Taiwan is switching over to LED traffic signals within the next three years. The country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs estimates the cost of this project to run NT$229 million ($7 million) and is scheduled to start in 2008.

The MOEA claims the total savings in power consumption will be close to 85%. Taiwan will then invest another NT$130 million to do the same with its street lights.

A lamp you can take with you? That used to be called a flashlight, but designer Dorata Kulawuk’s Nomadic Lamp goes way beyond portable — the light rings are perfectly suited to be carried, worn as a bracelet, or plunked on a table. The two brightness settings let you use it as either a mood light or a primary source, with the opaque orange rings diffusing the light so there’s no need for a shade. Each ring can light up your life for up to 10 hours per charge, and the charging station holds three. Best of all, it uses LED lights, which are way more efficient than regular incandescents.

Unfortunately, the Nomadic Lamp is only a concept product, with no one planning to make or sell it anytime soon. Covet at your own risk.

Thanks Peter Pachal for the article.

Joey Nicotera used his obsession with colored lights to create his own incandescent installation art – turning his apartment into a kind of disco, Jetsons-style, cocktail lounge experience with the use of LEDs. LEDs (light-emitting diodes) convert electricity into light and are predicted to replace standard bulbs and fluorescents when they become less costly. Nicotera’s interest lies primarily in aesthetics, though, as he uses his 54 LED fixtures, which transmit colored light without the use of filters, to cater to his lighting whims.

Nicotera runs a red-white-and-blue program each Fourth of July, and he can change colors on shelf panels to simulate Tetris, the falling-blocks video puzzle game. When Italy won soccer’s World Cup last year, Nicotera displayed Italy’s national colors in his first-floor condo, which is visible to nearby traffic.

The Netherlands Royal Phillips Electronics now owns the Boston-based LED-company Color Kinetics, Inc, which holds patents on LED technology and has outfitted the Los Angeles Airport, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and Toronto’s CN tower, among others, with LED-based systems. The company claims that LEDs are becoming more affordable and definitely surpass incandescent bulbs and fluorescents in terms of energy efficiency.

*Photo courtesy of AP*

This piece of technology is for all you runners out there. It’s called Bright-Walk, and it’s a shoe that converts the impact energy from running (or walking) into static electricity that lights up.

Pretty cool huh? I say forget the runners and health freaks though, how about give it to all those high schoolers that hang out in the parking lots across the street from Safeway! (you know who you are) Now, all those concerned parents will be able to spot curfew breakers a mile away! Take that young whipper snappers.

Until next time…

Australian and U.S. defense scientists have successfully tested an air-breathing supersonic combustion jet engine that may be the future of air travel.

At this point, the engine must be carried into thin atmosphere via a rocket where it has been clocked at Mach10, or 6835 miles per hour.

"We are pleased with this joint effort between the U.S. and Australia and believe that a hypersonic airplane could be a reality in the not too distant future," Walker said.

The scramjet engine could lead to high-speed flights and even new low-cost ways to launch satellites into space.

Reuters