Lighting has come a long way since 1802, when Humphry Davy invented the first electric light. The filament bulb ruled the roost for more than 150 years but it guzzled too much electricity and didn’t last as long as its successor, the CFL. The CFL was overthrown by the LED that proved much cheaper for the buyer and the environment because it used less electricity. Before the simple LED could get too comfortable, here comes another innovation: the Ultra Violet (UV) LED. UltraViolet_LED Research by Isamu Akasaki of Meijo University and Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University who shared the 2014 Nobel for Physics for their work on blue LEDs with Shuji Nakamura of University of California in Japan has helped pump manufacturing company Nikkiso Giken. They have been making these UV LED bulbs since 2012 on a trial basis. By April 2015, they hope to begin making them to sell to a larger number of clients. Since Ultra Violet rays have a number of uses in medicine, the technology will make these bulbs popular in hospitals and clinics. They can be used to sterilise medical instruments between uses. The light is already being used to make dialysis machines more efficient and can even disinfect running water. Later, it can perhaps be used to sterilise sewage or waste. Now, this is done using larger and more expensive mercury lamps that also last barely half the time that UV bulbs do. UV rays can also be used to treat skin problems. That's a lot of work from one source of light!     Featured image credit: pixabay