LED

Move over, macro: researchers have created the world’s smallest silicon LED and holographic microscope, and among its uses is a hack that'll let you use your smartphone to view objects as tiny as a single human skin cell in brilliant high resolution.

While implanted artificial teeth do offer a longer-term alternative to dentures, they may need to be surgically replaced if gum infections occur. Scientists are thus working on a better implant, that would generate electricity via mouth movements.

Even though we're warned about the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight, they're essential for the production of vitamin D in the body. Now, scientists are claiming that UV LEDs could serve as a safe alternative to sunlight.

​Although LEDs are more energy-efficient than incandescent bulbs, most commercial models are reportedly only about 50 percent efficient at emitting the light that they generate. This is known as their light extraction efficiency, and researchers have drastically increased it by copying fireflies.

​Studies have already shown that by irradiating bald skin using red lasers, hair follicles can be stimulated into growing new hair. Unfortunately, though, such laser setups are large, cumbersome and energy-inefficient. With that in mind, scientists have developed a wearable LED photostimulator.

The field of optogenetics is all about using light to stimulate cells in the body. Now, researchers from Flinders University have used the technique to shine a light where the Sun don’t shine, stimulating nerves in the gut to relieve chronic constipation.

Though infant jaundice can be treated with light therapy, this involves the baby lying alone and naked inside an incubator. A new material could replace this uncomfortable experience, by instead wrapping them inside snug pajamas that radiate light inwards.

​Over 2 years after the laying a bunch of solar harvesting hexagonal panels at its Idaho electronics lab Solar Roadways has completed its first public installation. The City of Sandpoint, Idaho, is playing host to the proof of concept roll out, with 30 tiles now brightening up a town square.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that could fit into standard light sockets only hit the market in the 1980s, but the signs are their days may be numbered. GE has announced it will cease production of CFLs this year and instead switch its focus to producing LEDs.

After almost half a century of service, NASA is replacing its historic launch countdown clock with a high-tech LED version that makes its public debut on Thursday during the launch of the Orion EFT-1 mission.

Lighting giant Philips has developed a new LED solution to help alleaviate symptoms of mild and moderate cases of psoriasis. Using optimized, UV-free blue LED lights, the unit can be strapped on to the part of the body where the psoriasis breaks out.

Solar powered street lights are an attractive proposition for places where electricity is at a premium, or locations that are off the grid completely. The Spirit Solar Powered Lighting Column is the first example we've seen which rolls the post and the panels together in a standalone design.