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Light Bandit pipes sunlight through your home
In order to get sunlight into the home, one has to simply
open the curtains, but what about parts of a room that aren't
near a window? That's where the Light Bandit comes into
play. It captures the sunlight from a window and allows you
to use that light on the other side of a room.
Basically, Light Bandit is a box that a user places on a window sill or hangs from the window, that captures sunlight.
From there, it uses optical fibers to transfer the light to specially-designed fixtures.
According to Think Tekk, the creators of Light Bandit, the device loses about 1 percent of the captured light over
each foot that it travels, so it recommends users keep light fixtures within 30 feet (9 m) of the device itself. Of
course, this also means that one could use it farther away, but the light is going to be quite a bit dimmer, and as
such, may not be very useful.
For now, the team has developed focused task lighting, plant lighting, and aquarium lighting fixtures, and it promises that it is working with partners to bring all kinds of other fiber-compatible light fixtures to the market. Users
can also get a DIY kit to build their own light fixtures that will work with the Light Bandit system.
So how does it actually work? To start, the Fresnel mirror on the front of the device has a special pattern etched
onto it, that diverts half of the incoming sunlight directly into the fiber optic cable, while focusing the other half
onto the mirror array below the Fresnel. A light sensor in that array detects the angle at which the light is hitting it,
and activates two battery-powered motors to change the angle of its mirrors, allowing them to track the Sun as it
moves across the sky. Half of the light striking the array via the Fresnel is subsequently reflected back up into the
Fresnel, which focuses it into the fiber optic cable. From there, the light is moved through the fiber to whatever
light fixture one is using
Ikea's adjustable Bekant desk looks to bring you to your feet
As the abundance of standing desks to emerge this year would
indicate, sitting on your butt all day is not all that good for your
health. The world's largest furniture retailer is now joining the
fray, with Ikea launching a convertible desk that adjusts mechanically from sitting to standing position and features the company's
characteristically sleek design.
When they first arrived on the scene, motorized standing desks were commonly accompanied by a four-figure
price tag. But a growing body ofresearch linking excessive sitting to health problems, such as obesity, diabetes and
cardiovascular disease, has prompted an onslaught of crowdfunding campaigns, each with slightly different takes
on the standing desk and helping to drive their cost toward something more palatable.
Ikea's Bekant desk has a maximum load of 150 lb (68 kg) and boasts a 63 x 31.5 in (160 x 80) workspace sitting
atop a powder-coated steel frame. In height, it adjusts from 22 to 48 in (56 to 122 cm) thanks to what Ikea de24
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