by Yuka Yoneda, 04/15/16 It’s a cruel daily cycle. We get drowsy when it’s time for that big meeting, but are suddenly wide awake when it’s time to hit the hay. But did you ever think that swapping your light bulbs might be the solution? The researchers at Lighting Science Group have been studying the effects of different kinds of light on our sleep and awake cycles since they developed light therapy products for NASA astronauts, and have extended their findings to create a line of LED bulbs engineered to restore our natural circadian rhythms. Inhabitat recently checked out LSG’s HealthE biological light line, which includes an Awake and Alert bulb that promotes energy and cognitive abilities, a Good Night bulb that supports the body’s natural creation of melatonin for corrected sleep patterns, and the Sleepy Baby bulb that creates the perception of darkness to help babies fall asleep. Read on to see what we learned. You’ve probably heard that using your phone or computer before bed can hinder your ability to fall asleep, and Lighting Science Group’s products are based on the same basic idea of reducing and increasing the proper types of light at particular times of the day for different effects.

“Specific spectra of light, most notably blue light, has the ability to have biological effects on an individual,” Brandon Zaharoff of private equity firm Pegasus Capital Advisors (a majority owner of Lighting Science Group) explained to us at the company’s midtown Manhattan offices. Sale On Curtains And Drapes“In the morning, increasing blue light has alerting and cognitive enhancing effects, while at night, you want to reduce the amount of blue light emitted to allow you to release melatonin and enable really restorative sleep.”White Lab Puppies For Adoption Lighting Science Group Founder and Chief Scientist Fred Maxik first developed his biological bulbs to help NASA astronauts fall asleep and maintain healthy circadian rhythms while stationed at the International Space Station, but the same technology can be applied to improve our own quality of sleep at home thanks to the Good Night bulb ($39.95), which lets your body know that it’s time for bed and encourages your natural production of melatonin.Best Edge Cleaning Vacuum Cleaners

RELATED: VIDEO: Sony’s new LED light bulb has another very unusual capability The Sleep Baby bulb ($29.95) works in a similar way to signal to your child that it is time to wind down and rest. According to the New York Times, the bulb is recommended by doctors and praised by parents who use it. But what about when it’s time to wake up? On the other side of the spectrum (light pun intended), LSG’s Awake and Alert bulb ($41.95)emits light that has been enhanced with blue light in order to boost energy and heighten alertness. The bulb mimics a light panel that the company developed for NASA to be used by astronauts right before they embark on specific missions in order to improve cognitive functions. According to LSG, students in a 9th grade classroom at a Virginia school where they placed their Awake and Alert bulbs over a year ago have seen marked improvements in their grades as compared to a second class that was not fitted with the bulbs. In addition to homes and schools and space, Lighting Science hopes to expand the use of their bulbs in hospitals and work environments, and also offer products that stimulate the growth of plants and help keep animals safe in their natural habitats by helping them to avoid streets and highways.

“At Lighting Science we are on a mission to create the tools that will build a better world and provide people with healthier environments in which to work and live,” said CEO Ed Bednarcik. “We want the Lighting Science brand to be synonymous with wellness and innovation. We are creating products that don’t exist in the marketplace. It signals a new era for Lighting Science and a giant leap for LED technology.” All images courtesy of Lighting Science Group, except where noted.Lights are no longer just for lighting.With the development of LED lamp technology, the lowly light bulb is doing more than turning on and off. A lamp can be the centerpiece of an environment meant to improve health, moods and even food.LEDs can create light in multiple colors, generate less heat and use a fraction of the energy of older types of bulbs. And LEDs can be controlled remotely from a PC or smartphone app, as programmable as a television.“There’s a tremendous potential for LED lighting to go beyond illumination,” said John Strainic, General Electric’s general manager for consumer lighting.

“We’re asking people to think about lighting as more than just an impulse purchase.”Because of the LED manufacturing process, the light that the technology creates is weighted toward the blue end of the spectrum. That is true whether the LED is used in a light bulb, a tablet or a television display. That blue light has its advantages: Blue stimulates a photoreceptor in the eye that reduces melatonin production and helps a person stay awake.“You have to start thinking of light as a drug,” said Terry K. McGowan, the director of engineering for the American Lighting Association, a trade group. That is why Lighting Science, an LED manufacturer, is now selling Awake and Alert, an LED lamp that keeps people pumped up by pumping up the blue. Conversely, the company’s Good Night lighting product reduces the blue output, helping people sleep. This summer, Lighting Science will offer its Rhythm Downlight, a lamp controlled by a smartphone app that adjusts blue light based on a user’s sleep schedule.“

The Awake and Alert lamp does not look brighter, but our circadian system sees it as such,” said Robert Soler, Lighting Science’s director of lighting research. “We always felt that there was so much more you can do with light than just increase vision.”Philips sells its own range of energy-enhancing lights, including its Wake-up Light and — to combat winter blues — the goLITE BLU, a panel of blue LEDs.In Europe, Philips is experimenting with its HealWell system in hospitals. By changing colors based on time of day, it encourages a patient to wake up, feel more relaxed and sleep more easily. At a field study at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, cardiology patients were found to sleep longer and experience reduced depression.In the United States, Lighting Science is working on a similar system, and expects to offer products by the end of this year. “Unfortunately, many hospitals have removed solariums, but lots of studies have shown that they improve recovery time,” said Mr. Soler of Lighting Science.While the ability to alter an LED lamp’s color opens up new uses for light, the fact that LEDs can be remotely controlled significantly changes their potential.

With Osram Sylvania’s ULTRA iQ system, users can program lamps to turn on when a key is put in the lock. Philips’s Hue system, on the other hand, allows users to create their own lighting moods and then send those instructions to special lamps via a smartphone app. The lights can also be programmed to respond to specific events, such as by glowing a prescribed color when it is time to remove the roast from the oven. Tabu’s Lumen TL800 lamp uses Bluetooth connectivity to control the lamp from a smartphone, allowing the user to change colors, dim the bulb and synchronize lighting effects to the rhythm of a song played on the phone.But synchronizing lighting to events is much more than a parlor trick. Philips has designed lighting systems that decrease growing times and increase yield for greenhouse vegetables and flowers, by using a light’s specific hues.In the Netherlands and Canada, among other places, tomato and vegetable growers are using Philips’s LEDs to improve bulk, increase fruit growth and reduce vegetable maturation time while reducing energy costs.“