Say goodbye to Lightbulbs

[Guest Vitamin X]

Natural light 'to reinvent bulbs'

 

A light source that could put the traditional light bulb in the shade has been invented by US scientists.

 

The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) emits a brilliant white light when attached to an electricity supply.

 

The material, described in the journal Nature, can be printed in wafer thin sheets that could transform walls, ceilings or even furniture into lights.

 

The OLEDs do not heat up like today's light bulbs and so are far more energy efficient and should last longer.

 

They also produce a light that is more akin to natural daylight than traditional bulbs.

 

"We're hoping that this will lead to significantly longer device lifetimes in addition to higher efficiency," said Professor Mark Thompson of the University of Southern California, one of the authors of the paper.

 

Traditional light bulbs were invented more than 130 years ago. Since then the basic principle of creating light remains the same, although the design has been tweaked.

 

An electric current passing through a tungsten wire causes it to heat up and glow white hot.

 

Today, more than 20% of electricity used in US buildings is eaten up by lights and nearly half that amount is used by traditional, incandescent light bulbs.

 

It has been a long-term goal of scientists to come up with something that would reduce this mammoth energy demand.

 

The new work exploits the properties of carbon-based polymers to produce the white light. These are already found in some mobile phone displays and MP3 players.

 

Until now, they have been unable to generate sufficient light to illuminate a room.

 

To create the new material, the scientists build up ultra-thin layers of plastics coated with green, red and blue dyes.

 

When an electric current passes through them, they combine to produce white light.

 

Previous attempts to make OLEDs like this have largely failed to make an impact because traditional phosphorescent blue dyes are very short lived.

 

The new polymer uses a fluorescent blue material instead which lasts much longer and uses less energy.

 

The researchers believe that eventually this material could be 100% efficient, meaning it could be capable of converting all of the electricity to light, without the heat loss associated with traditional bulbs.

 

The new material can also be printed onto glass or plastic and so in theory could create large areas of lighting, relatively cheaply.

 

Before this becomes a reality, the scientists need to work out a way to seal the OLEDs from moisture which can contaminate the sensitive material, causing it to no longer work.

 

If that barrier can be overcome, the new polymer could eventually become the material of choice for stylish, environmentally friendly lighting.

 

The research team incorporated members from Princeton University, the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan.

 

So no more "how many ** does it take to change a lightbulb" jokes, I guess.

[Mole 0]

W must be pissed.

[MrRant 0]

When they are released, hopefully they will be cheap enough (via cost over lifetime of the bulb and energy usage) to be affordable for one to replace the light bulbs in their house. I know some people who still don't understand that while you might pay $1.25 for one of bulbs that use 11 watts and lasts 3x longer vs a 60 watt bulb that it's a better value overall because a 4 pack of regular bulbs is a $1.29.

[Vampiro69 0]

Are those the bulbs that are shaped sorta ike a corkscrew?

[MrRant 0]

Yes

[DerangedHermit 0]

So no more "how many ** does it take to change a lightbulb" jokes, I guess.

 

How many scientists does it take to obsolete a lightbulb?

[Special K 0]

Are those the bulbs that are shaped sorta ike a corkscrew?

 

Those are natural light flourescents, not LEDs. They're much better than traditional lightbulbs as well. (cool, energy efficient, more natural light) as opposed to balast-lit flourescents which fucking suck.

[Guest wildpegasus]

I've always like the lightbulbs not just for light but for heat as well. What are all the people going to do who really on lightbulbs for heat?

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

"We're hoping that this will lead to significantly longer device lifetimes in addition to higher efficiency," said Professor Mark Thompson of the University of Southern California, one of the authors of the paper.

So in other words, THESE WILL NEVER BE PRODUCED.

[Ultimo Dugas 0]

I've always like the lightbulbs not just for light but for heat as well. What are all the people going to do who really on lightbulbs for heat?

 

Who the fuck relies on lightbulbs for heat besides incubating eggs?

[Golgo 13 0]

Kids with Easy Bake Ovens.

 

I don't know what he's talking about either.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

McDonalds?

[Guest Vitamin X]

I don't think those are used for light, nor are they any kind of regular lightbulbs either.

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

I see what he's saying, in that there is heat generated by incandescent light, but the amount of heat in a given room from one light bulb is pretty negligible.

[Sideburnious 0]

Man, if this takes over what will CZW use in their matches?

[EricMM 0]

CZW: saving the flourescant light bulb industry.

 

95% of the energy put into an incandescant light bulb is emitted as heat instead of energy.

 

95%!

 

This is why improvement is so necessary. And people don't trust these new fancy ones? Whats so trustworthy about the old ones?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

OLED is going to be a huge technology. There are actually companies working on OLED TVs...you think plasma sets are thin? How about a TV you can apply like wallpaper?

[Guest Vitamin X]

OLED's already are a huge technology. Hell, some of us already use it for a quick source of light.. Ever lose something or need to see something in the dark and the only thing you have is your brightass cellphone? Makes perfect sense.