Invisible Light Matters - Scott Zimmerman, DSPod #250

Scott Zimmerman is a mechanical engineer whose life took a sharp turn when he started to think about the relationship indoor lighting, biology, and solar radiation. He believes that near-infrared light, an invisible component of sunlight from ~800 to 3,000 micrometer wavelengths, is vital for human health. Unfortunately, these are the exact frequencies that our indoor lights and digital devices are incapable of producing. Zimmerman believes that the shift away from incandescent lighting inside of homes has contributes massively to wide-spread hormonal issues in modern population. His mechanism is that our skin, the largest endocrine gland in the universe, is actually a light harvesting organ that uses all the components of light to produce everything from sex hormones to vitamin D. We talk to him about the effect of sunlight on the human body, how he transitioned from mechanical engineering to making lightbulbs, the active harm of blue light, and much more.Tell us your thoughts in the comments!!! Sign up for our Patreon and get episodes early + join our weekly Patron Chat https://bit.ly/3lcAasB Check out Nira Lighting, Scott's Company: https://niralighting.com/our-mission/ 00:00 Go! 00:03:50 A monstrous change in solar spectrum 00:08:11 A shift from engineering to biology 00:18:37 The influence of near-infrared 00:27:52 Free radical generation in the skin 00:38:05 Melanin, Melatonin, and Sunlight network 00:46:48 A solar influence on illness? 00:56:17 Why is blue light so damaging? 01:03:15 Designing a better bulb 01:12:40 Adding UV into indoor lighting? 01:22:32 Are the eyes made for gathering invisible light? 01:32:20 Medical sensitivites to EMF 01:39:21 Closing thoughts #sciencepodcast #NearInfraredLight #SunlightTherapy #LightHarvesting #SkinEndocrineGland #HormoneHealth #VitaminDProduction #BluelightHazards #MissingLightSpectrum #CircadianDisruption #IndoorLightingImpact #HolisticWellness #RediscoverSunlight #EngineerTurnedLightExpert #RevolutionaryLighting #ModernLightingParadigm Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671