Many new and innovative lighting designs have been displayed at this year’s 100% Design Show at Earl’s Court, London. Chief among the inventions is an LED light with a thin butterfly wing-style film – The Air – a circle of light that uses LED lights along its outside rim. Several products showcased at the show have just been made available in the UK.

The LED lamp, called the Curl, was created by British designer Sebastian Bergne. A circular LED bulb is finished simply with a curl of white plastic, resulting in a minimalist design and original shape. The bulb’s temperature can be adjusted from 2400° Kelvin, which produces a rosy amber color, to 3500° Kelvin, a cool white. There is also a dimming feature so you can create any atmosphere you want.

Recently researchers from the University of Washington have developed silicon-based nano particles to replace the expensive rare earth element (REE) phosphors currently used in LEDs. The REE phosphors in LEDs were used to soften the blue light emitted by LEDs. The silicon-based nano particles, derived from sand, now are used to do the softening. Chang-Ching Tu and Ji Hoo managed to separate the nano-sized particles from wafers of silicon. When the particle size is smaller than five nanometers it will start to glow. When the red-emitting silicon nano particles ar...