Submitted by SPIE
Human interactions take place around light – be it daylight, candles, or LEDs. While the role of light in life on Earth is widely acknowledged, light-based science and technology have revolutionized our world through applications in medicine, communications, entertainment, and culture.
A program sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, the Chandra X-Ray Center (CXC) at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the International Astronomical Union provides stunning, free images to groups and individuals everywhere that want to help tell the story of light.
Part of the United Nations International Year of Light 2015 (IYL2015) initiative, Light Beyond the Bulb is a free-use image exhibition program that displays the incredible variety of light-based science and technology. The program offers a unique opportunity for anyone around the globe to create high-quality image-based educational displays exhibitions or displays. Materials and the images were crowd-sourced then expert curated for science content, stunning beauty and ability to engage the greater public. Exhibitions will soon be displayed at museums, planetariums, universities, libraries, airports, conferences, and festivals, in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Serbia, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Mauritius, Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil. Locations are listed in the exhibit schedule.
Light Beyond the Bulb exhibitions will be at Photonics West, the 225th American Astronomy Society meeting, and 10 banners will be at the IYL opening ceremony located at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
If any individual or organization would like to host their own version of Light Beyond the Bulb, there is a wealth of information on the Light Beyond the Bulb website. All of the images and caption materials are available free of charge. Local organizers will be responsible to identify funds for printing as well as secure locations to host the content.
Cover photo courtesy of J L Spauldling creative Commons License
