When we talk about LED lights, we most often tout their energy saving benefits—they're the most eco-friendly, energy efficient lighting option on the market, after all. But Fred Maxik, a founder of the Nhóm Khoa học Chiếu sáng, which specializes in LED bulbs, is hoping to show that LED light fixtures contain myriad other untapped benefits, ranging from emotional to physical. To do so, he's developing "biological specific lights" that do not interfere with users' sleep cycles or melatonin production.
Mối liên hệ giữa ánh sáng và sức khỏe đã được chứng minh. Vào năm 1980, Viện Sức khỏe Tâm thần Quốc gia đã phát hiện ra rằng ánh sáng trắng sáng có thể ngăn chặn việc sản xuất melatonin. Một vài năm sau, các nhà nghiên cứu Harvard đã chứng minh rằng nhịp sinh học có thể bị gián đoạn do tiếp xúc quá nhiều với ánh sáng trắng. Gần đây, các nhà khoa học đã liên hệ việc ức chế melatonin không chỉ với chứng mất ngủ mà còn với ung thư vú.
Maxik thinks he can make a bulb that combats these effects, and in fact has health benefits instead. "With a biological bulb, you could read at night without experiencing the nagging irritability that can occur after using a computer or sitting close to a lamp near bedtime," according to Thời báo New York. "And other bulbs — or the same bulb programmed via a network— could help make consumers feel more refreshed in the morning by choreographing their wake-up ritual. "We could even do things like lights for sterilization, with photo catalysts" for bathrooms in perhaps five to six years," added Maxik.
The LED's super power—the thing that makes an LED "health bulb" possible—lies in the fact that light emitting diodes are completely controllable. "Light-emitting diodes, after all, are semiconductors that can be programmed to emit light at precise wavelengths, colors and tones. Traditional light bulbs, the last vestige of the vacuum tube era, produce light with hot gases or wires," says Thời báo NY. This valuable feature, which is found only in LED lights, will give consumers the ability to have greater control over their environment. Besides light bulbs with health benefits, LED lights that send signals and information, emit light to make people look more attractive, and combat jet lag are either already available or in the works. For instance, the photo above depicts an LED light bulb that NASA will use to adjust astronauts' circadian rhythms.
"Humans and artificial lighting have never been an ideal combination. Circadian disorders result from placing humans in unnatural situations. Maybe LEDs can restore some of the balance," says Thời báo NY.
