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Hacking the Fluorescent Light
DynaSoar writes "MSNBC reports on an elegant hack performed on the common fluorescent tube. By mixing phosphorescent material with the usual white fluorescent material, American Environmental Products has developed a tube that continues to glow when shut off. Originally intended for submarines, and then used in places where terrorists could disrupt services, they are also perfect for power outages, providing some light so you don't have to thrash around in the dark looking for your candles and flashlights. Since the 'hack' is inside the tube, they can also be removed from their fixtures and carried around, as well as provide light even if they're shattered."
In terms of annoying flicker from fluorescent lights, this will be like adding a capacitor across "noisy" DC current to smooth it out -- fluorescent light will have smoother, more natural look without the headache-inducing flicker.
I hate existing flourescent bulbs. They give me a headache. This phosphor which glows continuously should help to reduce flicker.
Even a much shorter-lived phosphor would be good: If one could develop a phosphor which decays at about the rate that a lightbulb filament cools down, then we get both flicker-free lighting AND essentially instantaneous turn-off.
As a former submariner, I can attest to it's usefullness on a submarine. The only places that are dark are berthing, and Control, if we are doing night ops. The cost isn't prohibitive on a submarine, so that doesn't matter. There already is a emergency lighting system in place, that runs of the battery on loss of AC, but it would be great to not need that right away, and save some of the juice in the battery.