Scientists at Sandia National Labs may have found the next generation of energy efficient light sources: Lasers. No, not the same lasers you've seen in your favorite science fiction flicks—these lasers are more like the ones you see at raves while you're tripping off ecstasy. The scientists mixed four different diode lasers to produce a white light that could replace light bulbs and other LED lights.
Because lasers emit narrow wavelengths, it's been thought that they would never make for a good light source. The folks at Sandia National Labs proved that's the case. If you head over to DVICE, you can see the head-to-head test they presented to users to deduce whether or not people could tell the difference between traditional light sources and their new laser white light. Most couldn't.
"The result [over 3,200 trials] was that there was a statistically significant preference for the diode-laser-based white light over the warm and cool LED-based white light but no statistically significant preference between the diode-laser-based and either the neutral LED-based or incandescent white light."
Though while these diode-laser-based white lights are just as good—if not better—than incandescent and LED lights, and more efficient, they're more expensive. But like all technology, it's sure to drop in price. Get ready for the laser revolution.
[Sandia Labs via DVICE]
