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Tag: light pollution

  • Scientists Uncover Yet Another Reason to Sleep in Total Darkness

    It turns out that your annoying friend who insists on closing all of the window blinds and covering all of the glowing electronics in a bedroom in order to sleep in total darkness is onto something. New research bolsters the well-established theory linking nighttime light to adverse health impacts.

    A preliminary analysis set to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2025, starting Friday, suggests that the state of darkness while we sleep plays a crucial role in our overall health. The results link more artificial light at night, also known as artificial nighttime light pollution, with higher brain stress signals, inflamed blood vessels, and greater risk of heart disease—a broad term for different heart problems.

    “We know that environmental factors, such as air and noise pollution, can lead to heart disease by affecting our nerves and blood vessels through stress. Light pollution is very common; however, we don’t know much about how it affects the heart,” Shady Abohashem, head of cardiac PET/CT imaging trials at Massachusetts General Hospital and senior author of the yet-unpublished study, said in a statement by the American Heart Association.

    Artificial nighttime brightness at home

    In the observational study, Abohashem and his colleagues reviewed the health data of 466 adults who had undergone the same combined Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) scan at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston between 2005 and 2008 to identify stress signals in the brain and evidence of artery inflammation. They also investigated the adults’ exposure to artificial nighttime brightness at their homes via the 2016 New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness.

    The researchers found that people who experienced greater amounts of nighttime artificial light had higher brain stress activity, blood vessel inflammation, and a greater chance of developing heart disease. Unsurprisingly, the risk of heart issues was increased among participants who lived in areas with additional stress factors like significant traffic noise or lower neighborhood income. By the end of 2018, 17% of the adults had experienced significant heart problems.

    “We found a nearly linear relationship between nighttime light and heart disease: the more night-light exposure, the higher the risk. Even modest increases in night-time light were linked with higher brain and artery stress,” Abohashem explained. The correlation remained even after researchers adjusted for known heart risk factors and other socio-environmental stresses.

    “When the brain perceives stress, it activates signals that can trigger an immune response and inflame the blood vessels,” he added. “Over time, this process can contribute to hardening of the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.”

    Put the phone down

    So what can we do about it? Cities could diminish unnecessary external lighting, and individuals could lessen indoor nighttime light before going to bed, according to Abohashem. That includes screens, which means no more scrolling on TikTok before snoozing.

    “We know too much exposure to artificial light at night can harm your health, particularly increasing the risk of heart disease. However, we did not know how this harm happened,” said Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, who is director of behavioral sleep medicine at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and was not involved in the study. “This study has investigated one of several possible causes, which is how our brains respond to stress. This response seems to play a big role in linking artificial light at night to heart disease.”

    However, the study has some limitations, according to the statement. For example, the participants were drawn from a single hospital system, so the group may lack diversity, and the results might not reflect the broader population. Furthermore, because of the nature of an observational study, it can’t prove that the associations are causal.

    “We want to expand this work in larger, more diverse populations, test interventions that reduce nighttime light, and explore how reducing light exposure might improve heart health,” Abohashem concluded.

    Margherita Bassi

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  • California Startup Wants to Launch 4,000 Mirrors to Orbit. Scientists Are Alarmed

    A California startup’s plan to launch thousands of mirrors into orbit has caused quite a stir among astronomers and wildlife experts. The company, Reflect Orbital, aims to maximize energy output from solar farms by redirecting sunlight toward them at night.

    Reflect Orbital recently applied for a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license to launch a demonstration satellite called EARENDIL-1 in April 2026. Once in orbit, the satellite will unfold a 3,600-square-foot (334-square-meter) mirror designed to direct sunlight down to targeted solar farms on Earth. This would be the first step toward the company’s goal of deploying a constellation of 4,000 such satellites by 2030.

    “The cost that this incurs not only on astronomy, but on the entire civilization—plus the ecological impacts—are, in my personal view, not worth the effort,” Siegfried Eggl, an assistant professor of astrophysics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and co-lead of the IAU’s Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky, told Gizmodo.

    Reflect Orbital did not respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment by the time of publication. A company spokesperson told Space.com that it intends to conduct an environmental impact assessment before building the constellation.

    Would Reflect Orbital’s plan even work?

    Reflect Orbital’s website promises that its constellation will deliver “continuous, reliable access to energy, day or night, to increase power generation.” That promise has won the backing of big-wig investors and a $1.25 million Small Business Innovation Research contract from the U.S. Air Force.

    On paper, the concept is relatively simple—like using a hand mirror to bounce a spot of sunlight onto the wall. But in practice, this approach may not be as effective as Reflect Orbital hopes, according to astronomers Michael J. I. Brown of Monash University and Matthew Kenworthy of Leiden University.

    In a recent article for The Conversation, they explain that due to the Sun’s size and distance, a reflected beam would spread out and be about 15,000 times dimmer than the midday Sun once it reaches Earth’s surface, though that’s still much brighter than the full Moon.

    “If a single 54 metre [177-foot] satellite is 15,000 times fainter than the midday Sun, you would need 3,000 of them to achieve 20% of the midday Sun. That’s a lot of satellites to illuminate one region,” Brown and Kenworthy write. Because these satellites would orbit Earth so quickly, it would take well over 4,000 to provide continuous illumination, they add.

    And that’s if everything goes according to plan, Eggl said. Imagine, for example, that a piece of space debris or a meteorite impacts one of these mirrors and causes it to tumble. “Once this thing tumbles, you basically have a gigantic lighthouse that is uncontrollably illuminating parts of the Earth,” he explained.

    The consequences of light pollution

    Darkness is a dwindling resource that astronomers fundamentally depend on. Light pollution poses an increasing threat to their research, with global levels rising roughly 10% per year since the advent of LED lights.

    “When you have mirrors that are shining even in the approximate direction of where telescopes are, the sky brightness is going to increase drastically,” Eggl explained. “It will be like having the full Moon up every night, and that will be devastating to astronomy.” This would prevent telescopes from imaging the very faint objects astronomers need to observe.

    Light pollution also threatens numerous animal species whose behavior evolved to align with natural day-night cycles. “By effectively extending daylight hours through artificial light and blurring the boundaries between day and night, light pollution interferes with the circadian rhythms, the physiology, and the behavioural patterns of countless species,” David Smith, advocacy and social change manager at invertebrate charity BugLife, told Space.com.

    Reflect Orbital’s FCC license application is still pending approval, and Eggl hopes regulators will take the scientific community’s concerns seriously. “But given what they propose, I see no clear way this cannot be extremely disruptive for all sorts of things,” Eggl said.

    Ellyn Lapointe

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  • Driver shares photo of bizarre vehicle traveling on local roadway: ‘Looks like fiberglass’

    An Italian Redditor spotted something strange on the road recently and took to r/whatisthisthing to get some help identifying it.

    “Road transport with a large I-beam shape,” they wrote alongside a photo. “Looks like fiberglass, has a little door in the back. Doesn’t look like cargo, rather it’s part of the transporter. Seen in Tuscany.”

    Photo Credit: Reddit

    As it turns out, this kind of oddly-shaped truck is apparently used in advertising. In the photo, it’s being used to promote a restaurant.

    Mobile advertising like this has been spreading like a plague. Advertising trucks have been seen in Maine, shilling ferry rides, in the UK, blinding people at night, and selling internet service in Colorado. This light pollution from LED ads is dangerous on roads, as one study revealed. While the truck pictured on Reddit hosts traditional, non-electronic signage, it still hosts advertising, which drives overconsumption.

    Unnecessary purchases are a deciding factor not only in overspending but in manufacturing pollution. The energy and material needs upstream and the waste created downstream both pose heavy environmental costs.

    By supporting a circular economy instead, it’s possible to save money by giving used items a second life. This can be done via thrifting, repairing the items you own, and donating usable items you’re done with. Some services will even reward you for making those donations, including Trashie, ThredUp, and GotSneakers.

    Reddit commenters were certainly annoyed when learning what the oddly-shaped truck was used for, but some had some interesting context to add.

    “It’s not meant to be mobile, it’s meant to be parked in strategic places where there’s no billboard or where a fixed structure isn’t allowed or the taxes would be too costly,” said one community member. “I think they are called sail trucks or posterbus.”

    “It is curved only for legal reasons. In order to be able to circulate, a ‘sailing truck’ (camion vela) must not have a shape as to be able to carry anything except billboards,” said another. “If the back were parallelepiped, even if it had no doors or access, it would be illegal. Or rather it should be registered as a van and therefore to carry advertising it should pay a tax that a vehicle not suitable for transport does not have to pay.”

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  • Dark Sky Week resolution highlights ‘awe-inspiring’ skies above Virginia – WTOP News

    Dark Sky Week resolution highlights ‘awe-inspiring’ skies above Virginia – WTOP News

    Gazing at twinkling stars against a dark sky is one of life’s simple pleasures — now Virginians will have a yearly reminder that light pollution can compromise the Commonwealth’s starry, starry nights.

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    Dark Sky Week resolution highlights ‘awe-inspiring’ skies above Virginia

    Gazing at twinkling stars against a dark sky is one of life’s simple pleasures — now Virginians will have a yearly reminder that light pollution can compromise the Commonwealth’s starry, starry nights.

    “We need to take a moment to be able to recognize that the light pollution we have around us, prevents us from being able to see the awe-inspiring nature of the starry sky above us,” Del. David Reid, a Democrat from Loudoun County, told WTOP.

    Reid introduced House Joint Resolution 74, to designate the week of the new moon each April as International Dark Sky Week. This year, International Dark Sky Week will occur from April 2-8.

    While the lights shining from major cities are the worst offenders, Reid said light pollution extends to the suburbs.

    “Our streetlights, our lights that are in our communities, on our homes, all have a tendency to radiate in many different directions, including radiating light upward,” said Reid.

    According to the Dark Sky International organization, light pollution harms migratory birds and other wildlife.

    One of Reid’s favorite places to stargaze is in nearby Fauquier County at Sky Meadows State Park.

    “You’re out there, and you have this wide-open view of the night sky, and not a lot of light pollution. You just see so many stars, and you can actually see parts of the Milky Way.”

    Reid calls himself an amateur astronomer, who has shared the joy of looking toward the heavens within his family’s backyard in Ashburn.

    “I remember looking through that telescope, and see the rings of Saturn, and the bands on Jupiter, with your own eye. It’s not like what you’re going to see from the James Webb or Hubble telescope, but then being able to have my teenage daughters at the time, look and see those things is just so much more compelling than what you see in a magazine,” Reid said.

    In addition to Sky Meadows, James River, Natural Bridge and Staunton River state parks are also designated as Virginia’s Dark Sky parks, which follow strict ordinances to avoid light pollution.

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    Neal Augenstein

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  • Sleeping with light pollution linked to diabetes, study says | CNN

    Sleeping with light pollution linked to diabetes, study says | CNN

    Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Sleep, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide has helpful hints to achieve better sleep.



    CNN
     — 

    Sleeping in a room exposed to outdoor artificial light at night may increase the risk of developing diabetes, according to a study of nearly 100,000 Chinese adults.

    People who lived in areas of China with high light pollution at night were about 28% more likely to develop diabetes than people who lived in the least polluted areas, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Diabetologia.

    Ultimately, more than 9 million cases of diabetes in Chinese adults age 18 years and older may be due to outdoor light pollution at night, the authors said, adding the number is likely to increase as more people moved to cities.

    However, a lack of darkness affects more than urban areas. Urban light pollution is so widespread that it can affect suburbs and forest parks that may be tens, even hundreds, of miles from the light source, the authors said.

    “The study confirms prior research of the potential detrimental effects of light at night on metabolic function and risk for diabetes,” said Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, who was not involved in the study

    Prior research has shown an association between artificial light at night and weight gain and obesity, disruptions in metabolic function, insulin secretion and the development of diabetes, and cardiovascular risk factors.

    A study published earlier this year by Zee and her team examined the role of light in sleep for healthy adults in their 20s. Sleeping for only one night with a dim light, such as a TV set with the sound off, raised the blood sugar and heart rate of the young people during the sleep lab experiment.

    An elevated heart rate at night has been shown in prior studies to be a risk factor for future heart disease and early death, while higher blood sugar levels are a sign of insulin resistance, which can ultimately lead to type 2 diabetes.

    “Healthy sleep is hugely important in preventing the development of diabetes,” said Dr. Gareth Nye, a senior lecturer of physiology at the University of Chester in the United Kingdom. He was not involved in the Diabetologia study.

    “Studies have suggested that inconsistent sleep patterns have been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes,” he said in a statement.

    The new study used data from the 2010 China Noncommunicable Disease Surveillance Study, which asked representative samples of the Chinese population about social demographics, lifestyle factors and medical and family health histories. Blood samples were collected and compared with satellite imagery of light levels in the area of China in which each person lived.

    The analysis found chronic exposure to light pollution at night raised blood glucose levels and led to a higher risk of insulin resistance and diabetes.

    Any direct link between diabetes and nighttime light pollution is still unclear, however, because living in an urban area is itself a known contributor to the development of diabetes, Nye explained.

    “It has been known for a long time now that living in (an) urbanised area increases your risk of obesity through increased access to high fat and convenience food, less physical activity levels due to transport links and less social activities,” Nye wrote.

    Strategies for reducing light levels at night include positioning your bed away from windows and using light-blocking window shades. If low levels of light persist, try a sleep mask to shelter your eyes.

    Be aware of the type of light you have in your bedroom and ban any lights in the blue spectrum, such as those emitted by electronic devices like televisions, smartphones, tablets and laptops — blue light is the most stimulating type of light, Zee said.

    “If you have to have a light on for safety reasons change the color. You want to choose lights that have more reddish or brownish tones,” she said. If a night light is needed, keep it dim and at floor level, so that it’s more reflected rather than next to your eye at bed level, she suggested.

    Avoid sleeping with the television on — if you tend to fall asleep while it’s still on, put it on a timer, Zee suggested.

    Dim ambient lights in the evening at least two to three hours before bedtime, and if you “absolutely have to use computer or other light-emitting screens, change screen light wavelength to longer ones of orange-amber,” Zee said. “Importantly, get light during the day — daylight is healthy!”

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  • It Would Cost $65 Million To Display 60-Second Commercials In Twilight Above Cities. What A Disgusting Idea

    It Would Cost $65 Million To Display 60-Second Commercials In Twilight Above Cities. What A Disgusting Idea

    Light pollution is a serious problem for humanity and it’s getting worse. The creep of LED lights across the world in the past decade or so has caused skyglow to increase, so much so that urban stargazing is becoming much more difficult.

    Now another insidious kind of light pollution is being talked up in a recent study published in the journal Aerospace.

    It looks at the possibility of a space advertising mission. Yes, that’s right—advertising in the night sky. The researchers from Skoltech, a private university Moscow, Russia, studied the economic feasibility of launching a bunch of satellites into orbit to fly in formation and reflect sunlight to display commercials in the sky above cities.

    This is surely the ultimate definition of space junk.

    “As unrealistic as it may seem, we show that space advertising based on 50 or more small satellites flying in formation could be economically viable,” said Shamil Biktimirov, co-author and a research intern at Skoltech’s Engineering Center.

    They arrived at a tentative cost of $65 million.

    The concept uses small CubeSats that nevertheless each unfurl a 32-square-meter solar sail to maximize reflectiveness, though since they reflect sunlight they would only work in the hour or so after sunset (or before sunrise).

    There are various factors involved that affect how much money could be made, from the cloudiness to the demographics of the city the commercials are shown to.

    The model works by picking the most profitable city within reach and displaying an ad there for one minute before switching to the next one. So perhaps only big cities—already blighted by light pollution—would be visited by these monstrosities.

    There are two aspects of this concept to be worried about.

    The first is that the study finds space advertising to be commercially viable. The authors show that space advertising revenue could reach approximately $2 million per day for a series on one-minute commercials over a profitable city. So the mission would only have to last just over a month to break even. The researchers claim that such a mission could operate for several months.

    The second is the researchers cavalier attitude to light pollution. In the paper the researchers state that light pollution concerns is unwarranted since commercials could only be shown around sunrise or sunset—and not at night—and that it would only make economic sense to show commercials to large cities that are already exposed to permanent light pollution. For example, they wouldn’t be visible from anywhere that observatories study the night sky.

    This is both massively disrespectful to people in cities, hugely damaging to wildlife that live in them and completely misunderstands the value of twilight.

    No, professional astronomy is not done in cities. So what? There are plenty of urban astronomers. I would argue that the majority of amateur astronomers live in cities. Yes, you can go stargazing in London. Go up to the High Line in Manhattan and you’ll find members of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York looking at stars, planets and galaxies. The last thing the iconic Griffith Observatory in Hollywood, Los Angeles needs is yet more light pollution in the form of logos for car companies or fast food brands.

    Twilight is a gorgeous and incredibly important time. It’s when the birds roost and the stars come out. It’s a time for looking for planets low on the horizon and for spotting a crescent Moon.

    It’s when night’s window opens and always has done. Commercials are for TVs, not twilight.

    Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

    Jamie Carter, Senior Contributor

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