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Dunnett, O.,. (2014). Contested landscapes: the moral geographies of light pollution in Britain. Cultural Geographies, 22(4). Retrieved February 26, 2021, from http://cgj.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/07/17/1474474014542746.abstract
Abstract: This paper considers the concept of light pollution and its connections to moral geographies of landscape in Britain. The paper aims to provide a greater understanding of light pollution in the present day, where the issue connects to policy debates about energy efficiency, crime, health, ecology and night time aesthetics, whilst also engaging with new areas of research in cultural geography. The main sources of investigation are the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the British Astronomical Association’s Campaign for Dark Skies (est. 1990). Using interviews, archival and textual analysis, the paper examines this anti-light-pollution lobby, looking at the lead-up to the formation of the Campaign as well as its ongoing influence. A moral geography of light pollution is identified, drawing on two interconnected discourses – a notion of the ‘astronomical sublime’ and the problem of urbanization. Whilst the former is often invoked, both through visual and linguistic means, by anti-light pollution campaigners, the latter is characterized as a threat to clear night skies, echoing earlier protests against urban sprawl. Complementing a growing area of research, the geographies of light and darkness, this paper considers the light pollution lobby as a way of investigating the fundamental relationship between humankind and the cosmos in the modern age.
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Edensor, T., & Falconer, E. (2014). Dans Le Noir? Eating in the dark: sensation and conviviality in a lightless place. Cultural Geographies, 22(4), 601–618.
Abstract: Drawing on ethnographic interviews with customers, this paper looks at the experience of dining at Dans le Noir?, a restaurant in London where eating is carried out in complete darkness. As an exemplary gastro-tourist site within the expanding leisure economy at which sensory alterity is sought, we argue that the transformation of the usual unreflexive habits of sensing while dining offer opportunities to encounter difference and reflect upon our culturally located ways of sensing the world. In focusing upon the altered experience of apprehending space, eating and socialising in the absence of light, we contend that this dining experience offers broader suggestions about how we might reconsider the qualities and potentialities of darkness, a condition which has been historically feared and reviled in the west.
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Vyazovskiy, V. V., & Foster, R. G. (2014). Sleep: a biological stimulus from our nearest celestial neighbor? Curr Biol, 24(12), R557–60.
Abstract: Three studies have retrospectively analysed different data-sets to assess whether there is an effect of lunar phase upon human sleep. The results and conclusions differ. Until specifically designed experiments, controlling for key variables, are undertaken this issue will remain open.
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Rakshit, K., Thomas, A. P., & Matveyenko, A. V. (2014). Does disruption of circadian rhythms contribute to beta-cell failure in type 2 diabetes? Curr Diab Rep, 14(4), 474.
Abstract: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex metabolic disease characterized by the loss of beta-cell secretory function and mass. The pathophysiology of beta-cell failure in T2DM involves a complex interaction between genetic susceptibilities and environmental risk factors. One environmental condition that is gaining greater appreciation as a risk factor for T2DM is the disruption of circadian rhythms (eg, shift-work and sleep loss). In recent years, circadian disruption has become increasingly prevalent in modern societies and consistently shown to augment T2DM susceptibility (partly mediated through its effects on pancreatic beta-cells). Since beta-cell failure is essential for development of T2DM, we will review current work from epidemiologic, clinical, and animal studies designed to gain insights into the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying the predisposition to beta-cell failure associated with circadian disruption. Elucidating the role of circadian clocks in regulating beta-cell health will add to our understanding of T2DM pathophysiology and may contribute to the development of novel therapeutic and preventative approaches.
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Tronin A. A., Gornyy V. I., Kritsuk S. G., & Latypov I. Sh. (2014). Nighttime Lights As A Quantitative Indicator Of Anthropogenic Load On Ecosystems. Current Problems In Remote Sensing Of The Earth From Space, 11(1), 237–244.
Abstract: Nighttime lights of the Earth’s surface are considered as integral and quantitative indicator of anthropogenic load on ecosystems in the framework of energetic approach for ecological safety level rating. Nighttime lights have high correlation with primary energy consumption at the regional level. Nighttime radiation recorded on satellite Suomi NPP (radiometer VIIRS) was recalculated to primary energy consumption. Photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by plants is determined from ecosystem primary production. EOS satellite system product MOD17 supplies global primary production information. Energetic approach is based on comparison of photosynthetically active radiation, absorbed by plants and anthropogenic energy load on ecosystems. Ecological safety level was calculated as the relation of photosynthetically active radiation to anthropogenic load on ecosystems. Ecological safety map for northwest part of European Russia was compiled with high spatial resolution on the basis of nighttime lights and ecosystem primary production satellite data. The highest level of ecological safety was defined for Karelia and Arkhangelsk region where anthropogenic load on ecosystems is relatively moderate and plants receive enough solar radiation to parry threats to ecosystem service. The very low ecological safety level was observed in St-Petersburg that is explained by high energy load and small area of urban agglomeration.
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