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Enlightening sulphur

The US Department of Energy and a Maryland-based company, Fusion Lighting, have jointly developed sulphur light bulbs, which experts claim could be the light sources of the future (New Scientist, Vol 144, No 1951).

These bulbs are small glass spheres filled with a mixture of sulphur and argon which when bombarded with microwaves emit light similar to natural sunlight but with tremendous intensity.

The department of energy has demonstrated this revolutionary lighting technology by replacing 240 mercury bulbs of 175 watts each with just 2 sulphur lamps to light up a large hall. The experts claim these lamps will cut electricity costs by 60 per cent.

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