The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea. Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-da...

The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea.

    • FrostyCaveman@lemm.eeEnglish
      161·
      10 months ago

      That was a great read, thanks. It made me realise I don’t even remember the last time I changed a light bulb!

      • SeaJ@lemm.eeEnglish
        15·
        10 months ago

        I wish I could say the same. I have had one of two that had circuits that burned out. One was cheap and not surprising. The other was a Hue. Speaking of Hues, mine all seemed to stop working with Google Home and one even decided it would permanently be disco time and continually flashes. Zigbee compatible bulbs only from now on for me.

        • targetx@programming.devEnglish
          13·
          10 months ago

          Aren’t all Hue bulbs Zigbee? They have some WiFi or bluetooth models now I believe but afaik all of them support Zigbee with a bridge.

          • GreatAlbatross@feddit.ukEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            There was encryption for a while, iirc. This was removed, and you can now communicate directly with Hue bulbs.
            You can also use bluetooth for hub-free operation directly from a phone.

        • RedWeasel@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          10 months ago

          The leds can work for like 20 years. On the other hand the rest of the components are not necessarily going to last that long unfortunately.

    • Diplomjodler@feddit.deEnglish
      162·
      10 months ago

      I remember reading about this stuff since the eighties and people had a pretty clear idea of the implications.