Sea urchin spurs new ideas for lightweight materials

Materials researchers love sea creatures. Mother-of-pearl provokes ideas for smooth surfaces, clams inspire gluey substances, shark’s skin is used to develop materials that reduce drag in water, and so on. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Chemistry have now found a model for strong, lightweight materials by diving below the sea surface to investigate a sea urchin cousin known as the heart urchin.

Orphek PR 72 LED pendant

Orphek has introduced a new LED pendant featuring 36 LEDs run at 2 watts a piece for a total of 72 watts of blue-white light comparable to 16,000-18,000K. The Orphek PR 72 can be integrated with Apex's variable speed/dimming modules for dimming and scheduling control.

Freshwater fish can see infrared

Just as research shows saltwater fish can see UV light in the blue sea, scientists have recently discovered freshwater fish can see infrared. A new research sheds light on mechanism behind their special ability to see IR light, which fish use to navigate and hunt.