Blue Bulb Physics

[ptimmerm@mashtun.JPL.NASA.GOV]

I had a brain storm while lathering up in the shower last evening.
The talk about the blue bulbs being bogus, just filtering out light
to creat a fashion effect got my grey matter churning.  It is quite
possible that it is _not_bogus_, and is instead effective.  Here's the 
theory.

You may be able to control the emission spectrum of the lamp, and shift
the radiated light to a more desirable frequency, without losing the
precious candlepower.  I.E. you emit as much light, but at a freq. that the
Rods can more easily pick up.  Cones sense colour better, but are much
less sensative.  The light that hits the blue "filter" may not be absorbed, 
but may instead relected back into the bulb, where the photons are put back 
to work and subsequently re-emitted.  If you selectively recycle the "bad" 
frequencies into "good" frquencies, you don't lose those precious candlepower,
but you do control which discrete frequencies are eventually projected.  
Make any sense?

Paul Timmerman