June 23, 2004

Don't Like the Stars? Go Out and Make One of Your Own.

lodestar.jpg

"LODESTAR" -- FROM THE Popular Science | 2004 Design Competition, a synthetic star.

The designers of the magnificent Tribute in Light memorial for the World Trade Center turned their attention to urban night blindness: the blankness of the city skies. Urban Lodestar is a light-emitting five-pointed star designed to float serenely above a city center and pulse gently at the same rate as a resting heart to calm the city folk below. Lodestar hovers with the aid of helium-filled polymer balloons; propellant tanks and directional boosters attached to a GPS-equipped positioning system keep it from going AWOL. During the day, photovoltaic film panels harness energy from the Sun and store it in batteries; at night, electroluminescent strips in the shape of a star glow with that stored energy. Graphite composite struts provide stability, and a battery-powered xenon strobe creates the pulsing effect. Intermittent green flashes differentiate the Urban Lodestar from natural celestial bodies.

Posted by Vanderleun at June 23, 2004 3:21 PM
Bookmark and Share

Comments:

HOME

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

I'm not all that religious, but I think having a giant glowing pentagram hanging over my city would freak me out.

Posted by: Jschlein at June 24, 2004 10:58 AM

We don't need more light pollution, we need to be able to see the real stars.

ditto on the previous comment.....

Posted by: Yehudit at June 25, 2004 1:16 AM

We need to see the real problem. WE WASTE LIGHT, WE WASTE ENERGY!! The reason we can't see stars is because an enormous amount of light is improperly directed. This misdirected light should simply be redirected to where it is needed. Once redirected we can reduce the total output because the wasted light is no longer needed.
It's like this. If I spill a gallon of gas for every 5 gallons I pump into my car because the hose leaks and I still have to pay for the lost gallon. WHY NOT PATCH THE HOSE and save the gallon?
It's simple logic.

Posted by: Scott Griswold at June 29, 2004 7:16 AM

Is this thing ACTUALLY up there over New York City, or is this just a proposal?

Posted by: James at July 16, 2004 12:05 PM

SATANIC!!

Posted by: bud at July 26, 2004 1:48 PM

Yes as Jschlein said the LodeStar is quite a freaky thing up there.
I'm afraid same stars will be seen howering over many cities in the future.

And yes, it's satanic. As planned a long time ago.

Posted by: Pekka Nyyssönen at October 15, 2004 11:44 AM