An associate professor of physics at the University of Rochester may have developed a way to make incandescent bulbs competitive, energywise, with the new fluorescent bulbs that we are being urged to use. Daily Tech reports that Chunlei Guo, working on a U.S. Air Force contract, has made old-fashioned 60 watt bulbs produce the amount of light normally produced by 100 watt bulbs. He does this by zapping the tungsten filament briefly with a laser.
This is good news because the supposedly "green" fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and therefore can only be safely disposed of in very special HAZMAT (hazardous material) facilities. Unfortunately, many end up in the normal landfills and are therefore an environmental hazard. Guo's zapped tungsten filament bulbs would apparently be non-toxic and safely disposable in the places we use for most of our trash. The other plus is that they produce the more pleasant incandescent light.
