Like with many things in life, you can never ride the same Santa sleigh twice. Every holiday season the elves roaming labs and corridors at GE Global Research (GRC) trick out Santa’s ride with their latest technology. The need for their skills has never been more urgent than this December, with the planet’s human population above 7 billion and rocketing higher. How Santa pleaded with the elves to make him fly faster, smoother and increase his range!

Urban Matter Inc. has just completed installing noise interactive LED lights on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway pedestrian pathway. The lights are lit up by the New York City Department of Transportation and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership switched on the lights, a new public art installation located underneath the expressway, according to an Inhabitant report.

In order to reduce its carbon footprint, the historical Hotel Adlon Kempinski chose GE Lighting's retrofit LED lamps to replace its current inefficient halogen lighting in its 382 suites and guest rooms.

With the start of the Illuminade walking route, Amsterdam Light Festival 2013/2014 is now complete. Enjoy the many light artworks along this special walking route in the historic Plantagebuurt.

Acuity Brands, Inc. introduces technologically advanced Mongoose® LED Roadway and Area Lighting luminaires from Holophane® . The new LED luminaires significantly reduce energy and maintenance costs while providing a bright white light for improved visibility. The fixtures, named a 2013 IES Progress Report Selection, reduce energy expenses and CO2 emissions by up to 60 percent, and maintenance costs by more than 50 percent for new and retrofit applications.

Barcelona-based window display designer Lisardo Mendo, who has been designing windows for 30 years offers retailers advice on making great window display lightings in a recent GE Lighting Europe blog entry. Mendo has created window displays for prestigious brands including Levi’s, Dockers, Tommy Hilfger, Nike, Montblanc and others. Below is the full GE Lighting Europe blog entry:

The GER MOOD SWEATER  interprets emotions and displays mood instantly as an interactive light display.

Supertex, manufacturer in high voltage analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (ICs),  introduced PS30, a constant frequency (67kHz), constant duty cycle LED driver optimized for dimmable off-line LED bulb/tube applications, providing high power factor correction (PFC). PS30 is intended to drive a single switch, single inductor power converter (flyback for isolated version and buck-boost for non-isolated version) directly from AC line, 110V or 220V, for power levels up to 20W. PS30DB1 demo board provides a 6.3W design solution, achieving 93% PFC and greater than 81% efficiency with +/-4% current accuracy. It can be modified for other power levels up to 20W.

Diodes Incorporated, global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality application specific standard products within the broad discrete, logic and analog semiconductor markets, today introduced the AP1694, an AC-DC controller providing a universal high-performance driver solution for a variety of mains-dimmable LED lamp designs. Suitable for both 120V and 230V AC inputs, while supporting non-isolated buck, buck-boost and isolated flyback topologies, this part enables between 10% and 50% reductions in total BOM costs.

The SmartCharge light bulb is the first of its kind. The bulb does not rely on grid power to light up, allow it to remain lit even during a power outage. With the use of the patent pending Grid & Switch Sensor technology, the bulb can be controlled through wall and lamp switches like a normal light bulb but can be turned on even without power.

German car manufacturer BMW gives an in depth video introduction on its latest LED laser lights in its concept car BMW i8. The car maker claims the new laser LED headlights high beam lights are capable of emitting lights at longer range of 600 meters compared to normal LED high beam’s 300 meters. The new technology is yet to proliferate, according to a article by CarScoop.

For its 100th birthday, Entergy Corporation and Entergy Arkansas, together donated $2M to illuminate three bridges in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a new LED lighting solution from Philips Color Kinetics.

Landmarks around the world were bathed in the South African colors last week to mourn the passing of Nelson Mandela. Countries lit up major buildings to pay tribute to this inspirational figure.

The innovative lamp series “Orbit” from Philips Co. has recently won the Bronze Award of Design for Asia Award (DFA) 2013. Designed with the oriental idea of the sky being circular, the endless round shape of the Orbit Series was created through use of new LED technology. When installed, the lamps look like luminous rings which provide pure lighting impressions by soft, bright light and dimmable luminance.

Can light travel at the speed of ambition? “Instantly!” is the answer at Mercedes-Benz of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, where Collection Auto Group, with help from GE, is realizing its dream of the ultimate automotive dealership—an all-LED lighting facility inside and out that drives the client experience beyond expectations.

Philips Lighting blogger Monique Cousineau publishes an interesting Christmas lights trivia article on the lighting giant’s website. How many questions can you get right? Below is the full blog entry:

For Walking Dead series fans, Larson Electronics lists down ten products that can help boost your chances of survival in case of a zombie apocalypse. 

Osram’s study proves positive effects of lighting on cognitive performance of students ZNL TransferZentrum für Neurowissenschaften und Lernen (Transfer Centre for Neuroscience and Learning) have conducted an investigation with lighting manufacturer Osram on students’ performances under different lighting conditions at two schools in Ulm, Germany between November 2011 and Feburary 2012. The aim of this investigation was to figure out whether lighting that simulates daylight could increase students’ concentration and cognitive performances. This anticipation has been positively proven. Students who had taken courses and tests in biologically optimised lighting classrooms performed better than students who were in ordinary lighting classrooms.

LED fixtures at Rio de Janeiro site will save half a million dollars in energy costs compared to fluorescent technology The modular headquarters of the Organizing Committee for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic and Paralympic Games is the first commercial building in Brazil to adopt GE Lighting’s Lumination™ ET Series Recessed LED Troffer, an ultra-thin fixture as thin as the width of a finger that brings modern styling to traditionally uninspired commercial ceiling spaces.

For those who want to make an original Christmas ornament this year, blogger craftycounterpart on Instructables website has unveiled the steps in making an awesome LED Death Star from Star Wars.

Xicato announced that it has expanded its Vibrant Series offerings to include both a 1300 lumen and 2000 lumen option alongside its 3000 lumen module. Introduced in July, the Vibrant Series has been quickly adopted by designers, merchandisers and brand managers to support their efforts to differentiate and create compelling experiences for customers.

Ledzworld announced a new LED lamp that makes traditional ceramic metal halide (CMH) bulbs a thing of the past. The perfect choice to replace outdated and inefficient CMH bulbs, Ledzworld’s Platinum LED PAR38 lamp is the industry’s first 2000 lumen, single source LED lamp without active cooling.

Checkers Industrial Safety Products announced the immediate availability of their new AID LIGHTS™ LED2250 Class I Beacons. With an ultra efficient power supply, these high intensity beacons produce more flashes per minute with less power draw, which minimizes maintenance and replacement costs. AID LIGHTS™ LED2250 Beacons quickly alert people of upcoming hazards to create a safer work environment for traffic safety, construction, mining, utilities, or in other hazardous or emergency areas.

The first downlight of GE’s Lumination™ LED Luminaires, the DI Series offers easy customization through an ideal ambient lighting solution for high-end retail, commercial office, and hospitality applications. Featuring the breakthrough design of GE Lighting’s Infusion™ technology, users can easily select their preferred lumen output and color temperature to illuminate key products or focal points with the simple switch of an LED module.

Xeleum Lighting announced the availability of its Cobalt Series high efficiency LED light fixtures. These fixtures provide more evenly distributed light and years of maintenance-free operation at less than half the energy cost of the fluorescent fixtures they are designed to replace. As with all Xeleum troffers, they meet the performance requirements the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) and are now included on the DLC Qualified Products List (QPL).

On December 5th, Philips Lighting gave a futuristic home lighting show titled “Light, Creating and Witnessing Touching Residences” at 800 Show in Shanghai, China. By working with three famous interior designers, Zhang Yi, Bill Yen and Ouyang Hui, Philips expressed how innovative lighting can change residential surroundings through multiple lighting designs. At the show, these designers shared their creation concepts with attendees through three show rooms that displayed minimal, fashionable and neoclassical styles respectively.

An ideal gift for skateboarders this Christmas might be additional LED light equipment from Third Kind. The lights come in a package with all the hardware into a kit that can be mounted in minutes, according to a Gizmag article. The package comes with a rechargeable battery pack mounts via the truck hardware, indicating skateboarders will not have to modify the board or worry about the pack from falling off. The skateboard light strips comes in a size of 51 cm (20-inches) and is stuck on the board like a sticker.

Inspired by a classic holiday poem, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” this year’s National Christmas Tree on display in front of the White House will feature GE’s new, energy smart® Sugar Plum light-emitting diode (LED) holiday lighting.

With 4Q coming to a close, this week has seen a substantial number of companies releasing their financial reports. Financial firms, such as UBS, have also released market forecasts for 2014.

A daily household object has taken on a new twist thanks to designers Idan Noyberg and Gal Bulka. They have designed a solar powered clothespin called Lightly which includes a small colored LEDs.