Prospect and refuge

Prospect and refuge

Following the lively debate last week about the pros and cons of street lighting, prospect, concealment, and entrapment provide a valuable framework for evaluation with the potential to shift us away from the relatively crude brightness measure.

My call for a more sensitive approach to street lighting was not meant to underplay the very real anxiety that four out of five women and two in five men feel about walking after dark. – Perceptions of personal safety and experiences of harassment, Great Britain: 16 February to 13 March 2022

Olympic athlete Chris Boardman MBE offers tips for men in the Guardian: give a woman space, avoid making comments even complimentary, talk to sons and friends about the issue and challenge harassment whenever and wherever you see it – as simple as standing between her and the harasser. – Calling all men: this is what we can do to help women feel safe exercising in the dark

A practical gift to help the older person in your life feel a bit brighter? a lightbulb!

Looking for something practical to brighten up a loved ones’ day over the holidays? a lightbulb might do the trick! This simple study with 21 older adults over 18 days found that a bright cool (500 lux / 6,500k) blue-enhanced light source during the day shifting to a dim warm (100lux, 2,700k) in the evening was enough to boost mood and cognitive function. The bright to dim shift worked but adding the colour temperature shift was significantly better. – Lighting up living spaces to improve mood and cognitive performance in older adults.

Flashing light and language…

As a proud Aunt – and recent Great-Aunt! – I’m wondering what to buy the young people in my life for Christmas. Those cute flashing toys that catch their eye turn out to be bad for their verbal skills as this report explains. – Association of the Type of Toy Used During Play With the Quantity and Quality of Parent-Infant Communication

That doesn’t mean bland. This paper gives a great overview of how the visual system changes in those critical early years and what that means for the kinds of toys that will help them to see more clearly. – Infant vision development: Helping babies see their bright futures!