?

Apparently IBM has come up with a new chip that may one day be able to be used for optical computing.  New technology will allow the chips to carry optical data at 1/300 the normal speed of light (a mere 620 miles per second).  While this has been completed in labs before, the IBM innovation allows this to take place under non-lab conditions.

Link: http://news.zdnet.com/IBM+slows+light,+readies+it+for+networking/2100-9584_22-5928541.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnn

Quantum Dots: A new take on LEDs

LEDs have a lot of advantages over incandescent bulbs. They're sturdier, they produce twice as much light watt for watt, and they last 50 times as long. One problem: while LEDs are great for making colored light, they're not so good at making the bright white light we like to live and work by. Until now, that is--thanks to an accidental discovery by Michael Bowers, graduate student at Vanderbilt University.

Bowers was cooking up a batch of quantum dots--tiny crystals a thousand times thinner than a human hair. And not just any quantum dots, but "magic-sized cadmium selenide nanocrystals," which contain just 33 or 34 pairs of atoms. The dots were intended for a coworker's research project, but when Bowers shined a laser on them he got a surprise all his own. They gave off "a beautiful white glow."

Energized quantum dots normally give off colored light. As soon as Bowers saw the white light, he knew he was on to something. So he and another student mixed the quantum dots into polyurethane and coated a blue LED light bulb with quantum-dot goop. Result? An LED that gives off a warm, sunny light. Someday, instead of flipping on the lights, we might just energize the magic-sized dots.

via Knowledge News

OLEDs: Not Margerine, but Organic LEDs

I've been hearing about OLEDs for a while now, but haven't gotten around to finding out what makes them different from LEDs.  They're touted as being faster, lighter, more responsive, and more flexible (as in bendable), and use less energy that LCD screens, apparently their major "competitor".

OLEDs are a flat display technology.  Layers of organic (carbon) substances that phosphoresces when electricity is applied to it the layers, creates light and so back lighting is not needed, like with an LCD screen.  This is a rough definition of them. For a more thorough definition and explanation, check out:

Link: http://www.oled-info.com/introduction.html and http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/O/OLED.html

What is black lighting?

Black lights are commonly used in clubs and for special effects.  Yesterday it hit me, that I have no idea really how they work.  Black lights are basically waves that are just short of visible light, the ultra violet  (UV) light that you wear sun screen to avoid. 

Black lights are created so that they do not emit visible light, but rather ultra violet wavelengths.  The light shows up when phosphorus materials are hit by the UV rays and the phosphorous material decreases the wavelength of the rays into the visible light range.  Materials appear to  appear to "glow" because they are reflecting the UV rays back at you in a visible part of the spectrum.  Short term exposure to black lights won't hurt you, but because  they are in the UV range, caution should be taken with long term exposure.

Visible Light--Part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Human beings see a very limited amount of the electromagnetic spectrum  This visible light region consists of a spectrum of wavelengths, which range from approximately 700 nanometers (abbreviated nm) to approximately 400 nm; that would be 7 x 10^-7 meter to 4 x 10^-7 meter.   Shorter and longer than visible "light," you can find Infrared light (heat) and ultraviolet light, and even shorter wavelengths are x-rays.

NASA has some nice information on different ways that visible light can be perceived. http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/ems/visible.html

Fun, Simple Explanation of Images Seen on Concave vs. Convex Surfaces

Which fun-house mirror makes you tall and skinny?  Which one makes you short and fat?  Why?  Follow the link below to find out.  This site also has some other fun pages that help explain how light works and how people perceive it.

http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/science/light/lawslight/funhouse/index.html

Why Are Halogen Bulbs So Hot?

Halogen Bulbs use a process like a normal light bulb. They consist of a tungsten filament surrounded by a gas and something to contain the gas. Normal light bulbs use glass to contain the gas, halogen lights use quartz because it withstands heat better, because the glass would melt.

Halogen gas will combine with tungsten metal vapor from the filament (it does evaporate at high temperatures!) and rain (reattach) itself back onto the filament, letting it last much longer. This is different from a normal light bulb.

Also, because the quartz will withstand higher temperatures, the filament can be heated even further creating more light with the same amount of energy, making it more efficient. Beware though, halogen bulbs emit much more heat than a normal light bulb, they emit upwards of 1200 F of heat, a normal light bulb emits about 350 F of heat.

If you want more information, check out HOW STUFF WORKS. . .