Engineered Light to Improve Health, Food

Tailored LED wavelengths and intensities can efficiently stimulate their growth, alter their shapes and increase their nutritional value, opening a new world of scientific and technological possibilities for indoor farming.

Light not just human optics with better lighting but also can help regulate human health and productivity by eliciting various hormonal responses, suggest Sandia National Laboratories researcher Jeff Tsao and colleagues from other institutions in a //Nature "Perspectives" article.

"LED lighting is only in its infancy," the authors write. "We now stand at the threshold of what might be called engineered light."

High Intensity LED Lights May Cause Sleep Problems
LEDs have been linked to poor sleep quality, impaired daytime functioning though it is more energy-efficient compared to sodium lights.

‘People who believe light-emitting diodes, or LEDS, are just an efficient upgrade to the ordinary electric light bulb are stuck in their thinking. ’

Moreover, with plants, the authors write, tailored LED wavelengths and intensities can efficiently stimulate their growth, alter their shapes and increase their nutritional value, opening a new world of scientific and technological possibilities for indoor farming.

"That's not to ignore the integration of LEDs with the internet of things," Tsao said, "which is already happening with LED integration with electronics, sensors and communications." The so-called internet of things refers to electronic circuits that can communicate with each other while embedded in a variety of everyday devices.

In short, the inevitable broadening of LED usage could add value to society far greater than the energy saved in lighting homes and buildings, the authors write.

Using LED Light and Photosensitizers to Treat Alzheimer's Disease
Blue LED lights and photosensitizers prevented the formation of beta-amyloid deposits in the brain of fruit flies.

Source-Eurekalert

Nanotubes Guided With LED Light May Help Locate Tumors Inside Biological Tissues
The Rice technique relies on the fact that single-walled carbon nanotubes naturally fluoresce at short-wave infrared wavelengths when excited by visible light.

LED Lighting Treatments Can Affect Greenhouse Tomato Quality
A recent study offers new information about the feasibility of using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in greenhouse tomato operations.