Hacking the Fluorescent Light 284
DynaSoar writes "MSNBC reports on an elegant hack performed on the common fluorescent tube. By mixing phosphorescent material with the usual white fluorescent material, American Environmental Products has developed a tube that continues to glow when shut off. Originally intended for submarines, and then used in places where terrorists could disrupt services, they are also perfect for power outages, providing some light so you don't have to thrash around in the dark looking for your candles and flashlights. Since the 'hack' is inside the tube, they can also be removed from their fixtures and carried around, as well as provide light even if they're shattered."
Portable -- nice (Score:2, Interesting)
Now this is impressive. Unscrew the bulb/tube and walk with it to safety. Very nice idea.
"Even if the tubes are shattered by an explosion, the shards will still provide light"
A smart idea. Also can serve as a sort of "bread crumbs" way for people to explore in dark passageways and find their way back out. Kind of hard to clean up shattered glass tubing.
bonus: reduced flicker (Score:4, Interesting)
Uses (Score:2, Interesting)
No more flickering! (Score:5, Interesting)
I hate existing flourescent bulbs. They give me a headache. This phosphor which glows continuously should help to reduce flicker.
Even a much shorter-lived phosphor would be good: If one could develop a phosphor which decays at about the rate that a lightbulb filament cools down, then we get both flicker-free lighting AND essentially instantaneous turn-off.
Well, it has one use (Score:3, Interesting)
Hey! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Light Sabres ! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Bleh (Score:2, Interesting)
The "worst attack on Britain since WWII" is a blip compared to the war and genocide that happens in other countries and is routinely ignored in favor of giving attention to the "problem" of occasional attacks on the west. The only reason terror against the west works at all is because of the predictably inappropriate response that's predictably elicited from western goverments.
Get your head out of your ass. If you want to talk about terrorism, point to attacks that are clearly systematic, well-funded, and more common than fucking lightning strikes -- like state-sponsored terror in the Sudan, Baathist Iraq, Colombia, etc. But don't whine about London. It just makes you sound as dumb as the media who over-reported it, unwittingly serving the provinciality of the public and the political needs of western governments, particularly the UK and the US, who have routinely looked aside or aided state-sponsored terror in other countries (in direct conflict with their stated ideologies).
Re:Wondering about this hack... (Score:3, Interesting)
They break like any other glass. They're actually quite a bit stronger than people realize - customers would bring them up to the counter and set them down like they were fine crystal, then we'd slap 'em together and wrap them with plastic, flip them around, and do the other end with little concern for breaking (and I've never seen one break that way).
The trick with these bulbs that once in a while they will shatter with no apparent provocation - we had that happen once with one of the tubes lighting the store. Companies sell clear plastic covers that go over them to contain the glass if it happens (and presumably to provide some protection from something hitting it).
And, despite their strength, they tend to break at the most unfortunate moments. One time we were replacing every bulb lighting the store, and the only one we broke doing it was one right over the register where customers were standing.
--RJ