Comments on: Is It Blue Light, Rather Than Darkness, That Makes Us Tired at Night?

By: Henry Miller

Henry Miller — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 07:55:06 +0000

This is interesting. I know that blue is a very soothing and tranquil color and makes us feel relaxed. This is why many doctors and dentists surgeries are painted blue. Yellow makes a person cheery and bright. Even schools are usually painted yellow, because it stands for joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, gold and philosophy.

By: Bull Shirt

Bull Shirt — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:01:10 +0000

Some animals are active at night. They wake up because they are tired?

The color of a red apple or green leaf is an inherent physical property of those objects.

By: Ken Crepeau

Ken Crepeau — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 02:59:49 +0000

Maybe a correlation between night people versus morning people and how they perceive the colors would shed some light on the differences

By: Stan Broflowski

Stan Broflowski — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:53:15 +0000

This is exactly backwards. It is the bluer light that stimulates the retina to indicate daytime and promote wakefulness.

If yellow light were to make you awake, campfires would be circles of insomnia. That could not be farther from the truth.

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:26:55 +0000

Is it possible that fish might react to colours in a different way to humans?

By: Ron

Ron — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 07:08:20 +0000

I find it very poetic

By: Kevin Folta

Kevin Folta — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 18:41:47 +0000

It makes perfect sense because the central photoreceptors that condition the circadian clock in mammals and induce light-driven responses (opsins and cryptochromes) have well defined absorption spectra. Wavelengths that excite the molecule induce the response. Opsins work best in green-yellow and cryptochromes in blue.

By: David_42

David_42 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:12:39 +0000

Well, my personal experience says no. My heatpump’s indoor unit has a blue display and unless I shut it off I can’t sleep. An equally bright set of red LEDs on the humidifier aren’t a problem.

By: Kea Giles

Kea Giles — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 22:46:31 +0000

Interesting. My husband has Asperger’s syndrome and he often talks about how blue some light is or how yellow or orange it is when it pretty much looks the same to me. He also claims that blue light has an affect on his mood. Do you know if there’s a study about color perception in folks with Asperger’s?

By: James

James — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 21:42:01 +0000

I’d heard that the exact opposite is the case; that blue light makes you more alert, and reduces melatonin levels. f.lux ( http://stereopsis.com/flux/ ) is based on this idea, and there exists other research that says blue light does precisely the opposite of calming you down. http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/lightHealth/projects/NightAlertness.asp?id=167