pic.twitter.com/nJzPQLz6Gv — Laurie (@choiceIrregular) March 19, 2015
Light & Shadow, an International Year of Light (IYL) event held 23 May at the University College Dublin (UCD) suburban campus at Belfield, offered a full day of talks, demonstrations, displays, installations, and film screenings -- all celebrating applications of light and light-based technologies.
In the keynote address, well-known weather presenter and meteorologist Evelyn Cusack of RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) delved into the connection between weather and spectroscopy, going back in time to a description of the atmospheric conditions on Earth 4 billion years ago and demonstrating how studies of past climates help predict possible future climates.
Other talks covered topics such as the new technologies that will make future computers both smaller and faster, how animals have adapted differently to darkness, how light regulates life at the cellular level.
Displays demonstrated the influence of color of illumination on the appearance of objects, the chemistry of light, and how scientists use light to extract information from what is invisible to the naked eye.
 |
John Sheridan (left) and Martin Leahy
at the greening of the Spire. |
In conjunction with the St. Patrick's Festival held around 17 March, festival sponsors in partnership with UNESCO through IYL Ireland illuminated the capital's historic Monument of Light, also known the Spire of Dublin, in green, using some of the latest solid-state light technologies. New tunable street lighting in the neighborhood also shone green for the festival weekend.
Among those on hand for "the greening of the Spire" were SPIE Fellows Martin Leahy, a professor at the National University of Ireland Galway and Chair of the Irish National Committee for IYL in Ireland; and UCD professor John Sheridan, a member of the National Committee for IYL in Ireland.
President of Ireland Michael Higgins was announced earlier this year as the LIGHT2015 Ireland Patron.
 |
| The Monument of Light, also known as the Spire of Dublin, is illuminated to celebrate the International Year of Light and the 2015 St. Patrick's Festival. |
