The astonishing discovery of an ancient celestial calendar in Chaco Canyon,…
The City Dark (58 minute version)
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
THE CITY DARK chronicles the disappearance of darkness. The film follows filmmaker (and amateur astronomer) Ian Cheney (KING CORN, BIG RIVER,TRUCK FARM), who moves to New York City from Maine and discovers an urban sky almost completely devoid of stars. He poses a deceptively simple question, 'What do we lose, when we lose the night?'.
Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawai'i, tracking disoriented hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing birds on Chicago streets injured by collisions with buildings, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights--including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. In six chapters weaving together cutting-edge science with personal, meditative sequences reflecting on the human relationship to the sky, THE CITY DARK shines new light on the meaning of the dark.
The film features stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, philosophers, historians, and lighting designers including Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronaut Don Pettit, neurologist Dr. George Brainard, Harvard Medical School scientist Dr. Steven Lockley, cosmologist Chris Impey, and lighting designer Herve Descottes.
'The City Dark is a thought provoking, revealing and judicious film. Aware people will greatly appreciate the long-awaited appearance of a documentary that finally brings to light some dangerous distortions of our society. For the unaware, the unfortunately large proportion of inhabitants of our planet, the film will be an eye-opener. Cheney beautifully links astronomy to biology, with social and anthropological ramifications that should be conveyed to our politicians. As clock biologist and amateur astronomer, I loved this film!' Dr. Paolo Sassone-Corsi, Distinguished Professor and Director, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, University of California-Irvine
'A clear, concise, well-documented exploration of a seldom-considered issue while simultaneously proposing answers to help offset it. Those concerned about the environment, wildlife, human health, and our vanishing cultural heritage will find The City Dark an enlightening view.' Brent Marchant, Library Journal
'Entertaining and thought-provoking...Mr. Cheney's film is a personal lament for the star-filled night sky he experienced growing up in Maine, but it is neither sorrowful nor a rant; he somehow manages to give this engaging work a sense of humor. He also manages to make it smart...This film makes you want to go find a starry sky to camp under quickly, before it's all gone.' Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times
'This film puts an engaging personal touch on the question of why have the stars disappeared from urban skies around the world. And more importantly, what have we lost because of this light pollution? The story is not just for astronomers - you'll never look at the sky in quite the same way again.' Dr. Woody Sullivan, Professor, Astronomy Department, University of Washington, Co-editor, Preserving the Astronomical Environment
'The City Dark takes viewers to the dark side. Most people on this planet are city dwellers that have never seen a truly dark sky...Cheney shows viewers just how dramatically our view of the night sky is being altered by urbanization. Like the rain forests and wildlife habitats, urbanization is eating away the primeval dark sky, to the point where most people rarely see anything up there but the Moon and a few bright planets...The City Dark won't leave you in the dark about light pollution. It's a must see for city dwellers who don't know what they're missing!' Dr. Terry D. Oswalt, Professor and Head, Physics and Space Sciences Department, Florida Institute of Technology
'A compelling journey of learning and realization that delves into the basic questions raised by the explosive spread of electrical lighting in the past 125 years: What does it mean to our place in the universe to not see the stars? What does it mean for our own health and that of other species to be exposed to light at night? Why do we light the night? What can we do about it? The images and stories speak for themselves, nudging the viewer through a gradual transition from appreciating the beauty of sparkling city lights, to recognizing their damaging effects on people and other species, to imagining a healthier and more sustainable future. The City Dark is an excellent introduction to an under-appreciated topic, which it approaches in a fair-minded and balanced manner.' Travis Longcore, Associate Professor, Spatial Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Co-Editor, Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting
'The City Dark is the most comprehensive and intelligent documentary on light pollution to have been produced. Ian has examined the societal issues related to the rise of light pollution in a way that tries to challenge the viewer to think differently about the way we use outdoor lighting. He has also been able to distill the sometimes complex technical issues related to light at night (LAN) into a very accessible and informative source of information that anyone can use.' Bob Parks, Executive Director, International Dark-Sky Association
'Comprehensive...helps us discover that night skies are more than just a pretty tableau--although the striking nighttime cinematography in the film never lets us forget how lovely they are...A great way to demonstrate that astronomy has real world implications and its importance to our everyday life.' Green Teacher
'Highly recommended for general audiences...The video provides excellent support for astronomy, urban studies and environmental curricula. Perhaps the first non-planetarium experience of the stars for inner city viewers, the film will remind all of the humbling vastness and extraordinary beauty of the universe.' Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State University, Educational Media Reviews Online
'Poetic and visually arresting (even hypnotic)...Stunning astrophotography...Highly recommended.' Video Librarian
'The City Dark is an extraordinarily thoughtful documentary, highly recommended especially for public and school library collections.' The Midwest Book Review
'Thought-provoking...Reminds viewers to appreciate a star-filled night sky and our place in the universe.' Booklist
'The most important thing The City Dark has to tell us is that by losing touch with the stars, we've lost touch with something that inspired our distant ancestors in a profoundly spiritual way...It's no accident, observes [Hayden Planetarium's Neil deGrasse] Tyson at one point, that so many ancient people focused their religious yearnings on the stars--mysterious, glorious beacons that blazed down from skies unpolluted by city lights.Those stars may not become any more visible soon, but the movie will.' Michael Lemonick, TIME
'Wonderful film...The myriad implications of a planet glittering with artificial lights are explored, from increased health risks to a generation of kids deprived of the wonders of the universe. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, historians, and lighting designers, The City Dark is a cautionary tale of light pollution and the disappearance of the night sky.' San Francisco Green Film Festival
'An informative, well-rounded look at light pollution told with a star-gazing enthusiast's passion for his subject...Impressive images of star-filled nights will remind audiences of childhood trips to the planetarium, and few will fail to notice the difference when they next look up into the heavens.' Variety
'Ian Cheney did a wonderful job with this movie...A very personal, compelling, and unique perspective on the issues of light pollution and the disappearing stars...Unexpectedly, this film also teaches us about humility, i.e. not focusing entirely on or thinking too highly of ourselves, but putting ourselves and our lives in proper perspective. Specifically, by looking at the stars and thinking about the greater universe, we should come to realize how little we know and how small we are in the grand scheme of things.' Clement Lau, UrbDeZine
'A crucial film...We've documented light pollution in our own neighborhood and urge others to do the same...This is one you definitely shouldn't miss.' David Dickinson, Astro Guyz
''What do we lose when we lose the night?' Cheney wonders. It's a haunting question. He doesn't try to answer it head on (how could he?). Instead, he peers at it from unexpected angles.' Boston.com
'A City Dark really makes you think about what kind of alternatives are both sustainable and feasible.' Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist
'I didn't know how long the documentary would hold the attention of a fidgety fourth-grader. But he was immediately drawn into Cheney's quest. He was shocked that astronomy students on Staten Island were able to see only the very brightest stars and planets in New York City's light-polluted skies. He asked me to stop the film after a segment that showed baby sea turtles traveling toward lighted parking lots and strip malls--and death--and away from the ocean...When the film was done, he hugged me for a long moment. 'I'm glad we have a night sky,' he said.' Kristen Laine, Appalachian Mountain Club's Great Kids, Great Outdoors
'Ian Cheney's film was an eye-opening exploration of light pollution and our culture of lighting up the night sky...I want to help bring attention to light pollution because of the negative effects it has on humans and animals alike.' Green Schools Alliance blog
'Quiet, reflective...It changed the way I look at the city, the sky, the stars, and night itself.' Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture
'Light pollution? If that topic seems a tad under the radar, the excellent documentary The City Dark may put an end to that...Poetic, at times profound.' Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
'The City Dark invites you to look outside of yourself...An absolutely beautiful film from its quiet, nostalgic beginning to the final rapid-fire revelations from the compelling individuals we meet throughout.' Nick GioBarbieri, The Austinist
'Endlessly fascinating film wizardry...Cheney seems to present viewers with a magical new pair of metaphorical glasses.' Prairie Miller, News Blaze
'This year one of the true standout films...Very entertaining and thought-provoking film...Quite humorous, visually engaging, and will hold your attention throughout.' Garry Denny, Director of Programming, Wisconsin Public Television
'Visually arresting and even hypnotic...I was transfixed...It's an eye-opener.' Charles Cassady, Jr., Cleveland Movie Blog
'[The film] is like a plaintive love song to the night skies...Elegant and poetic...Ian Cheney has built a bridge with this documentary, hoping to give us a new appreciation for the jewels of the darkened sky.' Jana J. Monji, Chicago Sun-Times
'Illuminating...Definitely worth watching, even if you have a lovely view of the night sky right outside your window.' Whitney Matheson, USA Today
'One must admire the writer-director-producer's talent and tenacity...The City Dark brings awareness to something most of us take for granted.' Eric Monder, Film Journal International
'Eloquent and compelling...The City Dark puts us back in touch with the deep yearning and mystical appreciation we have for night skies filled with bright and awesome stars!' Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
'Illuminating...Cheney's film is well worth the time, though its conclusions will likely keep you up at night.' Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
Citation
Main credits
Cheney, Ian (screenwriter)
Cheney, Ian (film producer)
Cheney, Ian (film director)
Cheney, Ian (cinematographer)
Cheney, Ian (film editor)
Other credits
Original music, The Fishermen Three, Ben Fries cinematography, Ian Cheney, Taylor Gentry; editing, Ian Cheney, Frederick Shanahan.
Distributor subjects
American Studies; Animal Behavior/Communication; Anthropology; Astronomy; Birds; Design; Environment; Health; Lighting; Pollution; Science, Technology, Society; Sociology; Urban Studies; Urban and Regional Planning; WildlifeKeywords
light pollution, disappearing stars, urban sky, Hawaian observatory, killer asteroids, hatching turtles, Florida, injured birds, bird collisions. Chicago, breast cancer, exposure to light at night, astrophotography, lighting designers, Hayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Don Pettit, Dr. George Brainard, Dr. Steven Lockley, Chris Impey, Herve Descottes, losing the night, history of electric lighting, Edison, stargazing in New York City, lighting sprawl, Sky Village AZ, epidemiological studies on shift workers, shift workers and cancer, Dr. David Blask, astrophilia, Bar Harbor lighting ordinance, Ann Druyan,; Jack Newton,; Chris Impey,; Jeffrey Kuhn,; Roger Ekirch,; Jane Brox, Bill Sharpe,; Susan Elbin, Dr. Richard Stevens, Jon Shane,"The City Dark",Bullfrog Films
WEBVTT
00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:04.033
[car horn blares]
00:00:04.067 --> 00:00:05.200
[whistles blasting]
00:00:05.233 --> 00:00:06.400
[car horn honks]
00:00:07.867 --> 00:00:08.867
- What is it?
00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:14.133
This is November 25th.
00:00:16.900 --> 00:00:19.167
I can\'t even see one star.
00:00:19.200 --> 00:00:24.933
November 25th at 6:00
in the freezing cold.
00:00:24.967 --> 00:00:26.433
Is that a star?
00:00:26.467 --> 00:00:28.033
Oh, yeah.
00:00:28.067 --> 00:00:30.033
Oh, there\'s another.
00:00:30.067 --> 00:00:32.133
Two.
00:00:32.167 --> 00:00:35.000
Oh, now I\'m getting
now I\'m getting it.
00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:40.633
Six, sev or, no,
I already got that one, I think.
00:00:40.667 --> 00:00:42.300
Now, I can only see
about half of the sky
00:00:42.333 --> 00:00:43.467
\'cause of this building,
00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:45.167
so we\'ll assume
there\'s 12 stars.
00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:47.500
[mellow acoustic music]
00:00:47.533 --> 00:00:51.333
So I live in a city a big city
00:00:51.367 --> 00:00:52.500
with 8 million people
00:00:52.533 --> 00:00:56.367
and, on most nights,
only a few dozen stars.
00:00:58.733 --> 00:01:03.433
I\'d grown up spending much
of my childhood in rural Maine,
00:01:03.467 --> 00:01:06.100
small town, 4,000 people.
00:01:06.133 --> 00:01:08.767
At night, more stars
than I could count
00:01:08.800 --> 00:01:10.300
or even capture with my camera.
00:01:11.633 --> 00:01:14.267
- [singing]
Do-do, do-do
00:01:14.300 --> 00:01:16.267
Do-do, do-do
00:01:16.300 --> 00:01:18.933
Do, do...
00:01:18.967 --> 00:01:22.533
- I built my own telescope
out of an old cardboard tube,
00:01:22.567 --> 00:01:26.100
attended astronomy camp,
00:01:26.133 --> 00:01:27.933
and invented
my own constellations
00:01:27.967 --> 00:01:30.633
from the stars
above my parents\' old barn.
00:01:37.800 --> 00:01:38.933
I\'d never stopped to wonder
00:01:38.967 --> 00:01:42.600
what those dark, starry nights
meant to me.
00:01:42.633 --> 00:01:44.767
But when I moved to the city,
00:01:44.800 --> 00:01:47.267
I felt at once like I was
at the center of the world
00:01:47.300 --> 00:01:50.233
under all those lights
00:01:50.267 --> 00:01:53.133
and like I\'d left
something important behind,
00:01:53.167 --> 00:01:56.467
something I couldn\'t name.
00:01:56.500 --> 00:01:59.367
What do we lose
when we lose the night?
00:02:04.767 --> 00:02:06.233
- I don\'t know of a civilization
00:02:06.267 --> 00:02:10.233
that didn\'t have
some kind of mythology
00:02:10.267 --> 00:02:11.900
about the night sky.
00:02:15.333 --> 00:02:16.967
- Well, if you were near
the end of your life
00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:18.667
and you were looking back,
00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:20.733
surely, one of the things
you\'d ask yourself is,
00:02:20.767 --> 00:02:22.333
\"Did I see the world?\"
00:02:22.367 --> 00:02:25.733
And what\'s out there in the sky,
that\'s the ultimate horizon.
00:02:25.767 --> 00:02:27.333
That\'s as far as you can go.
00:02:31.733 --> 00:02:37.033
- I worry that our
lack of contact with the sky
00:02:37.067 --> 00:02:39.633
is doing something to us
that\'s very subtle.
00:02:49.700 --> 00:02:52.700
[ferry horn blaring]
00:02:58.533 --> 00:03:00.800
- A lot of people
don\'t know much about the sky
00:03:00.833 --> 00:03:02.300
\'cause there\'s all these
kinds of weird phenomena.
00:03:02.333 --> 00:03:03.967
That\'s why there
are so many UFOs around,
00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.967
\'cause there are a lot
of crazy people around too.
00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.633
But they see a light
moving around or a meteor
00:03:09.667 --> 00:03:10.667
they never seen a meteor
00:03:10.700 --> 00:03:12.100
they call it UFO, you know?
00:03:12.133 --> 00:03:13.567
In a sense, to them, it\'s a UFO,
00:03:13.600 --> 00:03:15.567
because they\'re not used
to looking at the sky,
00:03:15.600 --> 00:03:18.067
and if they do look at the sky
and do catch something,
00:03:18.100 --> 00:03:20.067
they don\'t understand
what it\'s all about
00:03:20.100 --> 00:03:22.400
most people, most people.
00:03:22.433 --> 00:03:24.233
But, you know,
Americans are not known
00:03:24.267 --> 00:03:27.767
for their knowledge, you know?
00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:36.533
- Professor Irving Robbins
is an astronomer
00:03:36.567 --> 00:03:38.800
who runs one of the last
remaining observatories
00:03:38.833 --> 00:03:40.467
in New York City.
00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:42.140
- Welcome to the College
of Staten Island,
00:03:42.167 --> 00:03:43.467
located on Staten Island,
00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:44.967
which is one
of the five boroughs
00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:46.333
of the city of New York.
00:03:46.367 --> 00:03:48.333
Of course, Staten Island
is in the United States
00:03:48.367 --> 00:03:49.633
on planet Earth, so welcome.
00:03:49.667 --> 00:03:50.667
[clanking and whirring]
00:03:50.700 --> 00:03:51.800
There she goes.
00:03:55.033 --> 00:03:58.667
I\'ve seen twice
the Milky Way in New York,
00:03:58.700 --> 00:04:00.733
when there was the blackouts.
00:04:00.767 --> 00:04:02.567
In 1966, I was in Brooklyn.
00:04:02.600 --> 00:04:04.733
I was working
in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
00:04:04.767 --> 00:04:07.400
Lights all went out,
and there I was;
00:04:07.433 --> 00:04:08.733
I could not believe the heavens.
00:04:08.767 --> 00:04:10.067
It was like on the deserts.
00:04:10.100 --> 00:04:12.067
I mean, all
the whole Northeast went out,
00:04:12.100 --> 00:04:14.733
and the sky was spectacular,
just beautiful.
00:04:14.767 --> 00:04:16.267
It was really beautiful.
00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:17.433
As you know, in New York,
00:04:17.467 --> 00:04:19.100
there is a light pollution
problem.
00:04:19.133 --> 00:04:22.267
We\'re limited to how far deep
in space we can go
00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:25.367
because of the light pollution.
00:04:25.400 --> 00:04:27.867
When you look at the sky,
the sky
00:04:27.900 --> 00:04:30.633
the light in the sky
really is the sum total
00:04:30.667 --> 00:04:32.633
of everything around you.
00:04:32.667 --> 00:04:35.467
It\'s like I have
a beautiful painting, right?
00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:37.633
Very nice, but now I come along
with an eraser,
00:04:37.667 --> 00:04:40.967
and I erase all of it
and just leave a few spots.
00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.667
That\'s what
light pollution does.
00:04:52.633 --> 00:04:55.900
- What astronomers call
light pollution
00:04:55.933 --> 00:04:58.300
occurs when lights
shining upward
00:04:58.333 --> 00:05:00.900
bounce off dust
and particulates in the air,
00:05:00.933 --> 00:05:03.267
causing the very sky to glow.
00:05:07.167 --> 00:05:08.800
To live in New York these days
00:05:08.833 --> 00:05:15.100
is to live under
a kind of illuminated tent.
00:05:15.133 --> 00:05:17.500
But it wasn\'t always.
00:05:17.533 --> 00:05:22.900
In the past, people used stars
to navigate the seas.
00:05:22.933 --> 00:05:26.567
Ancient constellations
like Orion the Hunter
00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:29.567
were later joined
by more modern inventions
00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.767
like compass and the telescope.
00:05:35.400 --> 00:05:36.800
On the Earth below,
00:05:36.833 --> 00:05:38.633
the only lights
for thousands of years
00:05:38.667 --> 00:05:43.467
were crude torches, campfires,
and candles.
00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:45.967
By the 17th and 18th centuries,
00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:50.533
oil lamps powered by whale oil
illuminated Manhattan.
00:05:50.567 --> 00:05:54.600
In the early 1800s,
gas lighting was introduced.
00:05:56.833 --> 00:05:59.467
And finally,
in the late 19th century,
00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:02.067
a new form of lighting emerged.
00:06:04.700 --> 00:06:07.500
- It has been said,
correctly, I think,
00:06:07.533 --> 00:06:12.467
that there is no better symbol
00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:16.500
of modern progress
00:06:16.533 --> 00:06:22.333
than the advent of electricity
in general
00:06:22.367 --> 00:06:26.333
but electric lighting
in particular.
00:06:41.667 --> 00:06:44.667
[doorbell ringing]
00:06:49.233 --> 00:06:51.533
- This doesn\'t bother me.
00:06:51.567 --> 00:06:53.700
Bothers a lot of people, though.
00:06:53.733 --> 00:06:56.033
Hey, you want to see the
I tell people you
00:06:56.067 --> 00:06:59.500
if you came into a light store
that looked like that,
00:06:59.533 --> 00:07:02.400
wouldn\'t you wonder, you know,
00:07:02.433 --> 00:07:04.733
what kind of place it is?
00:07:04.767 --> 00:07:06.867
[man speaking indistinctly]
00:07:06.900 --> 00:07:10.033
[door creaks open]
00:07:10.067 --> 00:07:14.533
About 75,000 lightbulbs
back here, approximately,
00:07:14.567 --> 00:07:16.700
different types.
00:07:16.733 --> 00:07:20.200
There was my father
who was in the business,
00:07:20.233 --> 00:07:23.500
and my grandfather
was also in the business,
00:07:23.533 --> 00:07:27.167
and he knew Edison.
00:07:27.200 --> 00:07:29.333
My grandfather was an inventor.
00:07:29.367 --> 00:07:33.667
So he, you know, was friendly
with Thomas Edison,
00:07:33.700 --> 00:07:38.567
and my grandfather was there
when things started.
00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:44.567
This one is an original
Edison lightbulb,
00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:47.567
and these still actually work.
00:07:48.833 --> 00:07:51.967
[electricity whirring faintly]
00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.933
1879 was the first lightbulb.
00:07:59.333 --> 00:08:01.367
More light.
00:08:01.400 --> 00:08:05.833
As you went up in generations,
00:08:05.867 --> 00:08:08.167
the brightness increased.
00:08:08.200 --> 00:08:12.667
They were trying to maximize
the amount of light.
00:08:12.700 --> 00:08:16.133
Self-ballasted
mercury vapor.
00:08:16.167 --> 00:08:19.433
Then they came out
with high-pressure sodium,
00:08:19.467 --> 00:08:22.433
which was a yellowish light,
00:08:22.467 --> 00:08:26.233
and that one
gets even brighter than this.
00:08:26.267 --> 00:08:29.900
And then they came out
with the metal halide.
00:08:29.933 --> 00:08:32.733
That\'s this.
00:08:32.767 --> 00:08:35.733
That one,
you could cook a meal on that.
00:08:35.767 --> 00:08:38.733
That\'s how hot this one gets.
00:08:38.767 --> 00:08:40.400
You look at this after,
00:08:40.433 --> 00:08:43.233
and you won\'t be able
to see for a while.
00:08:43.267 --> 00:08:44.867
[magnet clicks]
00:08:44.900 --> 00:08:47.967
Believe me, today I see stuff,
00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.000
new stuff that\'s coming out,
it\'s like, wow.
00:08:51.767 --> 00:08:54.067
- Today\'s lights
are capable of producing
00:08:54.100 --> 00:08:55.667
thousands more lumens
00:08:55.700 --> 00:08:57.767
than Edison\'s original
lightbulb.
00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:05.200
The mercury vapor light is
popular on barns and warehouses.
00:09:05.233 --> 00:09:08.300
The metal halide often
illuminates car dealerships.
00:09:08.333 --> 00:09:10.467
And high-pressure
sodium lights
00:09:10.500 --> 00:09:12.633
are found on cobra head
light fixtures
00:09:12.667 --> 00:09:15.633
all across the country.
00:09:15.667 --> 00:09:18.600
As electric lights grew brighter
and more numerous
00:09:18.633 --> 00:09:20.600
throughout the 20th century,
00:09:20.633 --> 00:09:23.267
the starlight
above America\'s cities
00:09:23.300 --> 00:09:25.333
tended to go the other way.
00:09:36.467 --> 00:09:38.767
- As I\'ve gotten older,
00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:40.867
I notice I have to go
farther and farther
00:09:40.900 --> 00:09:43.367
from wherever
there\'s any civilization
00:09:43.400 --> 00:09:47.333
in order to see the sky,
to be part of the universe.
00:09:47.367 --> 00:09:50.667
I began to do
all of my observing
00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:55.833
from down at Jones Beach,
which, in 1973,
00:09:55.867 --> 00:09:58.733
was still reasonably dark.
00:09:58.767 --> 00:10:04.033
Unfortunately, night no longer
comes to Jones Beach.
00:10:06.433 --> 00:10:08.400
We would use this area
right here
00:10:08.433 --> 00:10:10.400
and just unload our scopes,
00:10:10.433 --> 00:10:13.400
and this whole area
would be filled with scopes,
00:10:13.433 --> 00:10:15.733
and the phone is still there.
00:10:15.767 --> 00:10:17.733
I bet you can\'t find the number.
00:10:17.767 --> 00:10:21.233
Ah, yes. 785-9743.
00:10:21.267 --> 00:10:22.400
The number didn\'t change.
00:10:22.433 --> 00:10:24.033
[laughs]
00:10:24.067 --> 00:10:26.533
Pretty much, no matter
which side you went from,
00:10:26.567 --> 00:10:28.033
there were
telescopes everywhere.
00:10:28.067 --> 00:10:32.700
This now, there isn\'t even
a handle to get in here.
00:10:32.733 --> 00:10:34.567
I wonder what they do.
00:10:36.167 --> 00:10:39.400
We determined the length
of an asteroid from here.
00:10:39.433 --> 00:10:43.733
We measured some double stars
from here.
00:10:43.767 --> 00:10:45.400
Depending on the season
of the year,
00:10:45.433 --> 00:10:47.900
it might be Orion in the winter
00:10:47.933 --> 00:10:50.900
or Scorpius and Sagittarius
in the summer,
00:10:50.933 --> 00:10:54.933
with the Milky Way coming up
like the steam from the teapot.
00:10:56.867 --> 00:10:59.200
Great place to be.
00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:08.800
Already, Jupiter\'s coming out,
00:11:08.833 --> 00:11:10.533
biggest planet
in the solar system,
00:11:10.567 --> 00:11:12.867
second biggest object.
00:11:12.900 --> 00:11:14.733
That\'s just the teaser.
00:11:16.067 --> 00:11:20.033
It\'s so sad because
I know what\'s above me
00:11:20.067 --> 00:11:21.367
once it gets dark here.
00:11:21.400 --> 00:11:23.900
It just doesn\'t get dark
anymore.
00:11:28.667 --> 00:11:30.067
- Cities have always been
00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:32.567
kind of overburdened
with lights.
00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:35.400
I think you\'re allowed to have
some expectation, though,
00:11:35.433 --> 00:11:37.233
that when you leave the city
00:11:37.267 --> 00:11:40.067
ten miles, fifty miles,
a hundred miles
00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:43.667
that the sky should start
to come back to you.
00:11:46.967 --> 00:11:49.967
[indistinct speech on radio]
00:12:12.900 --> 00:12:14.900
[clanking]
00:12:16.567 --> 00:12:18.367
- Well, it\'s pretty dark.
00:12:18.400 --> 00:12:19.900
[muffled clanking]
00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:27.600
[camera clicks]
00:12:29.933 --> 00:12:32.933
[camera clicks]
00:12:56.733 --> 00:12:59.400
- I was born and raised
in the Bronx, New York,
00:12:59.433 --> 00:13:02.300
in an apartment complex
00:13:02.333 --> 00:13:06.133
prophetically called
the Skyview Apartments.
00:13:06.167 --> 00:13:08.000
And what happened
when I was nine
00:13:08.033 --> 00:13:11.167
was that first visit
to the Hayden Planetarium
00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:13.167
here in New York City.
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.000
There you are in this room,
this odd-shaped room.
00:13:16.033 --> 00:13:18.000
It\'s round,
and it\'s got a round ceiling,
00:13:18.033 --> 00:13:20.633
and they turn off the lights.
00:13:20.667 --> 00:13:23.633
They even have permission
to turn off the exit lights,
00:13:23.667 --> 00:13:25.133
so it\'s comp you can\'t even see
00:13:25.167 --> 00:13:26.967
the hand in front of your face.
00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:31.300
And the stars come out,
and I was sure it was a hoax.
00:13:31.333 --> 00:13:32.967
I\'ve seen the night sky
from the Bronx.
00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:34.467
There\'s a dozen stars there,
00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:36.967
and there were way too many
stars in the Hayden Planetarium
00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.133
for me to believe it.
00:13:39.167 --> 00:13:41.633
And it would take several years
before I recognized that,
00:13:41.667 --> 00:13:46.500
in fact, this was an accurate
capturing of the night sky.
00:13:48.167 --> 00:13:49.800
And to this day,
I\'m on mountaintops,
00:13:49.833 --> 00:13:51.467
and I look up,
00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:52.633
and I say to my
00:13:52.667 --> 00:13:54.633
this is a sickeningly urban
thing to say,
00:13:54.667 --> 00:13:56.300
but I look up, and I say,
00:13:56.333 --> 00:13:58.633
\"Reminds me
of the Hayden Planetarium.\"
00:13:58.667 --> 00:14:00.567
[laughs]
You know...
00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:09.467
- You know, we\'re nothing
if we\'re not adaptive,
00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:13.300
and so as we adapt
to these deprivations
00:14:13.333 --> 00:14:14.967
of not seeing the sky,
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.267
we create mechanisms
to mimic them.
00:14:19.300 --> 00:14:23.300
Who knows what
the ultimate effect will be?
00:14:42.800 --> 00:14:44.333
[plastic rattling]
00:15:23.933 --> 00:15:25.900
- What\'s happened
over my lifetime is that
00:15:25.933 --> 00:15:30.233
you have kind of a sprawl
with the city lights.
00:15:30.267 --> 00:15:32.967
[car horn honking]
00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:34.133
Perhaps in the old days,
00:15:34.167 --> 00:15:36.800
it was just homes
with streetlights,
00:15:36.833 --> 00:15:40.633
and now it\'s homes
near shopping malls,
00:15:40.667 --> 00:15:42.967
fully lit parking lots,
00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:46.300
each of which has its own lights
00:15:46.333 --> 00:15:49.333
spilling out
into the surrounding regions.
00:15:55.733 --> 00:15:59.000
- Our society is kind of
taking over the wilderness,
00:15:59.033 --> 00:16:02.600
but it\'s happening slowly,
and no one really notices it.
00:16:04.933 --> 00:16:09.100
Now the sky is just
impossibly bright.
00:16:11.400 --> 00:16:12.700
And so the astronomers
00:16:12.733 --> 00:16:15.700
have had to flee
the population centers
00:16:15.733 --> 00:16:18.567
and move to the desert
and island areas of the world.
00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:42.300
- We\'re right on the border
00:16:42.333 --> 00:16:46.067
between eastern Arizona
and New Mexico.
00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:51.233
- The closest grocery store
is a little over an hour,
00:16:51.267 --> 00:16:53.733
and that\'s in Douglas
on the border.
00:16:53.767 --> 00:16:55.867
This is one of the few regions
00:16:55.900 --> 00:16:59.167
that still has really good
dark skies.
00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:09.900
- The town of Sky Village
was created
00:17:09.933 --> 00:17:11.833
by a man named Jack Newton,
00:17:11.867 --> 00:17:14.167
one of my childhood heroes
00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:15.867
and widely considered to be
00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:19.833
one of the greatest
astrophotographers of our time.
00:17:19.867 --> 00:17:23.700
- We hunted diligently for
dark skies to find this site,
00:17:23.733 --> 00:17:26.700
the darkest spot
in southwestern U.S.,
00:17:26.733 --> 00:17:28.700
and that was Portal, Arizona.
00:17:28.733 --> 00:17:31.700
And then we were able
to collect 450 acres
00:17:31.733 --> 00:17:35.200
and set up the Arizona
Sky Village for astronomers,
00:17:35.233 --> 00:17:36.800
and it\'s been magnificent.
00:17:36.833 --> 00:17:39.833
[whirring]
00:17:42.867 --> 00:17:47.667
My primary instrument here
is a 20-inch telescope
00:17:47.700 --> 00:17:49.600
with a carbon fiber tube.
00:17:49.633 --> 00:17:52.267
- I have a Meade 16-inch
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
00:17:52.300 --> 00:17:54.133
as the primary instrument
in there.
00:17:54.167 --> 00:17:57.133
- This is a H-alpha
solar telescope.
00:17:57.167 --> 00:17:58.467
- It carries piggyback
00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:02.200
a Takahashi 180 Epsilon
Astrograph
00:18:02.233 --> 00:18:03.900
high-speed camera lens.
00:18:03.933 --> 00:18:06.400
- This is the observatory
we\'re having built here.
00:18:06.433 --> 00:18:08.233
The telescope mount
will be here,
00:18:08.267 --> 00:18:10.600
and we\'ll have a 10-foot dome
above us here.
00:18:10.633 --> 00:18:13.567
- So we chase
total solar eclipses.
00:18:13.600 --> 00:18:15.900
- It\'s paradise
for an astrophotographer
00:18:15.933 --> 00:18:17.433
to be out here.
00:18:17.467 --> 00:18:19.600
- We all come from different
walks of life,
00:18:19.633 --> 00:18:22.533
but we have all moved here
with one thing in common.
00:18:22.567 --> 00:18:24.200
We all love the night sky.
00:18:24.233 --> 00:18:26.867
[whirring]
00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:29.367
This is my clubhouse.
00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:31.700
Every guy wants a clubhouse
when he grows up,
00:18:31.733 --> 00:18:33.033
and this is it.
00:18:33.067 --> 00:18:34.400
I call my observatory
00:18:34.433 --> 00:18:36.533
Conferring With the Sky
Observatory.
00:18:36.567 --> 00:18:37.967
[dogs barking]
00:18:39.533 --> 00:18:42.267
- I was shooting last night,
00:18:42.300 --> 00:18:47.000
and there\'s the spiral galaxy.
00:18:47.033 --> 00:18:51.833
This one is 57 million
light-years away.
00:18:51.867 --> 00:18:54.533
So the light
left 57 million years ago.
00:18:54.567 --> 00:18:58.333
This is called
the North America Nebula.
00:18:58.367 --> 00:19:00.900
This is called
the Heart and the Soul,
00:19:00.933 --> 00:19:03.300
this being the Heart
and that being the Soul.
00:19:03.333 --> 00:19:06.633
This is Orion\'s Belt,
the three stars in the belt.
00:19:06.667 --> 00:19:09.933
This is the dagger that
hangs down from Orion\'s Belt.
00:19:11.300 --> 00:19:16.267
I would go nuts if I couldn\'t
have the dark night sky.
00:19:16.300 --> 00:19:19.267
There\'s a whole universe
out there.
00:19:27.967 --> 00:19:30.967
[footsteps crunching on gravel]
00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:39.400
[camera clicks]
00:19:39.433 --> 00:19:42.033
[mellow instrumental music]
00:19:42.067 --> 00:19:43.867
- The Milky Way,
when it rises here,
00:19:43.900 --> 00:19:46.367
looks like a thunderstorm
coming toward you,
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.533
and you think, \"Oh, my God,
it\'s gonna cloud over.\"
00:19:48.567 --> 00:19:49.700
And it\'s not.
00:19:49.733 --> 00:19:51.033
It\'s the Milky Way rising.
00:19:51.067 --> 00:19:53.400
It\'s the edge of our galaxy
coming up.
00:20:14.667 --> 00:20:17.467
- Being out under the stars
at night,
00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:20.800
I was reminded of the scale
of our world,
00:20:20.833 --> 00:20:23.600
a scale that\'s all too easy
to forget
00:20:23.633 --> 00:20:26.633
when you don\'t have this clear
a view of the skies above.
00:20:31.067 --> 00:20:34.800
- If we didn\'t have a good view
of a dark sky,
00:20:34.833 --> 00:20:37.867
we wouldn\'t know we lived
in a galaxy like the Milky Way.
00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:39.033
We wouldn\'t know that
00:20:39.067 --> 00:20:41.700
the universe
was 50 billion galaxies,
00:20:41.733 --> 00:20:44.500
each with hundreds of billions
of stars.
00:20:44.533 --> 00:20:47.600
We would know very little
about the universe we lived in.
00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:51.800
Once you\'ve known
what a truly dark sky is
00:20:51.833 --> 00:20:54.633
once I observed
the observatories in Hawaii,
00:20:54.667 --> 00:20:56.300
which, to me,
are the gold standard
00:20:56.333 --> 00:20:59.133
it\'s like once you\'ve [...]
the very best kind of [...]
00:20:59.167 --> 00:21:00.967
or had the very best
single malt [...],
00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.000
you know,
you can\'t really go back.
00:21:12.933 --> 00:21:15.067
- Astronomy is the oldest
of the sciences.
00:21:15.100 --> 00:21:16.233
We can go back,
00:21:16.267 --> 00:21:18.067
and we can trace the development
00:21:18.100 --> 00:21:20.567
of our inquiry into the universe
00:21:20.600 --> 00:21:22.900
to the ability
to look up to the sky
00:21:22.933 --> 00:21:24.733
to see things
that you don\'t understand
00:21:24.767 --> 00:21:27.233
that you want to be able
to touch and understand.
00:21:27.267 --> 00:21:29.733
Every civilization
that we know about
00:21:29.767 --> 00:21:32.333
built a science
around explaining
00:21:32.367 --> 00:21:35.033
the sky that was above them
that they saw at night.
00:21:36.567 --> 00:21:38.700
- We\'re going to a place
called Science City.
00:21:38.733 --> 00:21:40.867
- Ladies and gentlemen,
we\'ll be landing very shortly.
00:21:40.900 --> 00:21:43.200
Please make sure your seat belts
are securely fastened.
00:21:43.233 --> 00:21:44.700
Mahalo.
00:21:44.733 --> 00:21:48.200
- It\'s literally true that
there is no better place in
00:21:48.233 --> 00:21:51.867
on this planet to observe
than the Hawaiian Islands.
00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:57.833
- The volcanic islands of Hawaii
00:21:57.867 --> 00:21:59.700
thrust up
out of the Pacific Ocean
00:21:59.733 --> 00:22:01.467
and all the way
through the clouds,
00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:04.867
giving astronomers
clear air and clear skies.
00:22:07.300 --> 00:22:10.767
On Mauna Kea, some of
the world\'s largest telescopes
00:22:10.800 --> 00:22:15.433
scan the sky from an altitude
of 14,000 feet.
00:22:15.467 --> 00:22:19.567
And on Haleakala, astronomers
have recently built a telescope
00:22:19.600 --> 00:22:21.233
that they describe
as the largest,
00:22:21.267 --> 00:22:24.167
most light-sensitive camera
in history.
00:22:26.800 --> 00:22:29.933
- This is the
Pan-STARRS 1.8-meter telescope.
00:22:29.967 --> 00:22:32.933
Its detectors span an area
like this
00:22:32.967 --> 00:22:35.933
behind this plate
inside the vacuum.
00:22:35.967 --> 00:22:39.067
One of the primary reasons
for building this thing is,
00:22:39.100 --> 00:22:40.933
we want to find
killer asteroids.
00:22:43.933 --> 00:22:47.733
- Well, the Earth is being
hit by stuff all the time.
00:22:47.767 --> 00:22:49.567
The biggest threat
is from objects
00:22:49.600 --> 00:22:52.900
that are about a kilometer
in size or more.
00:22:52.933 --> 00:22:56.567
And if one of those objects
hits the Earth,
00:22:56.600 --> 00:22:59.967
then it produces
a global catastrophe,
00:23:00.067 --> 00:23:03.033
something like
many thousands of H-bombs
00:23:03.067 --> 00:23:05.733
going off instantaneously.
00:23:08.533 --> 00:23:11.800
- Detecting asteroids,
which are small and dark,
00:23:11.833 --> 00:23:14.267
depends on having
extremely dark skies,
00:23:14.300 --> 00:23:18.533
which, even on Hawaii,
are threatened by development.
00:23:18.567 --> 00:23:21.667
But I got the sense
that astronomers were worried
00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:23.767
about a much deeper loss,
00:23:23.800 --> 00:23:25.933
one tied
to their ancient profession
00:23:25.967 --> 00:23:28.633
of decoding the universe above.
00:23:31.800 --> 00:23:33.433
Seeing the universe around us
00:23:33.467 --> 00:23:35.600
tells us about our own part
of the universe,
00:23:35.633 --> 00:23:37.767
and to close that door, I think,
00:23:37.800 --> 00:23:42.467
would change the character
of humankind entirely.
00:23:46.767 --> 00:23:49.067
A team of Italian cartographers,
00:23:49.100 --> 00:23:51.900
piecing together a map
of the Earth at night,
00:23:51.933 --> 00:23:55.567
concluded that 2/3 of all humans
now live under skies
00:23:55.600 --> 00:23:58.567
polluted by artificial light.
00:23:58.600 --> 00:24:00.967
As they put it,
\"Mankind is proceeding
00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:04.500
to envelop themself
in a luminous fog.\"
00:24:55.433 --> 00:24:58.400
[thunder rumbling]
00:24:58.433 --> 00:25:01.500
[waves crashing]
00:25:23.433 --> 00:25:24.767
[rattling]
00:25:24.800 --> 00:25:27.467
[engine whines and rumbles]
00:25:43.033 --> 00:25:44.333
- We\'re just heading north,
00:25:44.367 --> 00:25:49.833
basically to our northern border
with Highland Beach,
00:25:49.867 --> 00:25:52.767
and actually, from here,
you can already see
00:25:52.800 --> 00:25:57.100
the amount of sky glow
we get from that area.
00:25:57.133 --> 00:26:01.033
The glow looking in that
direction is really intense.
00:26:03.433 --> 00:26:05.900
- Every summer,
along the Florida coast,
00:26:05.933 --> 00:26:09.400
thousands of hatching
sea turtles emerge from the sand
00:26:09.433 --> 00:26:12.433
and struggle to find their way
to the sea.
00:26:12.467 --> 00:26:14.600
- For about
the last 200 million years,
00:26:14.633 --> 00:26:18.433
sea turtles have utilized
the beaches in Florida
00:26:18.467 --> 00:26:20.233
as their nesting grounds.
00:26:20.267 --> 00:26:23.733
Over that time period,
in a dark world,
00:26:23.767 --> 00:26:27.433
the sea turtles had learned
that the water was located
00:26:27.467 --> 00:26:30.500
on the lightest horizon,
because the ocean,
00:26:30.533 --> 00:26:33.667
the waters would reflect
starlight.
00:26:33.700 --> 00:26:37.333
In the last 100 years or so
in Florida, obviously,
00:26:37.367 --> 00:26:40.833
the lighting situation
has changed dramatically.
00:26:40.867 --> 00:26:43.000
Instead of going towards
the water,
00:26:43.033 --> 00:26:45.700
they go to the brighter light.
00:26:55.333 --> 00:26:58.333
[waves crashing]
00:27:01.833 --> 00:27:05.133
- Biologists use
infrared camera lights
00:27:05.167 --> 00:27:07.800
to avoid disorienting
the turtles,
00:27:07.833 --> 00:27:10.633
because when the hatchlings
emerge from their nests,
00:27:10.667 --> 00:27:13.833
they have only a matter
of minutes to make it to the sea
00:27:13.867 --> 00:27:17.233
before they grow dehydrated
or fall victim to predators.
00:27:47.133 --> 00:27:53.133
[upbeat music]
00:28:37.800 --> 00:28:39.467
- Nice!
00:29:12.333 --> 00:29:14.467
- We made sure
all the hatchlings we saw
00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:16.800
made it to the water.
00:29:16.833 --> 00:29:19.967
But every summer,
tens of thousands of turtles,
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.500
already a threatened species,
are lost to disorientation.
00:29:34.500 --> 00:29:37.467
I began to think
about disorientation,
00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:41.100
about the way I try to orient
myself on an airplane at night,
00:29:41.133 --> 00:29:43.267
not using the stars
00:29:43.300 --> 00:29:47.767
but using the constellations
of cities glowing below.
00:29:47.800 --> 00:29:49.767
Like someone has taken
the night sky
00:29:49.800 --> 00:29:51.967
and flipped it upside down,
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:54.600
so that flying between
stars and cities,
00:29:54.633 --> 00:29:57.933
you could understand how,
if only for a moment,
00:29:57.967 --> 00:30:00.433
you might forget
which was which.
00:30:06.467 --> 00:30:08.433
[phone rings]
00:30:08.467 --> 00:30:12.100
- Chicago Bird Collision
Monitors.
00:30:12.133 --> 00:30:15.300
10 South Riverside.
Do you have a bird there?
00:30:18.100 --> 00:30:21.900
We find about an average
of 4,000 birds a year
00:30:21.933 --> 00:30:24.033
in our spring
and fall migration combined.
00:30:24.067 --> 00:30:27.367
That\'s 4,000, you know,
both dead and injured combined.
00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:29.533
And we know that
we\'re not finding everything.
00:30:29.567 --> 00:30:30.633
- He\'s movin\'.
00:30:30.667 --> 00:30:31.767
- Oh, that\'s nice.
00:30:31.800 --> 00:30:33.267
- I found him right over here
by my car.
00:30:33.300 --> 00:30:35.633
- Wonderful.
Okay.
00:30:37.100 --> 00:30:38.733
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:30:38.767 --> 00:30:40.067
Where is he?
00:30:40.100 --> 00:30:41.833
Oh, it\'s another sapsucker.
Look at this.
00:30:41.867 --> 00:30:43.400
- Oh, that\'s what that is?
A sapsucker.
00:30:43.433 --> 00:30:46.400
- It\'s a woodpecker.
It\'s a yellow-bellied sapsucker.
00:30:46.433 --> 00:30:48.733
- Oh, it is.
Okay, I just
00:30:48.767 --> 00:30:50.600
Oh, good, he\'s oh, great.
00:30:50.633 --> 00:30:54.267
So he must have hit this
building or something and...
00:30:54.300 --> 00:30:55.933
I just seen him breathing,
00:30:55.967 --> 00:31:00.167
so I had my co-worker
come out with a towel.
00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:01.667
I\'ve used her quite a few times.
00:31:01.700 --> 00:31:03.333
I\'m glad I got her number, so...
00:31:03.367 --> 00:31:05.167
- That\'s great.
00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:08.833
- And this is a case where
you kind of got to move fast
00:31:08.867 --> 00:31:11.333
in case there\'s a gull
that\'s gonna spot him,
00:31:11.367 --> 00:31:12.500
\'cause he\'s in a place
00:31:12.533 --> 00:31:14.700
where there\'s a lot of crows
and gulls.
00:31:19.100 --> 00:31:21.900
He\'s broke the top of his beak.
00:31:21.933 --> 00:31:23.900
And sometimes that can heal,
00:31:23.933 --> 00:31:26.600
but that\'s really kind of sad.
00:31:37.100 --> 00:31:39.167
- Even though
you can\'t see them,
00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:42.500
there are thousands
and thousands of birds
00:31:42.533 --> 00:31:46.167
flying over your head
every night during migration.
00:31:52.633 --> 00:31:54.433
We know from early studies
00:31:54.467 --> 00:31:57.767
that the stars actually serve
as a map for birds
00:31:57.800 --> 00:32:00.600
as they migrate
through the night skies.
00:32:06.733 --> 00:32:08.533
- The problem
with lights in the city
00:32:08.567 --> 00:32:11.367
is that these birds,
which have been migrating
00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:15.033
with their star chart,
get into the realm of a city,
00:32:15.067 --> 00:32:18.067
and suddenly, there are all of
these artificial stars all over,
00:32:18.100 --> 00:32:19.400
the dots of windows
00:32:19.433 --> 00:32:22.067
and lights in the buildings
of the city,
00:32:22.100 --> 00:32:24.400
and that completely disorients
the birds.
00:32:24.433 --> 00:32:27.567
They get into these
great canyons of buildings
00:32:27.600 --> 00:32:33.600
and then run into glass
and end up killing themselves.
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:39.133
- Birds are not only
disoriented by city lights.
00:32:39.167 --> 00:32:41.300
They are drawn to them.
00:32:41.333 --> 00:32:43.133
In one study by volunteers
00:32:43.167 --> 00:32:45.800
from The Field Museum
in Chicago,
00:32:45.833 --> 00:32:47.967
a building that shut off
half its lights
00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:50.800
recorded a ten-fold decrease
in bird deaths
00:32:50.833 --> 00:32:53.833
compared to the half of
the building that remained lit.
00:32:56.667 --> 00:32:59.633
- The estimate is that
there\'s a billion birds killed
00:32:59.667 --> 00:33:01.533
across the United States
every year
00:33:01.567 --> 00:33:03.733
by collisions into buildings.
00:33:09.667 --> 00:33:11.833
[handle clanking]
00:33:14.833 --> 00:33:17.800
- This is a drawer that has
a sample of the birds
00:33:17.833 --> 00:33:20.467
that we found at just
one building in Chicago
00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:22.300
over the last 30 years.
00:33:22.333 --> 00:33:25.300
This has a small portion
of the 150 species
00:33:25.333 --> 00:33:29.633
and a very even smaller portion
of the over 30,000 specimens
00:33:29.667 --> 00:33:32.200
that we\'ve picked up
at this one place.
00:33:32.233 --> 00:33:34.700
This is a scarlet tanager.
00:33:34.733 --> 00:33:36.533
This is the male
in breeding plumage.
00:33:36.567 --> 00:33:39.200
This is the much less dramatic
female.
00:33:39.233 --> 00:33:41.200
This is a very interesting bird
00:33:41.233 --> 00:33:43.200
in that it migrates
from this region
00:33:43.233 --> 00:33:45.200
all the way to Peru
for the winter
00:33:45.233 --> 00:33:47.700
and then back again.
00:33:47.733 --> 00:33:49.700
And it\'s one of the birds
that it always
00:33:49.733 --> 00:33:52.367
especially striking
when you find a dead one,
00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:54.367
realizing that it had made
that journey,
00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:56.700
and then it ends against
a glass window
00:33:56.733 --> 00:34:00.233
in a city in the Midwest.
00:34:26.367 --> 00:34:32.367
[solemn instrumental music]
00:34:43.133 --> 00:34:44.433
- When I was young,
00:34:44.467 --> 00:34:47.267
we\'d catch fireflies
behind the barn in Maine
00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:50.133
just by running through
the field with a jar.
00:34:52.167 --> 00:34:54.467
But fireflies
like many other species
00:34:54.500 --> 00:34:58.133
that rely on darkness
to mate, hunt, or hide
00:34:58.167 --> 00:35:02.233
are in decline because
of changes to their habitat.
00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:07.500
- When we add light
to the environment,
00:35:07.533 --> 00:35:10.833
that has the potential
to disrupt habitat,
00:35:10.867 --> 00:35:15.100
just like running a bulldozer
over the landscape can.
00:35:21.833 --> 00:35:26.300
Darkness is a necessary habitat
for nocturnal animals.
00:35:26.333 --> 00:35:29.467
So what\'s the habitat
for people?
00:35:29.500 --> 00:35:35.500
[dramatic percussive music]
00:35:47.933 --> 00:35:49.567
- Our society
is moving more and more
00:35:49.600 --> 00:35:53.067
towards a 24-7 lifestyle
00:35:53.100 --> 00:35:55.400
where everything\'s open
all night long.
00:35:55.433 --> 00:35:57.400
People are being asked
to work very long hours
00:35:57.433 --> 00:35:58.900
and working all through
the night.
00:35:58.933 --> 00:36:00.300
And we don\'t really understand
00:36:00.333 --> 00:36:02.200
what the long-term
health consequences are.
00:36:02.233 --> 00:36:04.200
- [singing]
Do-do, do-do-do
00:36:04.233 --> 00:36:06.533
- I go to work at 7:00
in the evening,
00:36:06.567 --> 00:36:10.000
and I clock out
at 7:30 in the morning.
00:36:10.033 --> 00:36:11.500
[whirring]
00:36:11.533 --> 00:36:15.267
- I get in at 7:00,
and I get out at 6:00 a.m.
00:36:17.867 --> 00:36:20.467
- Everybody sitting around!
Everybody line up!
00:36:20.500 --> 00:36:22.700
There\'s a lot of professions
that are only at night.
00:36:26.233 --> 00:36:30.033
- We have evolved all life on
the planet for 3 billion years
00:36:30.067 --> 00:36:34.033
with a reliable daily cycle
of 12 hours
00:36:34.067 --> 00:36:38.367
of bright, broad-spectrum light
and 12 hours of dark.
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:40.533
And it\'s only been
in the last 120 years
00:36:40.567 --> 00:36:42.533
where the masses of people now
00:36:42.567 --> 00:36:45.700
have had their dark period
dramatically eroded
00:36:45.733 --> 00:36:48.533
by the use of electric lighting.
00:36:51.767 --> 00:36:57.767
[gentle acoustic strumming]
00:37:13.967 --> 00:37:16.100
- Ow!
00:37:16.133 --> 00:37:18.933
Not nice to slam
into the breast cancer patient
00:37:18.967 --> 00:37:21.433
on the cancer side specifically.
00:37:21.467 --> 00:37:23.833
Anyhow...
00:37:23.867 --> 00:37:26.700
That\'s the sore side
he just hit.
00:37:26.733 --> 00:37:28.900
We\'re on our way to
00:37:28.933 --> 00:37:33.400
I believe it is number 6
of 30 radiation treatments.
00:37:33.433 --> 00:37:37.400
Everybody with breast cancer
00:37:37.433 --> 00:37:42.733
thinks about what can they do
to reduce a recurrence.
00:37:42.767 --> 00:37:46.067
But most people I know
don\'t spend an awful lot of time
00:37:46.100 --> 00:37:48.900
thinking about
what got them there.
00:37:48.933 --> 00:37:50.933
It\'s just hard to know.
00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:57.033
- Well, sadly and remarkably,
breast cancer
00:37:57.067 --> 00:38:00.767
is the number one cancer killer
of women in the world.
00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:02.267
Breast cancer risk
00:38:02.300 --> 00:38:06.267
has been going up 1% to 2%
per year relentlessly
00:38:06.300 --> 00:38:08.700
and for reasons
that we really don\'t understand.
00:38:12.667 --> 00:38:14.467
Worldwide, risk of breast cancer
00:38:14.500 --> 00:38:16.467
has been going up everywhere
00:38:16.500 --> 00:38:18.467
and particularly
in those countries
00:38:18.500 --> 00:38:22.000
that are rapidly
industrializing now.
00:38:24.533 --> 00:38:28.500
We thought it had to be
something to do with diet,
00:38:28.533 --> 00:38:30.167
changes in the diet
00:38:30.200 --> 00:38:33.367
to the high-fat, processed-food
Western diet.
00:38:35.067 --> 00:38:39.933
The real good studies of diet
began to hit, be reported,
00:38:39.967 --> 00:38:43.100
in the mid-1980s,
and they were dead negative.
00:38:43.133 --> 00:38:44.933
There was no relationship
00:38:44.967 --> 00:38:48.100
of fat in the diet, for example,
and risk.
00:38:48.133 --> 00:38:50.633
We were all very disappointed
by this.
00:38:50.667 --> 00:38:52.300
If it\'s not diet, what is it?
00:38:54.667 --> 00:38:56.633
What is a hallmark
of industrialization?
00:38:56.667 --> 00:38:59.300
What else changes
as societies industrialize?
00:38:59.333 --> 00:39:02.700
And I was in my apartment
in the middle of the night.
00:39:02.733 --> 00:39:04.533
Woke up as I usually do,
00:39:04.567 --> 00:39:06.200
and there was a streetlight
shining in,
00:39:06.233 --> 00:39:08.533
and I realized
it was bright enough to read,
00:39:08.567 --> 00:39:10.533
and at that moment, I wondered,
00:39:10.567 --> 00:39:13.367
\"Could electric power
and lighting at night
00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.900
have anything to do
with breast cancer risk?\"
00:39:18.500 --> 00:39:20.300
- So a series of
epidemiological studies
00:39:20.333 --> 00:39:22.133
were done by different
researchers
00:39:22.167 --> 00:39:23.967
all over the world at the time
00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:27.000
looking at cancer rates
in shift workers.
00:39:29.333 --> 00:39:32.133
- The epidemiologic studies
that have been conducted
00:39:32.167 --> 00:39:34.967
have shown that women
who do shift work
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:38.633
are at 1 1/2 to 2 times
the risk of breast cancer
00:39:38.667 --> 00:39:41.067
compared to women
who do not do shift work.
00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:48.167
[brakes squealing]
00:39:50.267 --> 00:39:54.900
- That\'s a Byzantine,
quarter of an inch wide.
00:39:54.933 --> 00:39:58.567
So, yeah, you got to
people like it when you measure.
00:39:58.600 --> 00:40:02.233
You measure the earrings.
00:40:02.267 --> 00:40:04.233
You measure the necklace.
00:40:04.267 --> 00:40:05.900
People like it when you measure.
00:40:05.933 --> 00:40:08.700
It\'s kind of old-fashioned
but...
00:40:11.333 --> 00:40:13.133
I used to sell things on TV.
00:40:13.167 --> 00:40:14.967
And I would work
in the overnights,
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.467
selling a lot of jewelry
but also clothing or cosmetics.
00:40:19.500 --> 00:40:22.467
A lot of shifts would be,
you\'d get into work at 10:00
00:40:22.500 --> 00:40:25.800
and then go on the air
at midnight to 3:00 a.m.,
00:40:25.833 --> 00:40:29.233
or you might be on
the air 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
00:40:32.700 --> 00:40:34.333
I really encourage you
to go ahead
00:40:34.367 --> 00:40:35.667
and give me a call on these.
00:40:35.700 --> 00:40:37.667
You always have your 30-day
money back guarantee.
00:40:37.700 --> 00:40:39.333
If they\'re not as good
as I say they are,
00:40:39.367 --> 00:40:40.833
you send them right back.
00:40:40.867 --> 00:40:44.833
But, boy, gorgeous,
gorgeous rhodolite earrings.
00:40:44.867 --> 00:40:47.133
If you love rhodolite,
do yourself a favor...
00:40:47.167 --> 00:40:50.133
1998.
00:40:50.167 --> 00:40:51.467
[laughs]
00:40:51.500 --> 00:40:52.900
We had fun.
00:40:52.933 --> 00:40:54.400
Look at that scarf.
00:40:54.433 --> 00:40:55.533
See?
That\'s easy to do.
00:40:55.567 --> 00:40:59.400
All you do is
is, you tie it like that.
00:40:59.433 --> 00:41:03.000
- The notion that light
could be harmful
00:41:03.033 --> 00:41:06.600
flows very natural from
the beneficial effects of light.
00:41:06.633 --> 00:41:09.767
Anything that can heal
the human potentially,
00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:12.333
if used inappropriately,
can harm.
00:41:12.367 --> 00:41:16.000
How about we turn on
the Earth skylight
00:41:16.033 --> 00:41:18.833
and monochromatic units,
00:41:18.867 --> 00:41:21.167
so I don\'t have to fiddle
with them?
00:41:21.200 --> 00:41:23.000
In this facility here...
00:41:23.033 --> 00:41:24.667
- By studying how people respond
00:41:24.700 --> 00:41:28.500
to different types of light
at different times of day,
00:41:28.533 --> 00:41:30.833
scientists are quickly
unraveling the fact
00:41:30.867 --> 00:41:33.367
that light does more
than help us see.
00:41:36.100 --> 00:41:40.067
- The nervous system has evolved
a means for sending information
00:41:40.100 --> 00:41:44.567
based on time of day
and light and darkness
00:41:44.600 --> 00:41:46.733
independent
of the visual system.
00:41:46.767 --> 00:41:50.600
Light that comes into the eye
stimulates a nonvisual pathway
00:41:50.633 --> 00:41:52.633
right towards the center
of the brain.
00:41:56.500 --> 00:41:58.800
That information
about light and darkness
00:41:58.833 --> 00:42:01.533
is converted
into a hormonal signal,
00:42:01.567 --> 00:42:03.533
the production of melatonin,
00:42:03.567 --> 00:42:04.867
which in turn is released
00:42:04.900 --> 00:42:07.167
and circulates
throughout the entire body.
00:42:10.533 --> 00:42:13.000
- During the daytime,
when we\'re awake,
00:42:13.033 --> 00:42:18.667
our blood samples contain
little or no melatonin.
00:42:18.700 --> 00:42:21.000
But at night, if it\'s dark,
00:42:21.033 --> 00:42:23.533
we produce
abundant amounts of it.
00:42:26.533 --> 00:42:29.333
- The normal production
of melatonin
00:42:29.367 --> 00:42:32.000
is what\'s called
a circadian rhythm.
00:42:32.033 --> 00:42:35.000
Production of melatonin
is high during the nighttime,
00:42:35.033 --> 00:42:39.833
low during the daytime.
00:42:39.867 --> 00:42:45.167
But we\'ve altered
our light-dark environment.
00:42:45.200 --> 00:42:46.833
The eyes exposed
to light at night
00:42:46.867 --> 00:42:50.333
will cause a very rapid
and a very strong suppression
00:42:50.367 --> 00:42:52.200
of this hormone.
00:42:55.200 --> 00:42:57.333
- By exposing
human test subjects
00:42:57.367 --> 00:43:00.233
to light in the middle
of the night...
00:43:00.267 --> 00:43:01.400
Oh, my.
00:43:01.433 --> 00:43:03.733
Scientists can show
how light at night
00:43:03.767 --> 00:43:06.400
causes a suppression
of our melatonin levels,
00:43:06.433 --> 00:43:08.633
similar to what happens
during the day.
00:43:13.133 --> 00:43:15.433
Dr. Brainard\'s lab
began collecting
00:43:15.467 --> 00:43:17.767
three types of blood samples:
00:43:17.800 --> 00:43:19.767
blood collected
during the daytime
00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:21.933
when melatonin levels are low,
00:43:21.967 --> 00:43:24.767
blood collected during
the night in darkness
00:43:24.800 --> 00:43:26.767
when melatonin levels are high,
00:43:26.800 --> 00:43:28.600
and blood collected
during the night
00:43:28.633 --> 00:43:31.100
after patients
are exposed to light
00:43:31.133 --> 00:43:34.333
when their melatonin levels
are low.
00:43:34.367 --> 00:43:38.167
These samples, from healthy,
young graduate students,
00:43:38.200 --> 00:43:42.500
were then sent to another
scientist named Dr. David Blask.
00:43:42.533 --> 00:43:45.533
[door creaking]
00:43:47.533 --> 00:43:50.833
- The shift work data suggested
00:43:50.867 --> 00:43:53.500
that there\'s something
about shift work
00:43:53.533 --> 00:43:55.400
that may be associated
00:43:55.433 --> 00:43:58.167
with increased risk
of breast cancer certainly
00:43:58.200 --> 00:44:00.067
and maybe other cancers as well.
00:44:00.100 --> 00:44:01.733
And there\'s really no way
good way
00:44:01.767 --> 00:44:04.567
to test that in human beings,
00:44:04.600 --> 00:44:07.467
and so you go to animal models.
00:44:07.500 --> 00:44:11.333
So we\'re looking
at this surface of the rat.
00:44:15.133 --> 00:44:17.267
In this region of the rat,
00:44:17.300 --> 00:44:19.767
we implant human breast cancers
00:44:19.800 --> 00:44:22.100
that have been grown
in donor animals.
00:44:24.267 --> 00:44:27.867
So we have these three different
kinds of blood samples,
00:44:27.900 --> 00:44:31.700
and we take each
of these three blood samples
00:44:31.733 --> 00:44:35.700
and literally pump
these blood samples
00:44:35.733 --> 00:44:37.833
directly through this tumor.
00:44:37.867 --> 00:44:40.667
- In the presence
of nighttime blood
00:44:40.700 --> 00:44:42.833
rich in melatonin,
00:44:42.867 --> 00:44:45.500
tumor growth was suppressed.
00:44:45.533 --> 00:44:47.000
But in the presence of blood
00:44:47.033 --> 00:44:49.333
from patients
exposed to light at night,
00:44:49.367 --> 00:44:51.333
with lower melatonin levels,
00:44:51.367 --> 00:44:54.567
tumor growth was rapid
and fatal.
00:44:54.600 --> 00:45:01.633
- Tumors that may ordinarily
be dormant and not very active
00:45:01.667 --> 00:45:04.400
because melatonin is around,
00:45:04.433 --> 00:45:07.567
if the melatonin is suppressed,
00:45:07.600 --> 00:45:10.667
these tumors then become active
all the time.
00:45:20.200 --> 00:45:22.333
[crickets chirping]
00:45:22.367 --> 00:45:25.067
- One night a few years ago,
00:45:25.100 --> 00:45:28.167
someone broke
into my family\'s barn in Maine
00:45:28.200 --> 00:45:30.933
and stole a bunch
of my father\'s tools.
00:45:34.367 --> 00:45:37.333
My family responded
by installing an enormous light
00:45:37.367 --> 00:45:39.867
on the corner of the barn.
00:45:43.033 --> 00:45:45.667
We haven\'t had any break-ins
since then,
00:45:45.700 --> 00:45:49.033
but night has never been
quite the same.
00:46:08.033 --> 00:46:10.067
- The early impetus,
00:46:10.100 --> 00:46:13.900
as recently
as 300, 400 years ago,
00:46:13.933 --> 00:46:19.400
for public lighting was crime.
00:46:19.433 --> 00:46:25.433
[dramatic music]
00:46:27.967 --> 00:46:31.767
Virtually, every ancient
civilization
00:46:31.800 --> 00:46:35.133
that has left clues of some sort
00:46:35.167 --> 00:46:38.733
stone tablets
or works of history
00:46:38.767 --> 00:46:43.733
every civilization
had a fear of the night.
00:46:47.467 --> 00:46:53.267
- This has been an area
plagued by narcotics and guns
00:46:53.300 --> 00:46:56.100
in a perennial fashion.
00:46:56.133 --> 00:47:00.667
Now, you can look
along the roadways here
00:47:00.700 --> 00:47:04.000
and see how dimly lit it is.
00:47:04.033 --> 00:47:06.833
Darker areas tend to be
backfilled by offenders,
00:47:06.867 --> 00:47:09.333
and they like that
because they can operate
00:47:09.367 --> 00:47:11.167
under the concealment
of darkness.
00:47:11.200 --> 00:47:12.200
They can hide guns.
00:47:12.233 --> 00:47:13.333
They can hide drugs.
00:47:13.367 --> 00:47:14.667
They can wear dark clothing
00:47:14.700 --> 00:47:18.000
and recede into the recesses
of the alleyways.
00:47:18.033 --> 00:47:19.833
That is dark right there.
00:47:19.867 --> 00:47:23.167
[police sirens wailing]
00:47:23.200 --> 00:47:27.833
If the area becomes
too well-lit, oftentimes,
00:47:27.867 --> 00:47:30.333
drug dealers will shoot
the lights out
00:47:30.367 --> 00:47:32.233
to provide their own darkness.
00:47:32.267 --> 00:47:34.900
[sirens wailing]
00:47:34.933 --> 00:47:38.233
When I was here in 1989
and the early 1990s,
00:47:38.267 --> 00:47:42.233
this park was nothing more
than a sandlot,
00:47:42.267 --> 00:47:44.233
and there were frequently fights
in here.
00:47:44.267 --> 00:47:46.067
There have been a number
of homicides
00:47:46.100 --> 00:47:48.067
and sexual assaults.
00:47:48.100 --> 00:47:53.233
History is replete with examples
of poorly lit nighttime areas
00:47:53.267 --> 00:47:56.733
that are transformed by light.
00:47:56.767 --> 00:47:58.567
Fencing that you see here
is all brand-new.
00:47:58.600 --> 00:48:01.300
The lighting stanchions
are brand-new.
00:48:01.333 --> 00:48:03.800
- The neighborhood is filled
with drugs and gangs
00:48:03.833 --> 00:48:06.300
and shootings
and things like that.
00:48:06.333 --> 00:48:07.967
The lighting is not good at all,
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:09.600
but the lighting here
is wonderful.
00:48:09.633 --> 00:48:10.767
- Hmm.
- It\'s wonderful.
00:48:10.800 --> 00:48:11.933
You can see anything.
00:48:11.967 --> 00:48:13.767
You can see everything
that\'s going on,
00:48:13.800 --> 00:48:16.300
and it does have a lot to do
with lighting.
00:48:16.333 --> 00:48:19.933
- Changing the lighting
is a lot safer for the kids now,
00:48:19.967 --> 00:48:21.400
you know?
00:48:21.433 --> 00:48:23.100
It\'s not like
it used to be before.
00:48:27.667 --> 00:48:30.467
- There is controversy
over whether more light
00:48:30.500 --> 00:48:33.133
leads to less crime,
00:48:33.167 --> 00:48:34.467
but there is agreement
00:48:34.500 --> 00:48:37.133
that light seems to make people
feel safer,
00:48:37.167 --> 00:48:39.300
almost like it\'s built
into our genes
00:48:39.333 --> 00:48:42.767
to move closer to the campfire
or to the brightest city.
00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:47.933
- Light does facilitate
00:48:47.967 --> 00:48:52.033
social interaction
on a massive scale.
00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:57.900
- The twinkling of cities
at night always says to me,
00:48:57.933 --> 00:49:01.133
\"Look at us as a species,
you know.
00:49:01.167 --> 00:49:02.467
\"You\'ve seen anthills.
00:49:02.500 --> 00:49:05.800
\"You\'ve seen the nests
of bowerbirds.
00:49:05.833 --> 00:49:07.500
This is what we do.\"
00:49:09.667 --> 00:49:11.800
- You could think of our era
as the one in which
00:49:11.833 --> 00:49:14.467
the stars disappeared
from the sky
00:49:14.500 --> 00:49:18.467
and reappeared
in our city skylines,
00:49:18.500 --> 00:49:20.200
which could help explain why
00:49:20.233 --> 00:49:22.700
I began to feel
a kind of affection
00:49:22.733 --> 00:49:25.700
for the way the city
used light as art,
00:49:25.733 --> 00:49:29.067
as celebration, as tribute.
00:49:34.067 --> 00:49:36.700
But at this point,
I also saw the birds
00:49:36.733 --> 00:49:39.267
flickering and lost
in the city lights
00:49:39.300 --> 00:49:42.800
and the streetlight
pouring in my bedroom window.
00:49:44.567 --> 00:49:48.900
Though we might love the light,
we might also need the dark.
00:49:52.100 --> 00:49:56.433
- An important part of our work
and my work
00:49:56.467 --> 00:50:00.700
is to explain
and convince my clients
00:50:00.733 --> 00:50:03.200
that they don\'t need
so much light.
00:50:03.233 --> 00:50:07.533
They need light
where it\'s required
00:50:07.567 --> 00:50:10.533
but not in a very uniform way,
00:50:10.567 --> 00:50:12.833
not diffused all over the place.
00:50:15.367 --> 00:50:18.667
When you have a very diffuse
light, you have great
00:50:18.700 --> 00:50:20.167
you have a lot of glare.
00:50:20.200 --> 00:50:21.500
And you look here.
00:50:21.533 --> 00:50:23.333
You have no idea that
you have a sky behind you.
00:50:23.367 --> 00:50:24.500
You see the glare.
00:50:24.533 --> 00:50:25.833
You have no idea where you are.
00:50:25.867 --> 00:50:28.500
You could be anywhere.
00:50:28.533 --> 00:50:30.500
So it\'s still
under construction here.
00:50:30.533 --> 00:50:33.167
It\'s not finished yet.
00:50:33.200 --> 00:50:35.833
- When Hervé Descottes
designed the lights
00:50:35.867 --> 00:50:40.000
for New York\'s newest park,
the High Line in Manhattan,
00:50:40.033 --> 00:50:43.167
he designed them
with the night in mind.
00:50:43.200 --> 00:50:47.000
- You can see, the light
is completely hidden here.
00:50:47.033 --> 00:50:49.667
It\'s underneath here.
00:50:49.700 --> 00:50:52.333
So you don\'t see
the light source.
00:50:52.367 --> 00:50:55.033
And look at the effect.
00:51:01.800 --> 00:51:04.933
Try to imagine
a different type of city light.
00:51:04.967 --> 00:51:09.933
How could we light our city
in a more careful way,
00:51:09.967 --> 00:51:14.767
where you feel safe,
where you find your direction?
00:51:14.800 --> 00:51:16.600
It\'s where you can escape
00:51:16.633 --> 00:51:19.267
and be connected
to a darker sky.
00:51:24.500 --> 00:51:28.200
- The thing that makes me
optimistic about light pollution
00:51:28.233 --> 00:51:30.833
is that it\'s
a win-win situation.
00:51:30.867 --> 00:51:33.533
Reducing light pollution
hurts virtually no one,
00:51:33.567 --> 00:51:34.600
and it saves money.
00:51:36.567 --> 00:51:38.933
- Reducing light pollution,
it turns out,
00:51:38.967 --> 00:51:40.833
a matter of design.
00:51:40.867 --> 00:51:42.367
On many lights,
00:51:42.400 --> 00:51:44.867
the light doesn\'t go down,
where it\'s needed.
00:51:44.900 --> 00:51:47.333
It actually goes up.
00:51:47.367 --> 00:51:49.767
As much as half
of what we see from space
00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:51.567
is wasted light.
00:51:55.133 --> 00:51:57.867
Partly because wasted light
costs the country
00:51:57.900 --> 00:52:01.367
an estimated $1.5 billion
every year,
00:52:01.400 --> 00:52:03.867
engineers are designing
full cutoff lights
00:52:03.900 --> 00:52:05.733
that direct light only downward.
00:52:05.767 --> 00:52:08.767
And many communities
across the country,
00:52:08.800 --> 00:52:11.767
including one just up the road
from my childhood home,
00:52:11.800 --> 00:52:15.733
are enacting new ordinances
that restrict wasteful light.
00:52:21.867 --> 00:52:24.067
[seagulls screeching]
00:52:27.733 --> 00:52:31.033
- We\'re now a week away
from the November 4th election,
00:52:31.067 --> 00:52:32.700
a big election for many,
many reasons.
00:52:32.733 --> 00:52:34.867
Here on Mount Desert Island,
00:52:34.900 --> 00:52:37.867
a lighting ordinance
is up for ratification
00:52:37.900 --> 00:52:40.033
by the town of Bar Harbor,
00:52:40.067 --> 00:52:42.733
and we\'re hopeful
that it will pass.
00:52:45.967 --> 00:52:49.200
- This is considered
one of the last remaining
00:52:49.233 --> 00:52:52.533
pristine dark night skies
on the East Coast.
00:52:52.567 --> 00:52:55.533
There definitely is a sense
of urgency in this area.
00:52:55.567 --> 00:52:58.367
Folks are seeing
the big-box stores arrive
00:52:58.400 --> 00:53:02.467
along with big lights
in the parking lots and so on.
00:53:12.133 --> 00:53:15.100
- I went out
to different neighborhoods.
00:53:15.133 --> 00:53:17.100
I\'d say, \"Okay,
why do you live here?
00:53:17.133 --> 00:53:20.600
And what\'s so great about living
in this part of Bar Harbor?\"
00:53:20.633 --> 00:53:23.933
And they all said,
\"We love our night sky.
00:53:23.967 --> 00:53:26.967
We love going out at night
and looking up.\"
00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:30.467
It really boils down to,
00:53:30.500 --> 00:53:33.600
you know, only put light
where you need it.
00:53:36.900 --> 00:53:39.833
- Bar Harbor passed
its lighting ordinance,
00:53:39.867 --> 00:53:44.133
and back at my family\'s house,
we followed suit.
00:53:44.167 --> 00:53:46.400
[wrench clicking]
00:53:48.633 --> 00:53:50.167
Our new light
would save us money
00:53:50.200 --> 00:53:51.667
on the electricity bill,
00:53:51.700 --> 00:53:55.533
but it was harder to quantify
all that we gained
00:53:55.567 --> 00:53:57.233
as the stars came back...
00:54:05.900 --> 00:54:07.633
Perhaps the night sky
00:54:07.667 --> 00:54:10.200
and whatever stars
we are lucky enough to see
00:54:10.233 --> 00:54:13.167
help us reorient,
00:54:13.200 --> 00:54:15.367
help restore something in us
00:54:15.400 --> 00:54:17.767
that is lost under city lights.
00:54:28.633 --> 00:54:31.267
- We have lived under the stars
00:54:31.300 --> 00:54:35.933
for the vast majority
of our experience.
00:54:35.967 --> 00:54:38.100
Go back the last million years.
00:54:38.133 --> 00:54:42.200
How much of that time
have we been inside
00:54:42.233 --> 00:54:44.867
in air-conditioned,
heated,
00:54:44.900 --> 00:54:48.000
hermetically sealed
little boxes?
00:54:48.033 --> 00:54:49.833
It\'s very recent.
00:54:52.367 --> 00:54:56.000
So naturally,
there\'s a kind of dislocation.
00:54:56.033 --> 00:54:59.500
You know, it seems to be
that there\'s this desire
00:54:59.533 --> 00:55:03.067
to know what the universe
is like.
00:55:03.100 --> 00:55:06.400
You know, this is the mystery
that we were all born into.
00:55:14.067 --> 00:55:17.067
- You could live your life
at home, never looking up.
00:55:17.100 --> 00:55:18.433
You know what\'ll happen?
00:55:18.467 --> 00:55:20.500
You\'ll start thinking
of your own environment
00:55:20.533 --> 00:55:22.033
as all there is.
00:55:22.067 --> 00:55:25.533
And if that\'s how you think
about where you are,
00:55:25.567 --> 00:55:31.867
then it rises to an artificial
level of importance to you.
00:55:31.900 --> 00:55:33.533
Whereas when you look
at the night sky,
00:55:33.567 --> 00:55:37.533
and you realize how small we are
within the cosmos,
00:55:37.567 --> 00:55:42.300
it\'s kind of
a resetting of your ego.
00:55:49.800 --> 00:55:53.267
- The reason to be able
to see the night sky
00:55:53.300 --> 00:55:54.667
is really in the end,
00:55:54.700 --> 00:55:59.467
I think it\'s more spiritual
than practical.
00:55:59.500 --> 00:56:03.033
- Imagining how far away
the stars are
00:56:03.067 --> 00:56:05.033
and grasping that.
00:56:05.067 --> 00:56:07.200
And what is coming of age
00:56:07.233 --> 00:56:10.900
but realizing that you\'re not
the center of the universe?
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 58 minutes
Date: 2012
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 7-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Existing customers, please log in to view this film.
New to Docuseek? Register to request a quote.
Related Films
The Sun Dagger
The City Dark (83 minute version)
The definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.
