Restoring Darkness

Rayan began a career in aircraft maintenance, but he went from aerospace to space - his interest in cosmology led to him creating Cosmic Tribe, making astronomy and space more accessible to a wider audience and thus spreading awareness of the problem of light pollution. Rayan talks with Michael and John about our lack of connection with the cosmos and the technical jargon and language barriers pre...

You can read Johan’s book, The Darkness Manifesto: How Light Pollution Threatens the Ancient Rhythms of Life which was just released in North America. Johan talks to Michael Colligan and John Bullock about the impact of light pollution on flora and fauna around the world, not to mention the impact on human health. Johan also points out that with the advent of artificial light at night, an apprecia...

It’s not too long ago that the Sun and Universe revolved around the Earth. That was the thinking until science and the arts began to see that the data just didn’t line up. Valerie reveals to us how knowledge gained in astronomy and cosmology influenced art and architecture. WATCH this episode, if you can. Having studied at the Universities of Bristol, Manchester and the Witwatersrand (South Africa...

Climate change. Air pollution. Plastics. Chemicals. Pollution is a challenge. How do we deal with light pollution? As Georgia says, “with the flick of a switch!” It’s that easy. But is light pollution yet seen as pollution? Georgia is doing her part as the Mayo Dark Sky Park Development Officer for the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service. And you’re invited to visit. As a mature student, G...

Camilla has an interesting way of looking at lighting design. Rather than a lighting designer, she calls herself a “darkness designer.” Camilla explains to Michael and John her philosophy on darkness, and how it is revealed with the use of light. Camilla leaves you with a little exercise on how to embrace darkness. Camilla has a bachelor’s degree in Design Culture and a master’s degree in Lighting...

In this special year-end episode, Michael and John discuss issues that have come up over the past year in the Darkness Restoration and Preservation movement. Have things improved? Are we getting there? 2023 is upon us, let’s get it done! 

Sabine is a full time Dark Sky Officer for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sternenpark Rhön. Sabine explains to Michael how she has become an expert on laws regarding light and light pollution. While she can’t issue tickets (yet), she can use her authority and expertise to improve bad light and advise on development plans. If you’re in lighting, listen to Sabine in this episode! Since childhood, S...

Michael Colligan was inspired to be a Dark Sky advocate by William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” The stars have inspired countless poets. Kerem considers the night to be a “realm” and he specializes in dark sky friendly lighting design for what he likes to call, “the urban and rural public realm.” Kerem Asfuroglu is the founder of Dark Source, a London-based lighting design studio dri...

Mark originally wanted to be a painter and painting to him was like subtracting light as paint is added to a white canvas. Conversely, in lighting, one is adding light to darkness. And this led Mark to understand you can’t talk about light without talking about darkness. Michael discusses with Mark how we have lost much of our understanding of the value of darkness as lights have gotten cheaper an...

Bernd is an astrophotographer based out of Cologne, Germany. Bernd tells Michael how hard it is to find dark skies for his astrophotography. Even driving 2 days from Cologne, he can’t find an ideal dark area to take pictures. Bernd has taken photos from high in the Austrian mountains, but the bright lights of the ski hill grooming machines moving up and down the hills is hard to avoid with his tim...

Wind turbines are a zero emissions solution to energy needs. But with solutions, new problems always arise. We’ve all seen the giant wind turbines towering into the sky and with any tower, there is a risk for air traffic. And how do we solve that problem? With lights. Sometimes blinking. And that has been a problem for residents in Germany who live near them. Thomas Herrholz and Dark Sky GmbH from...

Mark discusses with Michael, practicing mindfulness when under the night sky. He proposes that astronomy was the first science, out of necessity. The night sky is the only view that hasn’t changed and now a large portion of humans can’t even see it. Mark says, whatever your view - clouds, streetlights - just be in the moment and enjoy what you have. (But still, let’s eliminate light pollution!) Ma...

Michael and John discuss with Etta how to engage people with Dark Skies so as to bring them back. Etta is taking steps to do just that with her company, Visit Dark Skies, where you can immerse yourself into a true nature experience with her audio-guided stargazing. Etta Dannemann, Dipl.-Ing., has been in the lighting industry for 10 years before founding VISIT DARK SKIES GmbH, a company dedicated...

There’s air pollution, water pollution and noise pollution. Why hasn’t light pollution been recognised the same way? This is the question Michael Colligan and John Bullock tackle with Yana. Of course it takes awareness, but also commitment. And it just might be that the best way to get commitment is to get it in the books legally. It’s a complex problem that Yana is dedicated to studying, and mayb...

As you’ve heard on this podcast before, existing satellites are incapable of detecting the blue light of LED’s and thus produce incomplete imagery of light pollution. Ken explains to Michael how he and his colleagues are sending balloons almost 30 kilometers into the sky and beginning to map light pollution in a very unique way.  Ken Walczak is the Senior Manager of Far Horizons at the Adler Plane...

Michael discusses with Catherine Pérez Vega the question: Is light a pollutant? Catherine is researching the effects of artificial light on organisms and there is little doubt that it is. And there’s little doubt that it affects the organisms called humans, as well. Obviously modern society needs some artificial light at night, but all the other organisms don’t. As Catherine says, “how do we apply...

This special release of our series features Diane Knutson, a regional dark sky advocate / business owner turned Dark Sky International Board President. In this episode Greg Ehrich and Michael attempt to disentangle the need for jargon as a sales gimmick and the hurdle of hurdles jargon puts in the way of advocates and educators. Whether we end up calling what we do Night Sky Protection, Night Time...

Michael and John are thrilled to have Professor Foster on the podcast. He brings his deep scientific knowledge and understanding of circadian photobiology. Russell tells us about his discovery of the third photoreceptor in the eye for which he got a lot of pushback from the scientific community in the 90’s. They don’t push back anymore. Professor Foster is the Head of Oxford’s Nuffield Laboratory...

In this episode you get three unique perspectives on urban lighting. Co-host Michael Colligan in Canada, co-host John Bullock in the U.K and guest Kate Hickcox from The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They discuss the challenges of lighting populated areas. Will more light decrease crime? Will less light? Perhaps it has to do with the kind of lighting. Listen to this, then join the conversa...

As Bastian Groiss says, people see light as an enabler for vision. But light - sunlight in particular - is so much more. It triggers hormonal reactions, allows your immune system to recharge and gives the mitochondria the energy to repair your eyes. Of course healthy light during the day allows healthy darkness at night to do its thing. And stop wearing sunglasses! Bastian is of German origins wit...

John Bullock, guest co-host on this episode, asks the question, “How do we shift the argument so that we can start to talk about the reality of what we experience rather than the propaganda of what people tell us is a problem.” And from there, Michael, John and Nona discuss the history of street lighting, the unproven link between light and safety and the spiritual notion of light equaling safety....

Michael and Michael - or “Marlin” as he likes to be referred to - delve into the practical and spiritual aspects of restoring darkness. Practical, as in not running someone over because you can’t see them from the glare of car and street lights, and spiritual, as in seeing the stars and the Milky Way allowing us to connect with the universe and our ancestors. Michael Marlin (aka Marlin) has been a...

Here on Restoring Darkness, we’ve talked about the impact of light pollution, how to restore darkness, and now, in this episode, Michael discusses, with Dr. Stone, the ethical aspects of restoring darkness and maintaining lights at night. Dr. Taylor Stone is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Science and Ethics, University of Bonn. He studied architecture and worked in the environmenta...

In part 2 of this podcast (find part 1 here:  https://restoringdarkness.com/episodes/41-from-prison-yards-to-national-parks ), Michael and Tim continue their conversation. Tim gives his perspective on outdoor lighting and energy savings in Massachusetts while Michael does the same from his Ontario Canada perspective. Tim is the Vice President of the Massachusetts chapter of the International Dark-...

This one was so interesting, Michael let it go for an hour and 15 minutes. So we’ve broken it into 2 parts. In this, part 1, the conversation ranges from clean, affordable energy to controls to a popcorn analogy and the “windows effect.” Tim is the Observatory Manager and Technical Instructor at MIT's Wallace Astrophysical Observatory. Watch for Part 2, available soon. Connect with Tim: https://id...