Another candidate for five questions. What does outdoor lighting make possible? impossible? Last summer we were in Maine during the new moon and even there (no haven of darkness given its proximity to the Northeast Corridor) the night sky was jaw-dropping. The great irony is that most outdoor lighting is wasted: if anything, by providing a well-lit environment, it makes it easier for criminals to do their work, as a fascinating New Yorker article argued last year.

re: horizons of the possible, nature, technology, technology and change

Andy:

Around the world, the night sky is vanishing in a fog of artificial light, which a coalition of naturalists, astronomers and medical researchers consider one of the fastest growing forms of pollution, with consequences for wildlife, people’s health—and the human spirit.

About two-thirds of the world’s population, including almost everyone in the continental U.S. and Europe, no longer see a starry sky where they live. For much of the world, it never even gets dark enough for human eyes to adjust to night vision, reported an international team that mapped the geography of night lighting.