WEBVTT

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[car horn blares]

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[whistles blasting]

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[car horn honks]

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- What is it?

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This is November 25th.

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I can\'t even see one star.

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November 25th at 6:00
in the freezing cold.

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Is that a star?

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Oh, yeah.

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Oh, there\'s another.

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Two.

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Oh, now I\'m getting
now I\'m getting it.

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Six, sev or, no,
I already got that one, I think.

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Now, I can only see
about half of the sky

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\'cause of this building,

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so we\'ll assume
there\'s 12 stars.

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[mellow acoustic music]

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So I live in a city a big city

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with 8 million people

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and, on most nights,
only a few dozen stars.

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I\'d grown up spending much
of my childhood in rural Maine,

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small town, 4,000 people.

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At night, more stars
than I could count

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or even capture with my camera.

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- [singing]
Do-do, do-do

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Do-do, do-do

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Do, do...

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- I built my own telescope
out of an old cardboard tube,

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attended astronomy camp,

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and invented
my own constellations

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from the stars
above my parents\' old barn.

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I\'d never stopped to wonder

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what those dark, starry nights
meant to me.

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But when I moved to the city,

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I felt at once like I was
at the center of the world

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under all those lights

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and like I\'d left
something important behind,

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something I couldn\'t name.

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What do we lose
when we lose the night?

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- I don\'t know of a civilization

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that didn\'t have
some kind of mythology

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about the night sky.

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- Well, if you were near
the end of your life

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and you were looking back,

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surely, one of the things
you\'d ask yourself is,

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\"Did I see the world?\"

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And what\'s out there in the sky,
that\'s the ultimate horizon.

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That\'s as far as you can go.

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- I worry that our
lack of contact with the sky

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is doing something to us
that\'s very subtle.

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[ferry horn blaring]

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- A lot of people
don\'t know much about the sky

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\'cause there\'s all these
kinds of weird phenomena.

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That\'s why there
are so many UFOs around,

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\'cause there are a lot
of crazy people around too.

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But they see a light
moving around or a meteor

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they never seen a meteor

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they call it UFO, you know?

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In a sense, to them, it\'s a UFO,

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because they\'re not used
to looking at the sky,

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and if they do look at the sky
and do catch something,

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they don\'t understand
what it\'s all about

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most people, most people.

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But, you know,
Americans are not known

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for their knowledge, you know?

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- Professor Irving Robbins
is an astronomer

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who runs one of the last
remaining observatories

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in New York City.

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- Welcome to the College
of Staten Island,

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located on Staten Island,

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which is one
of the five boroughs

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of the city of New York.

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Of course, Staten Island
is in the United States

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on planet Earth, so welcome.

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[clanking and whirring]

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There she goes.

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I\'ve seen twice
the Milky Way in New York,

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when there was the blackouts.

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In 1966, I was in Brooklyn.

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I was working
in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

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Lights all went out,
and there I was;

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I could not believe the heavens.

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It was like on the deserts.

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I mean, all
the whole Northeast went out,

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and the sky was spectacular,
just beautiful.

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It was really beautiful.

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As you know, in New York,

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there is a light pollution
problem.

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We\'re limited to how far deep
in space we can go

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because of the light pollution.

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When you look at the sky,
the sky

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the light in the sky
really is the sum total

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of everything around you.

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It\'s like I have
a beautiful painting, right?

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Very nice, but now I come along
with an eraser,

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and I erase all of it
and just leave a few spots.

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That\'s what
light pollution does.

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- What astronomers call
light pollution

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occurs when lights
shining upward

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bounce off dust
and particulates in the air,

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causing the very sky to glow.

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To live in New York these days

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is to live under
a kind of illuminated tent.

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But it wasn\'t always.

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In the past, people used stars
to navigate the seas.

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Ancient constellations
like Orion the Hunter

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were later joined
by more modern inventions

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like compass and the telescope.

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On the Earth below,

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the only lights
for thousands of years

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were crude torches, campfires,
and candles.

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By the 17th and 18th centuries,

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oil lamps powered by whale oil
illuminated Manhattan.

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In the early 1800s,
gas lighting was introduced.

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And finally,
in the late 19th century,

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a new form of lighting emerged.

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- It has been said,
correctly, I think,

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that there is no better symbol

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of modern progress

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than the advent of electricity
in general

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but electric lighting
in particular.

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[doorbell ringing]

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- This doesn\'t bother me.

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Bothers a lot of people, though.

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Hey, you want to see the
I tell people you

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if you came into a light store
that looked like that,

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wouldn\'t you wonder, you know,

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what kind of place it is?

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[man speaking indistinctly]

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[door creaks open]

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About 75,000 lightbulbs
back here, approximately,

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different types.

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There was my father
who was in the business,

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and my grandfather
was also in the business,

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and he knew Edison.

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My grandfather was an inventor.

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So he, you know, was friendly
with Thomas Edison,

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and my grandfather was there
when things started.

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This one is an original
Edison lightbulb,

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and these still actually work.

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[electricity whirring faintly]

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1879 was the first lightbulb.

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More light.

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As you went up in generations,

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the brightness increased.

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They were trying to maximize
the amount of light.

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Self-ballasted
mercury vapor.

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Then they came out
with high-pressure sodium,

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which was a yellowish light,

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and that one
gets even brighter than this.

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And then they came out
with the metal halide.

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That\'s this.

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That one,
you could cook a meal on that.

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That\'s how hot this one gets.

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You look at this after,

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and you won\'t be able
to see for a while.

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[magnet clicks]

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Believe me, today I see stuff,

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new stuff that\'s coming out,
it\'s like, wow.

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- Today\'s lights
are capable of producing

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thousands more lumens

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than Edison\'s original
lightbulb.

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The mercury vapor light is
popular on barns and warehouses.

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The metal halide often
illuminates car dealerships.

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And high-pressure
sodium lights

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are found on cobra head
light fixtures

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all across the country.

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As electric lights grew brighter
and more numerous

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throughout the 20th century,

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the starlight
above America\'s cities

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tended to go the other way.

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- As I\'ve gotten older,

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I notice I have to go
farther and farther

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from wherever
there\'s any civilization

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in order to see the sky,
to be part of the universe.

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I began to do
all of my observing

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from down at Jones Beach,
which, in 1973,

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was still reasonably dark.

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Unfortunately, night no longer
comes to Jones Beach.

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We would use this area
right here

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and just unload our scopes,

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and this whole area
would be filled with scopes,

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and the phone is still there.

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I bet you can\'t find the number.

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Ah, yes. 785-9743.

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The number didn\'t change.

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[laughs]

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Pretty much, no matter
which side you went from,

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there were
telescopes everywhere.

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This now, there isn\'t even
a handle to get in here.

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I wonder what they do.

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We determined the length
of an asteroid from here.

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We measured some double stars
from here.

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Depending on the season
of the year,

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it might be Orion in the winter

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or Scorpius and Sagittarius
in the summer,

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with the Milky Way coming up
like the steam from the teapot.

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Great place to be.

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Already, Jupiter\'s coming out,

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biggest planet
in the solar system,

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second biggest object.

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That\'s just the teaser.

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It\'s so sad because
I know what\'s above me

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once it gets dark here.

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It just doesn\'t get dark
anymore.

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- Cities have always been

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kind of overburdened
with lights.

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I think you\'re allowed to have
some expectation, though,

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that when you leave the city

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ten miles, fifty miles,
a hundred miles

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that the sky should start
to come back to you.

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[indistinct speech on radio]

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[clanking]

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- Well, it\'s pretty dark.

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[muffled clanking]

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[camera clicks]

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[camera clicks]

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- I was born and raised
in the Bronx, New York,

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in an apartment complex

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prophetically called
the Skyview Apartments.

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And what happened
when I was nine

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was that first visit
to the Hayden Planetarium

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here in New York City.

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There you are in this room,
this odd-shaped room.

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It\'s round,
and it\'s got a round ceiling,

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and they turn off the lights.

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They even have permission
to turn off the exit lights,

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so it\'s comp you can\'t even see

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the hand in front of your face.

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And the stars come out,
and I was sure it was a hoax.

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I\'ve seen the night sky
from the Bronx.

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There\'s a dozen stars there,

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and there were way too many
stars in the Hayden Planetarium

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for me to believe it.

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And it would take several years
before I recognized that,

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in fact, this was an accurate
capturing of the night sky.

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And to this day,
I\'m on mountaintops,

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and I look up,

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and I say to my

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this is a sickeningly urban
thing to say,

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but I look up, and I say,

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\"Reminds me
of the Hayden Planetarium.\"

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[laughs]
You know...

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- You know, we\'re nothing
if we\'re not adaptive,

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and so as we adapt
to these deprivations

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of not seeing the sky,

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we create mechanisms
to mimic them.

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Who knows what
the ultimate effect will be?

00:14:42.800 --> 00:14:44.333
[plastic rattling]

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- What\'s happened
over my lifetime is that

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you have kind of a sprawl
with the city lights.

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[car horn honking]

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Perhaps in the old days,

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it was just homes
with streetlights,

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and now it\'s homes
near shopping malls,

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fully lit parking lots,

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each of which has its own lights

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spilling out
into the surrounding regions.

00:15:55.733 --> 00:15:59.000
- Our society is kind of
taking over the wilderness,

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but it\'s happening slowly,
and no one really notices it.

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Now the sky is just
impossibly bright.

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And so the astronomers

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have had to flee
the population centers

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and move to the desert
and island areas of the world.

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- We\'re right on the border

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between eastern Arizona
and New Mexico.

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- The closest grocery store
is a little over an hour,

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and that\'s in Douglas
on the border.

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This is one of the few regions

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that still has really good
dark skies.

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- The town of Sky Village
was created

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by a man named Jack Newton,

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one of my childhood heroes

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and widely considered to be

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one of the greatest
astrophotographers of our time.

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- We hunted diligently for
dark skies to find this site,

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the darkest spot
in southwestern U.S.,

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and that was Portal, Arizona.

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And then we were able
to collect 450 acres

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and set up the Arizona
Sky Village for astronomers,

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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?