The air pollution in China is a problem known and discussed around the world. Beijing in particular suffers from such a thick cloud of permanent smog that on most days, residents are unable to even see the sun in the sky.

In a story straight out of a dystopian sci-fi novel, the natural light-starved residents of Beijing have regained the ability to watch the sun rise and set thanks to gigantic commercial LED screens placed in Tiananmen Square and elsewhere in the capital city.

While these screens are typically used for advertisements and government messages (the one above says “Protecting atmospheric environment is everyone’s responsibility”), they have been providing residents with artificial sunlight on otherwise grey and gloomy days.

Although the simulated sunlight is a lovely picture, it doesn’t provide the Vitamin D that humans need. It also does nothing to mitigate the appalling environmental conditions that cause many residents to wear industrial-strength masks when they go outside.

The post Sun-Starved Chinese Residents Get Fake Sunrise Videos first appeared on Gajitz.

With the fear of melanoma and other skin cancers looming over our heads every day, it’s easy to forget that our bodies actually need sunlight exposure to function properly. Even in the winter, it’s important to get moderate sun exposure. But if you’re as confused as the rest of us about how much is just enough, the Sunfriend wristband is a helpful little tool.

The Sunfriend doesn’t encourage you to wear sunblock to keep the sun’s rays away from your skin; in fact, it tells you how much sun should be hitting your bare skin to help keep you healthy. And for those people who never remember the sunscreen anyway, the Sunfriend can be a helpful reminder that they need to take a break and go inside when their skin has had enough.

According to the team behind the wrist monitor, wearing sunscreen blocks the beneficial UV-B rays along with the harmful UV-A rays. The bracelet doesn’t do anything to protect your skin if you decide to stay outside all day, but it does tell you when you’ve had enough of the good rays before the harmful ones cause damage.

The post Get Just Enough Sun Thanks to a Sun-Safety Wristband first appeared on Gajitz.

As most of us are already aware, spending time in the sun without sunscreen is a risky proposition. Every day out in the sun increases your risk of skin cancer. But how much sun is too much? A simple, inexpensive wristband developed by Scotland’s Strathclyde University could warn you when your sun exposure has reached dangerous levels. The wristbands are made of paper and will probably cost no more than about 10 cents each. They are meant to be used just once and discarded at the end of the day.

The wristbands are made of a UV-sensitive material that changes color as the threshold amount of UV radiation is reached. Different threshold levels are set for different complexions: bands meant for fair-skinned people will change colors with less radiation than those meant for dark-skinned people. When the band changes from yellow to pink, it is time to get out of the sun because a burn is imminent. The bands seem to be effective only for measuring sun exposure in people who are wearing no sunscreen, so those of us who faithfully apply sunscreen every day will still have to wonder if we are being exposed to too much sun.

The post Sunburn Wristbands Change Color to Prevent Skin Cancer first appeared on Gajitz.