One of the hurdles to taking LED lighting mainstream has been the high cost of creating white-light LEDs. Current manufacturing processes use a sapphire substrate as the base, which can be expensive.

Purdue University researchers have recently implemented a new process using a silicon base, with metallic layers stacked on top.  This is good news because silicon is not only cheaper, but is heat conductive, which means that the LEDs can be left ON the silicon base, eliminating some costly extra manufacturing steps currently associated with sapphire grown LEDs which have to be removed from the sapphire base and attached to something more heat conductive. This also means that the LEDs will last longer.

There remain some flaws in the manufacturing process, but the researchers believe that they can be overcome fairly easily. Its possible that we could see LEDs made from the new process as early as a couple of years.

For more detailed information, click here:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21140/page1/

Public Service Electricity & Gas (PSE&G) in New Jersey is testing out a public LED program for the external lighting of several New Jersey neighborhoods. There are a number of potential benefits to making the change that will be looked at during this pilot program.

• LEDs use up to 70% less energy (consider this against over 330,000 lights)
• Environmentally sound, with no harmful gasses or materials
• Environmentally sound AND economical when you consider that an LED can potentially last 10-15 years, whereas a standard street lamp lasts only 2-3 years.

The largest drawbacks at this time are the high cost of LED lights initially, though that price is expected to drop once the technology goes mainstream, and the fact that LEDs MIGHT be temperature sensitive, producing more light in cold months and less light in warm months.

More information can be found here:

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-11/121696064563810.xml&coll=1

On the heels of the news about blue light and hydrogen peroxide for fighting a number of oral diseases comes news of a new treatment for fighting specifically plaque using a bright light and a special molecule.

First of all, I want to point out the difference between Light or Phototherapy and Photodynamic Therapy.  Photo or Light Therapy involves the use of light, of any wavelength, to treat a condition naturally by shining the light on or near the affected area, or in some cases, on the body in general.  Photodynamic Therapy, on the other hand, involves a foreign substance or chemical compound that is ‘activated’ by the application of light.

The advantage of photodynamic therapy is that a chemical that is generally harmless can be applied to a broad area, while only areas where the treatment is needed can be activated by the light.  In cancer patients, this means that cancerous cells can be targeted specifically.  The more traditional treatments, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, on the other hand, target the entire body.

So, with that in mind, here’s the new finding:

A molecule that targets only plaque in the mouth has been identified.  This molecule in its normal state, is inert. However, when activated by a bright light, the molecules kill the plaque that has absorbed them. Potential ‘home use’ would include a liquid ‘mouth wash’  that could be purchased and swished, and a special tooth brush with a light at its tip that would ‘activate’ the mouth wash, killing plaque even in the harder to reach areas.

More information can be found here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7517552.stm