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WL3e3 07 B 17
WL3e3 07 B 17
Orders: Change Your Lightbulb!
Most of us know that factors like diet and exercise can affect our health and wellbeing.
However, there are other important factors that are not so well known, and light is
one of them. We don't think much about the lights we use. We turn them on. We turn
them off. Research has shown that light, and our response to it, is not so simple.
Light affects our mood and emotions. When days are bright with lots of sunshine,
people usually feel happy and cheerful. They are optimistic about their future and
friendlier to other people. They may feel warmer in bright light even if the
temperature does not change. On dark, gray days, people are more likely to feel sad or
exhausted. This may be one reason why we think of summer as a happy time.
Recent studies suggest that people respond not just to the brightness of light, but also
to the colors in it. Light is made up of many different colors, just like a rainbow. The
different colors can make you feel either alert or drowsy. Chances are you have had
trouble falling asleep if you work on a computer or tablet late at night. These devices
give off a lot of blue light, which tells your brain to wake up. One expert advises, "Don't
use these devices for at least an hour before going to bed, or your brain can't stop
working." Instead, she says, "Put a warm, yellow light next to your bed." It can help
you relax and fall asleep.
Engineers have designed special lights that can help you fall asleep and be alert at the
right times. They designed these lights to help astronauts. In space, there is no night
and day, so astronauts often have trouble falling asleep and waking up at regular
times. These special lights helped them to adjust. Now these lights are available to the
rest of us. As one doctor says, "Think of light as a kind of medicine." When people ask,
"Can you help me? I am sick of sleepless nights and drowsy days," you can tell them a
new light might be just the right prescription.