• June 2024: Crap Lighting
    Jun 3 2024

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    Host Bill McGeeney is joined by David Smith of Buglife, lawyer and policy researcher, Yana Yakushina, and Dark Skies Officer for Cumbria, Jack Ellerby.

    See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!

    Bill's Picks:

    • Why some animals become agitated during solar eclipse, Basel Hindeleh, ABC News.
    • Global study finds there really are more insects out after dark, Mark Wong and Raphael Didham, Phys.org.
    • MHM WANTS TO FIGHT LIGHT POLLUTION, Emmanual Delacour, Est Media Montreal.
    • Episode #7: Dark Sky Tourism, Avery Morgan, Andrew Galster, and Greg Egbert, The Reflection.
    • Jasper’s dark sky tourism could help combat light pollution: researchers, Local Journalism Initiative.
    • Mirrors in space could boost solar power production on Earth. Here's how.,Tereza Pultarova, Space.com.




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    1 hr and 55 mins
  • May 2024: Radio Aero Ecology
    May 1 2024

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    Host Bill McGeeney is joined by Shane Ludtke of the Actual Astronomy Podcast, Jeff Buler of the Aeroecology Lab at the University of Delaware, and Matthias Schmitt of Cedar Breaks National Monument.

    See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!

    Bill's Picks:

    • City moths may have evolved smaller wings due to light pollution, James Dinnean, NewScientist.
    • Artificial light at night (ALAN) pollution alters bat lunar chronobiology: insights from broad-scale long-term acoustic monitoring, Ecological Processes.
    • In the Spotlight: Bat Activity Shifts in Response to Intense Lighting of a Large Railway Construction Site, Sustainability.
    • Dark Sky Month declared in Utah as state aims to foster ‘astrotourism’, Jonathon Sharp, ABC4.
    • Wind farm radar system reduces nighttime light pollution in Iowa, YYC Team, Yale Climate Connections.
    • Light Pollution and Oxidative Stress: Effects on Retina and Human Health, Environmental Pollution and Oxidative Stress.
    • More exposure to artificial, bright, outdoor nighttime light linked to higher stroke risk, American Heart Association.


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    1 hr and 47 mins
  • Apr 2024: Sonification
    Apr 1 2024

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    Host Bill McGeeney is joined by Isa Mohammed of the Caribbean Institute of Astronomy, Frank Turina of the Night Sky Resource Center, and the Director of Dark Sky International's Engagement, Bettymaya Foott.

    See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!

    Bill's Picks:

    • Blue lights for Benny: Delco lights up to honor 2-year-old who unexpectedly died, Leland Pinder and Katherine Scott, 6ABC.
    • Some Entergy customers could see increase in bills because of new bulbs used in street lights, WAFB9.
    • LED Color Temperature Selection Process, the City of Grand Rapids.
    • Architectural Review Board Staff Report, City of Palo Alto.
    • A night in England’s darkest village, Helen Pickles, The Telegraph.
    • UWS State Senator Renames Bird-Safety Bill FLACO Act: ‘Feathered Lives Also Count’, Gus Saltonstall, West Side Rag.
    • MEANS AND WATERWAYS: LIGHTING A FERRY TERMINAL, Randall Whitehead, Furniture, Lighting & Décor.

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    1 hr and 49 mins
  • Mar 2024: Ar Hyd Y Nos
    Mar 4 2024

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    Host Bill McGeeney is joined by storyteller Mary Stewart Adams, author of the new book - All Along the Night, Dani Robertson, and dark sky consultant, John Barentine.

    See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!

    Please be sure to check out Dani Robertson's Book: All Through the Night.

    Bill's Picks:

    • Why flying insects gather at artificial light, Nature.
    • Artificial light at night reduces earthworm activity but increases growth of invasive ragweed, BMC Ecology and Evolution.
    • Artificial light at night affects the timing of roosting by Chimney Swifts, International Journal of Avian Science.
    • David Duchovny tries to avoid 'electric light', BANG Showbiz.
    • The majority of streets turned off at night in Bordeaux: what results after a year?, Jean Cittone, Le Figaro.
    • Dark Skies: Watch as Powys lights go off for dark sky, BBC.
    • Nocturnal Seafaring: the Reduction of Visibility at Night and its Impact on Ancient Mediterranean Seafaring. A Study Based on 8–4th Centuries BC Evidence, Journal of Maritime Archaeology.
    • Orion and the Dark, Netflix.

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    1 hr and 55 mins
  • Why It's So Bright at Night? Interview with Jennifer Huygen on the Fairlands Valley Park Petition.
    Feb 20 2024

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    'Why It's So Bright at Night' is a periodic episode of Light Pollution News, where host Bill McGeeney sits down and chats to understand the positions of people who advocate for light. The show's intent is to spur conversation and understanding, helping all of us work together to a common unified goal of a better tomorrow for people, plants and animals.

    This episode, mentioned in the Feb 2024: A Space for Celebration episode, Jennifer Huygen started a petition in Stevenage, England to add lighting to a park. We explore why the lighting is needed, what types of lighting would be deemed acceptable, and seek to understand the cultural issues that are driving the need behind the lights.


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    48 mins
  • Feb 2024: A Space for Celebration
    Feb 5 2024

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    Host Bill McGeeney is joined by freelance writer, Lauren Collee, astronomer, Tim Brothers, and film maker, Tara Roberts Zabriski.

    See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!

    Bill's Picks:

    • It’s autumn everywhere except under this streetlight, Be Smart.
    • The Small Town That Turned Christmas Lights Into an Economic Miracle, Ruth Simon and Dave Cole, The Wall Street Journal.
    • City of Davis looking for better ideas to light up streets, James Yalor, CBS News Sacramento.
    • Streetlight Color Temperatures our Community Cares About, City of Boulder.
    • Power outage and environmental justice in Winter Storm Uri: an analytical workflow based on nighttime light remote sensing, International Journal of Digital Earth.
    • An inventory of human light exposure behaviour, Scientific Reports.
    • In rural California, bright Santa Tracker spotlight divides a community, Clare Fonstein, San Francisco Chronicle.
    • Maine’s Penobscot Watershed Is Too Important to Allow Mining, Linda Coutant, National Parks Conservation Association.
    • Influence of COVID-19 on night-time lights in Czechia, Journal of Maps.

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    1 hr and 44 mins
  • Jan 2024: Walking in a Freakily Large Planetarium.
    Jan 3 2024

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    Host Bill McGeeney is joined by AstroBackyard's Ashley Northcotte, lighting designer and founder of Dark Source, Kerem Asfuroglu, and educator and advocate, Diane Turnshek.

    See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!

    Bill's Picks:

    • God’s Promises Are Clearest When We Turn Out the Lights, Cort Gatliff, Christianity Today.
    • Stays in Vegas: London mayor rejects plan for Stratford Sphere venue, Robert Booth, The Guardian.
    • Heber Valley Utah Temple approved. See why the church agreed to dim the lighting, Tad Walch, Dessert News.
    • Trains, stargazing put Ely on the map. Critics fear clean energy project could undo that., Wyaat Myskow, The Nevada Independent.
    • Energy efficiency indicators in road lighting: critical evaluation in a case study, Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences Technical Sciences.
    • Shining a light on duckweed: exploring the effects of artificial light at night (ALAN) on growth and pigmentation, Plant Biology.
    • Giant lasers to light up San Francisco for APEC, Amy Larson, KRON 4.
    • Why can’t I wish upon a star in Boston?, Meg Richards, Berkeley Beacon.


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    1 hr and 57 mins
  • Happy Holidays! Here's Your Holiday Bonus!
    Dec 23 2023

    Text 'Yes' or 'No' in Response to June 2024 Poll!

    Happy Holidays from Light Pollution News! Here's a special gift episode as a thank you for your continued support in 2023!

    In this special mini-episode, host Bill McGeeney shares seven articles left out of the normal month to month cycle! Stay tuned to for a post-show wrap up montage!

    See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!

    Bill's Picks:

    • Bored Ape creator says UV lights at ApeFest burned attendees’ eyes and skin, Beth mole, Ars Technica.
    • Lighting up rural Zimbabwe with upcycled plastic and LEDs, Privilege Musvanhiri, Deutsche Welle.
    • The night sky is always getting faked, Emma Roth, the Verge.
    • Illuminating investments: capitalising on the battle against light pollution, Lombard Odier.
    • 12 News Investigates: Hidden neighborhood danger -- street lights shocking dogs, killing one, Hillary Mintz, WISN.
    • LED lightbulbs may be hazardous to your health, Katherine Drabiak, The Hill.
    • Q&A: Why Do Humans Need Dark Skies?, Anya Petrone Slepyan, Daily Yonder.

    Support the Show.

    Like what we're doing? For the cost of coffee, you can become a Monthly Supporter? Your assistance will help cover server and production costs.

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    24 mins