When do you want to go to Camotes Islands?

Visit Camotes Islands this summer.

Sweet potatoes.
That’s where this island supposedly gets its name from.

Legend has it that Spaniards who arrived here came upon some natives farming. When asked what the island’s name was, the natives replied “camotes” (sweet potatoes), thinking they were being asked what they were harvesting. This is just one of the charming things about the Camotes Islands.

The Camotes Islands are made up of the islands of Pacjian, Ponson, Poro and Tulang. Collectively, they are called “The Lost Horizon in the South” because of their unspoiled beauty. And once you sink your toes into the fine white sand here, it’s easy to see why. Beaches like Santiago Bay and Mangodlong, with glistening waters and relaxed shores, are excellent places to swim and sunbathe undisturbed.

Further inland, Pacjian is home to the serene 700-hectare Lake Danao. Dubbed “Lover’s Lake” for its seclusion, Lake Danao is the biggest natural lake in Cebu. Enjoy a boat cruise, hike and picnic, or go bird-watching to catch species like the purple heron and the Philippine wild duck.

Raring for some adventure? Check out Bukilat Cave in Tudela. Beneath its rough exterior lie imposing stalagmites and stalactites, as well as an icy-cold pool believed to originate from an underground spring. This entire cave system is illuminated by natural skylights.

Another stunning subterranean secret is the challenging Timubo Cave in Sonog, where you need to make your way down a winding staircase to reach the clear waters within.

Life here may be slow-paced, but the islands do hold several festivals. The Tagbo Festival in January celebrates the founding of the town of Poro, through a re-enactment of the reconciliation of two warring tribes.

The Soli-Soli Festival, held every third Sunday of March in the town of San Francisco, is a creative tribute to the soli-soli plant – a source of livelihood for the locals. This festival also serves as a thanksgiving to the town’s patron saint.

Link:
http://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/camotes-islands/

Scientists Build Thinnest-Possible LEDs and Find It To Be Stronger, More Energy Efficient

Most modern electronics, from flat-screen TVs and smartphones to wearable technologies and computer monitors, use tiny light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. These LEDs are based off of semiconductors that emit light with the movement of electrons. As devices get smaller and faster, there is more demand for such semiconductors that are tinier, stronger and more energy efficient. 

The layers of the novel 2-D LED and how it emits light (Credits: U of Washington)

  University of Washington scientists have built the thinnest-known LED that can be used as a source of light energy in electronics. The LED is based off of two-dimensional, flexible semiconductors, making it possible to stack or use in much smaller and more diverse applications than current technology allows.

“We are able to make the thinnest-possible LEDs, only three atoms thick yet mechanically strong. Such thin and foldable LEDs are critical for future portable and integrated electronic devices,” said Xiaodong Xu, a UW assistant professor in materials science and engineering and in physics.

Xu along with Jason Ross, a UW materials science and engineering graduate student, co-authored a paper about this technology that appeared online March 9 in Nature Nanotechnology.

Most consumer electronics use three-dimensional LEDs, but these are 10 to 20 times thicker than the LEDs being developed by the UW.

“These are 10,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair, yet the light they emit can be seen by standard measurement equipment,” Ross said. “This is a huge leap of miniaturization of technology, and because it’s a semiconductor, you can do almost everything with it that is possible with existing, three-dimensional silicon technologies,” Ross said.

The UW’s LED is made from flat sheets of the molecular semiconductor known as tungsten diselenide, a member of a group of two-dimensional materials that have been recently identified as the thinnest-known semiconductors. Researchers use regular adhesive tape to extract a single sheet of this material from thick, layered pieces in a method inspired by the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to the University of Manchester for isolating one-atom-thick flakes of carbon, called graphene, from a piece of graphite.

In addition to light-emitting applications, this technology could open doors for using light as interconnects to run nano-scale computer chips instead of standard devices that operate off the movement of electrons, or electricity. The latter process creates a lot of heat and wastes power, whereas sending light through a chip to achieve the same purpose would be highly efficient.

“A promising solution is to replace the electrical interconnect with optical ones, which will maintain the high bandwidth but consume less energy,” Xu said. “Our work makes it possible to make highly integrated and energy-efficient devices in areas such as lighting, optical communication and nano lasers.”

The research team is working on more efficient ways to create these thin LEDs and looking at what happens when two-dimensional materials are stacked in different ways. Additionally, these materials have been shown to react with polarized light in new ways that no other materials can, and researchers also will continue to pursue those applications.

Co-authors are Aaron Jones and David Cobden of  the UW; Philip Klement of Justus Liebig University in Germany; Nirmal Ghimire, Jiaqiang Yan and D.G. Mandrus of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe and Kenji Kitamura of the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan; and Wang Yao of the University of Hong Kong.

The research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong, the University Grant Council of Hong Kong and the Croucher Foundation. Ross is supported by a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship.

For more information, contact Ross at jasonsr@uw.edu or 206-543-2887 and Xu at xuxd@uw.edu or 206-543-8444.

Grant numbers: U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (DE-SC0008145); Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (HKU705513P); University Grant Committee (AoE/P-04/08).

http://www.led-professional.com/technology/light-generation/scientists-build-thinnest-possible-leds-and-it-to-be-stronger-more-energy-efficient 

Spotlight 2014: LED lights installed to save energy, money at Port Authority facilities

The lighting seen here inside the Lincoln Tunnel has been replaced by energy-efficient LED lights, which Port Authority says will save $283,000 annually for 15 years, the life of the lighting. Port Authority has replaced lighting at a number of New Jersey-New York crossings, including the George Washington Bridge. Journal file photo

 

 By The Jersey Journal
on March 20, 2014 at 6:00 AM, updated March 20, 2014 at 6:24 AM

In a move that the Port Authority says will save $283,000 in energy costs a year, the bistate agency has replaced the lighting in the Lincoln Tunnel with 2,300 energy-efficient LED lights.
“Replacing our bridge and tunnel lighting systems with new LED lights makes business sense and benefits the environment by reducing our energy consumption,” P.A. Executive Director Pat Foye said. “Our investment... is just one example of the myriad of efforts this agency undertakes to attain our sustainability goals.”
The $2.1 million project, which began early this year, consists of 45-watt LED lights that will reduce electricity use by an estimated 1.2 million kilowatt-hours a year, Port Authority officials said. They expect a savings of roughly $1.3 million a year with the replacement of the lighting at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the Journal Square PATH station, the George Washington Bridge and the Holland Tunnel.
The lights at the Holland Tunnel were replaced last year, and in 2009, the George Washington Bridge became the first bridge of its kind in the metropolitan region to have a full strand of LED lighting.
“Our agency has a steadfast commitment to make our operations more sustainable and environmentally sound,” P.A. Deputy Executive Director Deborah Gramiccioni said.


http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/03/bright_idea_led_lights_save_pa.html 

EMERGENCY LED TUBE LIGHT WITH BUILT-IN BATTERY PACK

Features and Benefits:

1. The first Emergency LED Tube Light with built-in battery pack - no more bulky and heavy battery pack.

2. Emergency light can work 3-4 hours - longer than usual.

3. Has ON and OFF function and provision for test button - easy to check power level.

4. It has charging indicator - easy monitoring

5. Aluminum housing - corrosion free.

6. Equipped with discharge and overcharge protection - safe and battery life is longer.