Learners Live

Design Research Looks at How Lighting Affects Mood by Jim Romeo

2026 study published in The Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society is adding a new layer to the conversation about lighting design—one that electrical contractors and electricians working in commercial environments may want to pay close attention to. The research explored whether lighting conditions influence people’s self-reported mood, perception and health symptoms. Twenty-eight participants took part in the study, working in pairs inside a controlled room under two different diffused-light conditions: variable daylight and static artificial lighting. The test environment was designed to remove visual cues such as windows or outdoor views. Participants could not tell whether the light they were experiencing was coming from daylight or an electric system. Both lighting conditions met current circadian-oriented lighting guidance and delivered strong daytime illumination levels. The results revealed a clear difference at: Design Research Looks at How Lighting Affects Mood – Electrical Contractor Magazine

Washington Wire: Permitting, AI, ENERGY STAR, and MOU Activity

NAED’s Government Relations department is keeping our members updated about current happenings in D.C.  The latest Washington Wire is here, recapping permitting legislation, the White House’s new National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence, a shift in leadership at ENERGY STAR®, and what NAED and its MoU partners are doing on Capitol Hill. Get the latest updates on important events taking shape in Washington, D.C.   Washington Wire: Permitting, AI, ENERGY STAR, and MOU Activity – tEDmag

Batteries on Wheels: How Your EV Could Also Power Your Home

Vehicle-to-home technology is gaining traction, with over 630,000 bidirectional electric vehicles on US roads, allowing owners to use car batteries to power homes during outages and save on energy costs. General Motors plans to make all new EVs bidirectional by this year, and a UK trial found that 78% of V2H users saved at least approximately $525 on their energy bills.  Batteries on wheels: How your EV could also power your home | Reuters

 

New Hazardous Location Luminaires Built for Extreme Environments by LEDvance

Choose LEDVANCE and cut energy use up to 90 % while slashing SKU counts with field‑selectable wattage, CCT and optics. Every fixture is backed by rigorous testing, North‑American service teams and more than a century of lighting expertise. Certified LEDVANCE hazardous location LED luminaires are engineered to deliver uncompromised safety, durability, and performance where failure isn’t an option. When you can’t compromise safety or performance, LEDVANCE hazardous location fixtures deliver dependable illumination backed by industry-leading engineering and approvals and an affordable price point. LEDVANCE Hazardous Location Lighting

Beyond Sound: How Semiconductor Innovation Is Transforming Audio Experiences

Audio is enriching lives, making listening experiences more immersive. Semiconductors are making premium recording equipment and high-quality entertainment production accessible to more people. But it’s also quietly improving your life, enabling more affordable and higher-performing electronics. Audio appeals to our emotions by immersing us in sound, but it also keeps the things we’re emotional about safe. For example, audio technology is an important aspect of maintaining the safe operation of humanoid robots. If a smoke alarm goes off while a robot is monitoring its environment, a semiconductor with a neural network-based algorithm can hear the smoke alarm and enable the humanoid to take appropriate action, such as alerting emergency services, protecting items with sentimental or monetary value or preventing incidents with pets. Beyond sound: How semiconductor innovation is transforming audio experiences | TI.com

How Simulations and Digital Twins Are Advancing Robotics

Agentic AI showed us the capabilities of autonomous AI systems in workflows. Now, physical AI is poised to show us the capabilities of autonomous systems in the physical world, but not without help, as noted in various sessions at Nvidia GTC 2026. Physical AIis an embodied system that uses sensors to process and understand its surroundings. Consider tools like autonomous vehicles that use sensors to process a host of environmental data to ensure safe transportation. Or medical robotics, which provides healthcare workers with a degree of precision they never had before. Physical AI and robotics stand to revolutionize and automate entire industries, but as emerging technologies, they’re still in their infancy. These tools still need to learn to navigate the world around them without risking harm to humans or organizational failure. Simulations and digital twins could provide an environment to test and refine robots before implementation. How simulations and digital twins are advancing robotics | TechTarget

2026 DLC Summit Registration is Now Open

Registration is now open for the DesignLights Consortium’s (DLC) two-day Summit in October. Taking place October 26 – 27, 2026 at The California Endowment in Los Angeles, “Next Gen Lighting: Controls, Integration and the Environment” will gather energy efficiency specialists, lighting and controls manufacturers and distributors, decarbonization advocates and other industry stakeholders to discuss the latest trends and technologies to maximize energy savings, enhance building operations and protect the environment through lighting. Co-hosted by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, the 2026 DLC Summit will feature panels and small group discussions. See the full meeting agenda here. Interested participants can register here.  An Early Bird rate is available through August 1, 2026.  Visit the DLC website for more information

LEDucation Changes 2027 Event Dates

The LEDucation Trade Show and Conference for 2027 has moved its dates from April 6 and 7 to April 13, 14, and 15. The event will still be held at the New York Hilton Midtown, but will expand from a two-day event to a three-day event. Light + Intelligent Building (previously known as Lightfair) is scheduled for Las Vegas March 16, 17, and 18 in 2027. Since many of the exhibitors and attendees want to be at both events, it can create some issues. LEDucation will remain a yearly event in New York City, which Light + Intelligent Building is every other year, and will move to Philadelphia in 2029. LEDucation Changes 2027 Event Dates

US Department of Labor Launches ‘Make America AI-Ready’

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the launch of “Make America AI-Ready,” a free artificial intelligence literacy course that will help American workers learn the basics of AI simply by texting “READY” to 20202. The course is uniquely designed to deliver bite-sized learning content and daily challenges to users entirely over text message. Users can complete the course in seven days by engaging for just 10 minutes a day. The text message-based design is intended to be as accessible as possible to all Americans, including those without a laptop or with limited access to the internet. The content areas are:

  • Understand AI Principles: Understanding AI’s core concepts, capabilities, and limitations, creating the foundation for effective use.
  • Explore AI Uses: Directly exploring different AI tools and relevant use cases, and how AI can complement human expertise.
  • Direct AI Effectively: Understanding how to provide the right context to AI and how to create clear prompts that produce effective outputs.
  • Evaluate AI Outposts: Assessing AI-generated results for accuracy and relevance.
  • Use AI Responsibly: Using AI in ethical and secure ways, protecting critical information, and ensuring accountability for outcomes.

Learn more about the Make America AI-Ready initiative at dol.gov/ai-ready.

US Department of Labor Launches ‘Make America AI-Ready’ – electrifiED

2026 Lighting Resource Guide by Jim Lucy

Electrical Wholesaling’s 2026 picks for where to go when you need to learn more about lighting, from A-Z. With all of the technological changes in lighting over the past few years, getting the latest available information on products and trends is critical. The associations, government resources, publications, websites and universities listed below are EW’s updatedpicks for the best lighting education, information on trends and new products, and networking / educational opportunities at lighting industry events. The 2026 Lighting Resource Guide also offers some insight into one the fastest-growing new resources in the lighting market — NEMRA’s new Lighting Division. In just over a year it has already attracted more than 150 lighting reps and manufacturers. Congratulations to the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA) for the foresight to develop this important resource. 2026 Lighting Resource Guide | Electrical Wholesaling

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.