How are #LED lights affecting light pollution? #ISS Astronauts tell give us the inside scoop - http://clapway.com/2015/08/23/iss-astronauts-say-leds-are-making-light-pollution-worse-232/

Astronauts aboard the ISS have made an interesting discovery earlier in the week after comparing photos of Milan they’ve taken over the past few years. According to astronauts, the widespread adoption of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is producing a lot more light pollution than their predecessors.

Swapping to LEDs

LEDs are known for being more eco-friendly since they are better at conserving energy. Cities across the globe are switching to LEDs since they’re typically brighter, in addition. The city of Milan made a full transition in 2015, and New York City has recently installed over 250,000 LEDs in street lights. Unfortunately for New Yorkers, many are saying that light pollution is causing them a lot of discomfort.

According to Tech Insider, many Brooklyn residents specifically mention that LEDs are so bright, they’re beginning to invade their homes. Those complaints might seem quaint, but check out the photos from the ISS below to see what all the commotion is about.

Check out more news about the ISS here!

Astronauts Compare Images of Milan Then and Now

Back in 2012, Astronauts aboard the ISS took a photograph of Milan prior to the LED installs in the center of the city. Taking a look at the picture, you can see that the light levels emitted from the suburbs are roughly equivalent to what’s being produced by the city center. They aren’t exact, but they’re pretty close.

Now, taking a look at the second picture, you can see one of two things happening: the cameras onboard the ISS seemed to have snapped a much cleaner shot, and the light levels coming from the city center are now more distinct than the suburbs. You can also see that the light coming from the suburbs gives off warmer reds than the green and blues from the city center, which contributes to making it brighter.

Negative Consequences

The light pollution is also having a negative impact on the environment. The photos from the ISS show that the LEDs are giving off more blue and green light, which has a tendency to obscure the night’s sky, which is disrupting the day and night cycle. As you might expect, this is having a negative impact on nocturnal animals, hunting and migration patterns, and even their internal physiology.

Animals aren’t the only ones who suffer under these conditions, though. Our melatonin levels are regulated by day and night cycles as well. If our bodies become confused by the light pollution then it will cause our bodies to produce less melatonin, which can cause sleep disorders, headaches, anxiety, and even obesity.

Astronauts aboard the ISS will continue to take pictures of various cities in order to better understand how light pollution is spreading across the globe.

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Don’t forget to check out the New in Review with Brandi — featuring the best of Clapway this week!:

ISS Astronauts Say LEDs are Making Light Pollution Worse

%Dear #Earthlings, we are the victims of another #internethoax and the world is not getting hit in #September by a giant asteroid; at least, according to #NASA.% - http://clapway.com/2015/08/21/nasa-earth-not-going-to-end-101/

Dear Earthlings, we are the victims of another Internet hoax and the world is not getting hit in September by a giant asteroid; at least, according to NASA.

IN FACT, NASA ASSURES WE ARE GOING TO BE SAFE FOR A WHILE

Specialists at NASA note that there are no indications that the world will be destroyed in a matter of months or years, and the possibility of an asteroid hitting Earth in the next century is about 0.01 percent.

WHAT LED NASA TO THE PUBLIC STATEMENT?

The Internet, the place where rumors spread faster than the flu, was full of whispers stating that the world will be hit by an asteroid strike between September 15 and September 28, 2015. NASA felt the need to speak up against bloggers who claimed that the asteroid would wipe America off the face of Earth, and made a public statement saying that our planet is safe.

Paul Chodas, the manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Office, says that if there was an object, large enough to damage Earth that badly, closing in, specialists would have known already. In addition, there’s not one piece of scientific evidence to sustain the rumor. Zero. Nada. As Chodas says, to his knowledge no asteroids are approaching Earth anytime soon since his office spares no expense to track every known and potentially unknown object in space, and the danger of a strike is not likely in the next one hundred years.

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME NASA CALMS THE MASSES

In 2012, two rumors of an Earth disaster came to light. The Elenin comet, the one that many believed would destroy Earth, led NASA to talk to speak up about it, explaining that the comet was simply a harmless trail of particles that could not damage Earth in any way.

The most popular of all rumors, however, was the one with the world ending on December 21st, 2012, because that was the last day of the Mayan calendar. NASA officials killed the rumor’s veracity months before that date, and historians had already explained that Mayans could not have legitimately predicted any kind of Apocalypse.

Phew.

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LEARN TO COPE WITH THE MAN ON THE WING OF THE PLANE

NASA Confirms: Earth Is Not Going To End in September