An Australian company is trialing glow in the dark road markings to improve road safety. The trial is a part of a $4 million government program installing new innovative treatments across regional Victoria. Describing it as a "photo-luminescent delineation treatment" the government hoped it would provide drivers with a stronger visual signal to follow in low light.
The 'smarter path' line markings use the natural science of photoluminescence – similar to the process used in glow-in-the-dark childrens' stickers, toys or watches.
When it's dark, the coating emits light it has absorbed and stored through the day, so that the lines and pavement markings can be better seen.
[...] Mr Emanuelli said while overcast days may affect the light's longevity, they usually last "most of the night" after sunny days.
It only took 40 years to get TRON in real life. How soon can we expect the T1000?
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday September 19 2022, @12:10AM (10 children)
From TFA
So 0.0003% of the paved roads currently have glow-in-the-dark markings.
There is also no no detail on how well the paint lasts, or if it is at least as robust as standard road paint.
I can see this being cheaper than electric lights in remote areas, and more effective than reflectors/'cats eyes".
The best bit about this is the reduction in total light - should be much nicer living with fewer street lights.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday September 19 2022, @01:35AM (9 children)
Why would it reduce total light? It won't light up the sides of roads, for example. You would still have sudden pedestrians and kangaroos to worry about. Seems to me rather to be a net increase in light levels.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday September 19 2022, @02:34AM (2 children)
Kangaroos are a menace, but you are more likely to spot them with headlights (high beam, or driving lights outside 'suburban' areas).
Overhead/street lighting doesn't help with kangaroos (or wombats, snakes, koalas..) - they tend to avoid places with artificial light. Reducing street lighting in urban areas won't increase risk from wildlife encounters.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday September 19 2022, @03:21AM
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday September 19 2022, @01:27PM
>Overhead/street lighting doesn't help with kangaroos (or wombats, snakes, koalas..) - they tend to avoid places with artificial light.
That sounds like the most effective kind of help to me..
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday September 19 2022, @02:35AM (4 children)
There are some roads here in the western U.S. (randomly distributed, so it's whatever paint the local contractor used) where the striping is so reflective that it effectively "glows in the dark" from even very distant headlights. Same effect, already exists, could be more widely used, no testing required. I find it very helpful, especially when the pavement is that dead-black asphalt that's just about invisible in the dark.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Monday September 19 2022, @03:19AM (3 children)
The point is that the glow in the dark road emits light whether or not there's a car present. A reflective road doesn't even if there is a car present.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday September 19 2022, @04:38AM (2 children)
Sure, but why do we care if it glows when there's no car present??
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 20 2022, @01:20AM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday September 20 2022, @02:18AM
Oh, I agree with that -- glowing contrast alone does not provide any sense of perspective. Conversely, reflective strips are not merely bright against the darkness, but fall within the range of your headlights, necessary to judge distance in the dark.
In my state, on a particular notorious curve in the middle of nowhere, there's an experimental set of warning lights meant to better delineate the curve so folks don't screw up and go straight into yonder field. But what I found is that they make the curve invisible against the surrounding darkness. (In fact, prompted me to write a scathing letter to the highway department.)
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2022, @01:55PM
This glow in the dark road stuff is just a solution looking for a problem. If your cars are still going to shining out beams of light the existing reflective stuff is much better than these glow in the dark markings.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2022, @03:09AM
You just run them over.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday September 19 2022, @01:37PM (3 children)
Okay, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what problem this is trying to solve.
Cubic reflector paint already brilliantly illuminates road stripes for any driver using their headlights, and from the photos it doesn't seem as though the glow is visible from significantly further away.
Plus, glow in the dark paints tend to lose their glow after a few hours of darkness, rendering them useless (hopefully they *also* incorporate cubic reflectors), and that duration tends to fade over time.
So exactly what benefit are they aiming for? Better visibility at gloming time when not everyone is using their headlights?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by anubi on Monday September 19 2022, @02:19PM
This looks to me like Strontium Aluminate doped with Europium and Dysprosium.
I understand the original investigations into improving phosphorescent powders was funded by NASA for use on the Space Station just in case of total electrical failure, as well as numerous public usage.
You can actually get some on Amazon...a small bag of it was around $10.
https://www.amazon.com/Glow-Dark-Powder-Multipurpose-PRO/dp/B07DHDYZ43/ [amazon.com]
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by corey on Monday September 19 2022, @09:39PM (1 child)
I’m thinking the same thing. I doubt the lines are that much more visible than non glow lines in the beams of headlights. Even the fancy glow in the dark material in my expensive watch fades after a couple of hours. It was marketed to last all night.
If anything this will cause issues for nocturnal insects like moths that use light for navigation.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Monday September 19 2022, @11:59PM
Correct, it's not a reflective.
Under sunlight, it appears to be a fine dull light greenish soil resembling foot powder ( yes, I bought some ).
I understand some who live off way in the hinterlands where it gets pitch black at night are painting boulders with this stuff to act as navigational sentries in the event of power failure on new moon / overcast and everything fades to black.
I was thinking along the same lines of having a glowing green boulder in my garden. By day, sandstone, by night, Kryptonite!
But, alas, I have so much overhead light already existing where I live in Southern California that this won't work for me. I left the whole pouch of powder outside, at night it wasn't all that obvious that it was phosphorescent. However, when I brought it into the house, it was noticeable. Good for signage maybe, but not so much for illumination. Yes, this stuff would probably be nice for striping a road in areas with no lights around for miles. Wyoming / Montana.
Or markers in movie houses if recharged by UV LED between showings In the event of total electrical failure, it would still work for a few hours.
Some companies already offer signage based on this stuff for this purpose. It looks comparable to the tritium tube solution ( I am talking the little glass tubes that work like a tiny fluorescent light, but use mildly radioactive gas tritium ( hydrogen-3 ) to excite the phosphor in lieu of electrical energy ).
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Monday September 19 2022, @10:57PM (1 child)
Oh wait... in New Jersey, it isn't just the roads that glow, but the entire state. :P
(While I have not checked recently, despite being one of the smallest states, NJ always had the most EPA superfund sites to deal with toxic cleanups.)
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Tuesday September 20 2022, @12:10AM
Yup, NJ is still the worst according to this article from December of last year:
https://njindy.com/2021/12/22/new-jersey-with-the-most-superfund-sites-in-the-country-receives-funding-to-clean-up-seven-of-them/ [njindy.com]
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P