Former NASA researcher Neil Yorio is exploring the cannabis market with his agricultural LED lighting company BIOS. Following in the footsteps of NASA scientist Carl Sagan, Yorio’s fascination with cannabis cultivation is growing. That’s one small step for man and a giant leap for the lighting industry.
Yorio serves as president of BIOS Lighting. “I was looking at using a plant based life support system for long duration missions into space,” Yorio told VICE Motherboard. Many of us have seen The Martian starring Matt Damon, and his battle to survive on the planet by building a self-sufficient potato farm. “I was involved in research at NASA, growing plants to keep people alive in that same scenario,” Yorio added.
Because NASA needs lightweight and effective lights, they turned to LED lighting. LED lighting eventually grew to becoming a normal product in cars, television and agriculture. Changing lighting algorithms and nutrients is a tricky business, however.
According to Yorio, high-pressure sodium lamps provide an enormous amount of light, that plants likely aren’t absorbing. The cannabis industry has caught on and is now aware of the benefits of LED lighting. You’re bound to spend less with an average of 40 percent on electricity. Plants only absorb the wavelength of light that is visible to the naked eye. You’ll spend a little more on your investment, but the lights will last up to 10 years.
Yorio’s research into LED lighting could impact the future of indoor cannabis grow operations. LED’s potential goes way beyond space exploration. “NASA invested a lot of time and money on these types of research projects to explore bioregenerative life support systems,” Yorio said in conclusion. “Now we, the people who were part of it, have the opportunity to build upon that base of knowledge that is directly applicable to indoor commercial crop production.”
“And cannabis is one of those many crops, just like lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.”
The post NASA Scientist Turns to Cannabis for Answers appeared first on Culture Magazine.