Posted on 12/14/2007 11:36:53 AM PST by Red Badger
A company called MPK is designing a light source that will glow continuously for more than 12 years without any additional energy.
The material, dubbed "Litrosphere," can cover a standard sheet of paper for a cost of about 35 cents, and comes in a variety of colors. It´s also flexible, and can take the form of either paint or injection-molded plastic. The material is not affected by the heat or cold, can withstand 5,000 pounds, and stays on constantly.
According to the company's patent, the material is based on betavoltaics and uses the radioactive gas tritium as the power source. The beta particles from the tritium radiation can be safely contained by phosphor-coated microspheres. Tritium has a half-life of about 12 years.
MPK specializes in glow-in-the-dark paint and other glow products, although the new material does not need to be exposed to light in order to work. The company predicts that the technology could be used for light safety tape, lighted life rafts/flotation equipment, toys, sports/camping equipment, and bikes.
"This has potential to save billions in energy costs world-wide," said Steve Stark, MPK engineer. "Litroenergy surpasses all known available lighting options for cost/durability/reliability and safety."
Litroenergy has recently been added to the New Energy Congress' (NEC) list of Top 100 Technologies (rank pending). However, its use will likely be limited to applications that don´t require a great deal of light.
"The intensity is not very strong," noted NEC member Richard P. George. "This is good enough for night illumination of rifle scopes, watches, and emergency signs, but it is not going to come anywhere close to matching the light output of or replace electric light bulbs (incandescent, fluorescent, LED, etc.) or kerosene lanterns."
There are also rumors that MPK may use similar technology as a power source in the future.
"It´s not something the company is ready to talk publicly about yet, but they do have battery technology that would be of the same ilk: betavoltaic technology allowing continuous power for years in all battery applications, including automobiles," said NEC member Sterling D. Allan. "They think they will be able to win the DoD [Department of Defense] contest for the $1 million prize for backpack battery tech."
Ping!............
A very big Trijicon night sight.
Yesterday’s thread go dark already?
Whoa! Very cool!
Almost as good as mercury-containing fluorescent lamps.
Wonder what this costs to clean up?
Imagine painting your house with this... Outside of course. Will probably annoy your neighbors.
The Too Fast Too Furious crowd is salivating for their glowing car paint jobs. “Yo dude, check out my ‘91 Celica in Chernoybl Orange - it’s tight!”
This would be much worse than the neon fad in the 1980s.
I want one of those cats. How do you get one? hehehehe
Gives me an idea for a Star Trek like Ham Radio Shack now.....
You wouldn’t happen to have a Trijicon night sight would you? Do you like them? Was looking at that for my Kimber .45.
House of Color has had glow in the dark paint for years.... I’ve painted a few bike with it...kinda strange lookin.
The electric fly-swatter I bought last summer glows all night, even these 20 hour Alaska winter nights and it doesn’t need more than a hint of daylight to start glowing again. It probably has some of this tritium contamination in the plastic instead of lead. Maybe it has lead, too. It probably has Mad Cow and Bird Flu, too.
Very useful in black outs, placing one on the back of the toilet and scattering a few around busy pathways of the house.
It is also probably enough to make a drink by if you set a panel on the counter.
It would be nice not to have to carry your primary light source every time you leave your chair in a blackout.
We don't pay much attention to the lines anyway. When it snows 1/4 inch we can claim we can't see the lanes at all and then drive 12 feet over on the shoulder or wherever we think the road should have been built as opposed to where it is.
Um, can you turn it off?
Are you referring to 3 dot night sights to replace your std. sights? If so get them.
They are great.
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