Chemists Discover How Blue Light Speeds Blindness 144
Isao writes: It (apparently) has been known that blue light damages eyes and accelerates macular degeneration. A new article on Phys.org may have identified how this happens. It seems that unlike other light colors, blue causes a necessary molecule (retinal) to permanently kill photoreceptor cells. "The researcher found that a molecule called alpha Tocopherol, a Vitamin E derivative and a natural antioxidant in the eye and body, stops the cells from dying," reports Phys.org. "However, as a person ages or the immune system is suppressed, people lose the ability to fight against the attack by retinal and blue light." The authors will continue their research and recommend filtering and blue-light reduction in the meantime. The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Rose colored glasses (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Rose colored glasses (Score:1)
Amber colored glasses (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: Amber colored glasses (Score:1)
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I first got some prescription glasses with blue light filter in Japan maybe a decade ago, and now I see they are becoming available in Europe.
They do rose tint everything but it's subtle. My most recent pair I didn't bother, I just set my monitor calibration to be off-white. I'd say the rose tented glasses work better though, I'll get some next time.
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There was an upside to electing a president with orange hair! Who knew?
Excellent (Score:2)
Light activatable G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), also known as opsins, harvest light through their covalently bound chromophore 11-cis retinal (11CR), an aldehyde derivative of vitamin A1,2.
Thanks again, /. Covalently... a new word to insert in otherwise innocuous conversation to thwart my intelligent friends' belief that they might be my mental equal.
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As well, I am not sure what blue light means in this context. Does this mean that blue screens of death make you blind?
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Re:Excellent (Score:4, Interesting)
Blue light in this context is just that - regular blue pixels on a computer screen. There are night-safe modes which tone down these pixels.
Your retinas has around seven layers of rods, cones and processing neurons. Light is refracted through the lens so that infra-red light hits blood vessels, red light which has a longer wavelength and travels less deeper into the retina hits the upper layers. Blue light in this context is goes into the deepest layer of the retina because the wavelength is shorter and has more energy. UV light gets filtered out by the lens (but causes cataracts in the long term).
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If it hasn't reduced to 'fart wars' in the cube farm, they're not really bored.
We got to Kimchi, PBR and hard boiled eggs, stopped after that, someone was going to get hurt.
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Hey, look, I found APKs little buddy!
How are you doing, little child?
Slashdot anonymity is broken, moron. How do you think I found APK and his mother's addresses?
What a pathetic AC. Doesn't even realize they're already exposed.
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I thought that forte was Italian as in forte, fortissimo, piano (the inverse), pianissimo. In which case it would be "for-teh" ("for-tay")
I'm French and in French forte is not a noun, it's the feminine of "strong". So whatever the origin you're debating a word which does not exist in French.
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Well, that's all of us done for (Score:5, Funny)
Back to the old amber CRT, then
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That one emits (some) x-rays which fry your retinas AND your brain in the long term...
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Gonna really suck for saltwater tanks/ grow lights (Score:5, Informative)
Topic says it all. LED ones are especially blue-heavy (up to 80% of the overall output in saltwater reef tanks) and that's gotta cause some issues.
I doubt it. (Score:3)
If blue light was really as bad as they make out then we'd all go blind from looking at a blue sky.
Interestingly however, the human retina can see UV light but it's blocked by the lens. However when people had replcement lenses put due to cataracts they could now see this UV (as the artificial lens didn't block it) and THIS caused some serious problems.
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"If blue light was really as bad as they make out then we'd all go blind from looking at a blue sky."
Wrong wavelength dominance. 450nm and lower is the general issue. The sky has a rough dominant peak around 483nm.
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2) Peak wavelength of the blue sky is closer to green, peaking at pretty much the exact wavelength our eyes are least efficient at reacting to within our range (weird, right?)
3) The sky isn't bright. Observe a shadow sometime- that's the amount of diffuse scattered sunlight hitting you from the *entire* visible sky.
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Nope, and nope.
Coral can, and do, thrive on blue light. When light hits the water's surface, and as you get deeper, certain wavelengths are absorbed by the water... the first (and at quite a low depth, comparatively) is red, second yellow, and finally blue at, roughly, 300' deep. After that, only non-photosynthetic corals can exist. Most coral growers/aquarium enthusiasts enjoy the most-actinic wavelength, blue. Most LED lights, specifically for growing coral, have arrays of pure white, red, green, and blue
Re:Correlation (Score:4, Interesting)
No, as at the time of the introduction of the blue LED, efficiency and output was horrible, and even an incandescent light of equal power consumption output more light below the 470nm range than the LED did.
Around the early 2000s is when blue LEDs began to gain in efficiency to the point where they were commercially viable for use in just about any consumer product.
I'd suggest starting to look around 1997-2004 for the beginning of an increasing trend.
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It's not about light output, it's about cost. When blue LEDs became cheap, everyone and their mom started using them for power indicators. They didn't have to produce otherwise useful amounts of light for that. They just had to be affordable in quantity.
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No, it was about light output, as anything that could put out decent blue light even for indicators at the time just simply didn't exist until the almost mid-90s. Read about Shuji Nakamura, Nichia, and the creation of the gallium-arsenide blue LED which drove the LED industry into its heights that it is seeing today.
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We used blue lights because they looked cool, and had finally stopped costing $6 an LED.
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We wanted them because they looked fucking cool, we didn't use them because they were insanely expensive. Once they were cheap- we used them everywhere we could... again, because they looked awesome. Blue LEDs had an otherworldly glow about them.
Go black and don't look back (if you still can!) (Score:1)
Light text on black (not 'dark' -- BLACK!). Black text on white is CRAZY, EDDIE!
Blue light isn't the issue, getting old is... (Score:5, Insightful)
The blurb (and even the article) is jaded and implies that blue light causes blindness to ride the anti-screen wave.
If you read it, you find that the issue is actually that the body makes alpha Tocopherol, a Vitamin E derivative, which keeps the photoreceptor cells from dying. Some people lose the ability to make that alpha Tocopherol as they age, leading to blindness.
So the issue isn't to avoid blue light and buy crazy glasses... (how are you really going to avoid blue light if you ever want to see white again anyway? Are you going to stop looking at white paper?) Rather it's to find a way to keep supplying alpha Tocopherol to the eye as people age.
Re:Blue light isn't the issue, getting old is... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Also, blue light is linked to disruption of sleep.
I wish Slashdot had a dark theme.
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I just installed this chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/negative-revert-web-color/ohhfjfhanfnmmolddbjhfkogappmbndd [google.com] and so far at least it's not bad at all.
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But blue light above any other light, regulates are circadian rhythm.
Re:Blue light isn't the issue, getting old is... (Score:4, Interesting)
"Some people lose the ability to make that alpha Tocopherol as they age, leading to blindness."
Did you just quit reading AND thinking there? Next bit clearly states that people with compromised immune systems or weakened ones from disease are also susceptible. Guess what a hospital is loaded with? Hint: Look all around one, and then look up.
We also know (I've been fucking saying this for almost a decade, now, when I was doing global horticultural lighting design) that grow lighting is triggering macular degeneration in younger healthier population. This doesn't mean your mom and pop in their 50s+, this is happening as early as a persons 20s.
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I've been fucking saying this for almost a decade, now
Citation needed? Preferably in a scientific journal.
Re:Blue light isn't the issue, getting old is... (Score:5, Informative)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p... [nih.gov]
That's from 2006, before I started designing and selling horticultural LED lighting, from the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
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Citation needed (Score:2)
We also know (I've been fucking saying this for almost a decade, now, when I was doing global horticultural lighting design) that grow lighting is triggering macular degeneration in younger healthier population.
Are you seriously trying to claim that all the 20 somethings that want to get "medical" marijuana are not making shit up and are actually suffering from macular degeneration? (people growing pot are almost the only people who would give a shit about grow lights in their 20s) Either cite reputable medical studies (note the plural) or I'm calling bullshit.
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"Are you seriously trying to claim that all the 20 somethings that want to get "medical" marijuana are not making shit up and are actually suffering from macular degeneration?"
You must fail hard at reading as I never once mentioned anything about marijuana. Perhaps you should put the joint down, yourself.
WRONG ! (Score:1)
The blurb (and even the article) is jaded and implies that blue light causes blindness to ride the anti-screen wave.
You can say whatever you want, but the truth is BLUE LIGHT HURTS THE RETINA
I did not know that before my retina was damaged (caused by an abrupt change of pressure due to deep sea diving)
The retina of both my eyes were damaged - left eye gone completely dark - and after the many operations I regained only partial sight on my left eye
Now, every time I go into a room with blue light shining both my eyes hurt
It has nothing to do with alpha Tocopherol --- as I am still in my 20's and my body can still produce e
Re:Blue light isn't the issue, getting old is... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Blue light isn't the issue, getting old is... (Score:5, Funny)
No, no, you have to inject it directly into the eye twice daily. Good thing, I'm terrible at using eyedrops without blinking.
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Are you going to stop looking at white paper?
To an extent, your brain compensates for variations in ambient lighting. With reduced blue wavelengths, you will still perceive white paper as white. And reading is more dependent on contrast anyway. White paper vs black ink (or blue ink, which will look black) under red night vision lighting is still readable.
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The blurb (and even the article) is jaded and implies that blue light causes blindness to ride the anti-screen wave.
Objection: Speculation
If you read it, you find that the issue is actually that the body makes alpha Tocopherol, a Vitamin E derivative, which keeps the photoreceptor cells from dying. Some people lose the ability to make that alpha Tocopherol as they age, leading to blindness.
That's certainly part of the article.
That wasn't even the notable part- the notable part was that blue-light activated retinol is shown to by highly cytotoxic, and that there is a known statistical trend between age and your ability to get Tocopherol to the places it needs to be, which strongly correlates with the kinds of macular degeneration that are also highly age-correlated.
So the issue isn't to avoid blue light and buy crazy glasses... (how are you really going to avoid blue light if you ever want to see white again anyway? Are you going to stop looking at white paper?) Rather it's to find a way to keep supplying alpha Tocopherol to the eye as people age.
You're actually inserting your own bias into the paper, and you're too stupid to see it.
They make it quit
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IIRC, the body does not synthesize alpha tocopherol, one of the 8 forms of vitamin E. Being essential to human health and the body not being able to synthesize it is part of what qualifies a substance for being a vitamin.
Alpha tocopherol is available as a cheap supplement; if you buy vitamin E whose makeup is unspecified, it's going to be mostly alpha tocopherol.
Gamma tocopherol helps the body recycle alpha tocopherol.
Do your own research, this is from memory.
We're in an old villa and use "Warm white" bulbs.. (Score:3)
We're in an old villa and use "Warm white" bulbs as it looks odd not to architecturally. They are on the redder (actually cooler 3000K) end of the spectrum to emulate your classic tungsten filament lighting. Not the best for reading resistor bands but at least I'll have my eyesight a bit longer... And hey, maybe my wake/sleep cycles will be better than the "Daylight" (6500K, bluer) colour balanced bulbs that everyone is using now.
Re:We're in an old villa and use "Warm white" bulb (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice to see that someone is still messing with resistors that have bands. You must like the old cruft like I do. My issue is the focus now. Many many years ago I was able to solder a 40 pin flat pack without glasses. Now I'm lucky to find the damn iron without technological assistance.
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I feel you brother.
Used to be able solder 0603 resistors with my 5cm super eyes. Now my arms are getting to short!
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Be glad you don't have astigmatism, or you'd find yourself in the position of being unable to see clearly without glasses (or eventually, without multifocal lenses) at ANY distance, near OR far.
Ever since roughly age 40, I've felt like I need a binocular microscope to solder anything smaller than 100-mil pitch... and depending on the part & lighting, even 100-mil has left me feeling like I'm "soldering blind" half the time. I've gotten to where I need a magnifying glass just to tell the difference betwe
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Wait!? Someone replaced toobs? I never got the memo.
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>"We're in an old villa and use "Warm white" bulbs as it looks odd not to architecturally. They are on the redder (actually cooler 3000K) end of the spectrum to emulate your classic tungsten filament lighting. "
Warm/soft white is more like 2700K, which is traditional tungsten lighting. Bright white is around 3000K, cool white around 4100K, day light is around 5000K. I will admit to still buying and using mostly warm white and a bit of bright white in my house, with nothing colder. I can't seem to get
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I love my tuneable white bulbs. have set up a script to match daylight during day and the old fashioned tungsten in the evenings.
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>"I think you are presenting personal opinion as fact."
Nope
>"Fact is, 3000K is still very warm and for most people it looks yellowish."
That might be, but the industry typically calls that color "bright white" not "warm white", which is typically 2400K to 2700K. Although it does vary by manufacturer.
> "Cool White" is absolutely not 4000K, you can even see on the label it is above 6500K."
Again, I didn't make up these terms. The lighting industry typically calls "cool white" 4000 to 5000K. 6000 to
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And hey, maybe my wake/sleep cycles will be better than the "Daylight" (6500K, bluer) colour balanced bulbs that everyone is using now.
If you really want to help your wake sleep cycle- you would have the 6500k bulbs where you spend your mornings (if indoors) and the lower K, yellower bulbs in your bedroom, and where you spend your evenings. If you use the same bulbs 24/7 you're not really having much impact on your wake/sleep cycle.
Re:It's harmful only if you already have a problem (Score:4, Insightful)
So as soon as I figure out how to stop aging I won't have this issue?
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Time to switch to green CRTs (Score:5, Funny)
Time to throw away all this 4K HDR LCD garbage and go back to good old monochrome.
P.S. - Does anyone know how I can hook up a Hercules ISA card to PCIe?
Re:Time to switch to green CRTs (Score:4, Interesting)
P.S. - Does anyone know how I can hook up a Hercules ISA card to PCIe?
No need, you can hook it up to USB [arstech.com]. It would be easier, though, to get a display card with a VGA output and fix the cable to omit the blue line. You'd still get colors, just not as many, and none of them would be at all blue.
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That USB adapter hack is pretty crazy. The way backlights work some amount of blue light makes it through, but maybe it isn't enough to matter.
There are screen filters in common use that block blue light, as people have considered it to contribute to eye strain and fatigue for many years. It doesn't totally filter blue light, but it attenuates it significantly.
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Well, I'd propose you do use a CRT, just not a monochrome one. It's getting harder to find good cheap used ones, though, and I've gotten rid of all of mine because they take up too much space... Gonna have to live with some leakage.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the sky blue?
We're not sure. I don't think anyone on Slashdot has ever seen the sky and reported back. We ought to mount an expedition out of our parents' basements. For research purposes.
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time to sue kmart (Score:2)
And end to all-white web pages? (Score:2)
Will this finally put an end to all-white web pages, hopefully? And give us a less eye-straining Internet.
Great (Score:2)
Millions of old people will run around with orange tinted glasses in 5, 4, 3, ...
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Well, by some measures I'm an old people.
But I've been using orange tinted glasses as my go-to outdoors eyewear for about 20 years now.
They block the blue light (plus all of the UV), they improve colour contrast -- with them you can see a red flower in the middle of a green field whereas without them you can't, and they also improve vision in lower light as well as on cloudy days.
I exclusively wear orange tinted lenses during t
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, which is a form of color blindness, and cannot see blue, and cannot be affected by that. Take that, normies :)
Actually, the blue light is still going to damage your eyes- you just don't see the danger.
Bye-bye Sky! Time to live like a mole. (Score:2)
Reese's Pieces of weasel words (Score:2)
Is this the Reese's Pieces of weasel words?
In addition to the grand (quibble) passive voice, the whole question of "since when has it (apparently) been known?" was stuffed into a long, cold drawer and is presently awaiting identification from dental records.
So, not just the Blue Screen of Death (Score:2)
but the Blue Screen of Blindness?
Hey, maybe that starts in the mind, which explains the Zombie Apocalypse of Mobile Addiction....
Mother was right (Score:2)
Your mum told you long ago watching blue movies will make you blind. Well, now you know why.