Blue Light from LEDs Can Rot the Brains of Fruit Flies, Study Finds

The blue light that emanates from every smartphone and fluorescent bulb isn’t thought to be great for our health, particularly the health of our eyes. But a new study in fruit flies suggests that blue light can even be harmful to brains and speed up aging—again, in fruit flies. There’s a very long way to go before we could assume the same is true for people. Researchers at Oregon State University kept some adult flies in a cycle of 12 hours straight of blue light exposure, then darkness for the next 12 hours. These flies were compared to control groups of flies that either got total darkness for the entire day or were bathed in light that had the blue wavelengths blocked.