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There have been many studies that show that nightshift
work
is hard on the body and soul, causing depression exhaustion
and even high blood pressure. Nightshift house aims to
change
all that by creating a community of nightworkers in a
building
with technical innovations to make night work
more
pleasant.
The tower's amenities include:
- bars, dance clubs, and movies offered at after work hours
(ie. 6-10 am)
- night swimming and exercising in gym with simulated
daylight
- windows equipped to block all sunlight during the day or
simulate sunlight at night. (you can set the rooms in your
window to "rise" and "set" as needed)
- simulated skylights (lit only at night) to give building
cheerful
daytime feel at night.
- sound insulation to block out daytime noises at night
- televisions with delayed programming so morning shows
come
on when you're waking up!
In addition to this you'll be living in a a place filled with
others
like you, so each morning(night) there will be the happy
bustle of people going off to work in the lobby, you'll make
more friends and have a greater sense of community.
In the evenings come and sit in the bar and enjoy a drink as
the "sunlight" dwindles then watch the 11:oo news and go
to
bed, in your perfectly dark room.
Nightshift Towers
"seize the night!"
Orwell's Nightshift Tower?
http://www.spy.org.uk/1984.htm [BartJan, Jul 13 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Jet lag remedy 1
http://www.sciencem...t/full/279/5349/333 This article from Science Magazine discusses the science behind the jet lag remedy using a flashlight on the back of the knee. It requires a free registration for access. [beauxeault, Jul 13 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Jet lag remedy 2
http://www.sciencem...t/full/279/5349/396 This Science Magazine article describes the actual experiments done with flashlights on the back of the knee. It also requires registration, but it contains information you'll need if you want to try this yourself. [beauxeault, Jul 13 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]
(?) Jet lag remedy 3
http://www.al.com/n...000/2-xjetlag0.html This article requires no registration and at least shows that I'm not the only idiot to get results with this method. [beauxeault, Jul 13 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]
city that never sleeps
http://www.halfbake...at_20never_20sleeps [LoriZ, Jul 13 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]
[link]
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Wouldn't these "towers" be better placed undergound? |
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I worked night shift over summers in college. I would have killed for such a place. Croissant for you. |
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It could be a pain when you leave though... |
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UnaBubba: Would make a hell of a commute from halfway around the world. |
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I'd have loved a place like this...Would be nice to have a building set aside in an apartment complex for people who work nights, so you don't get idiots with loud radios or loud children when you're trying to sleep... |
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I always have been and likely always will be a night owl. I go to bed when the sun rises, sleep 5 hours and back to it. Beyond that, my ears are quite sensitive in the morning to noises which - in my case, cause tinnitus. When out and about in the evening I have the good fortune of music in my head pop in and then mentally create some hard bopping jazz, which I would love to play on arrival home. However, I've got neighbors - so that just kills it. Have another croissant. As for time zone I should be in... looking forward to retiring in New Zealand so I can see the days unfold and the sunsets over the majestic beauty of the South Island. |
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I've never seen an attempt to do this; so, I'm all in favor. Croissant and sound of coffee brewing for you! |
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why are there still jobs to do at night? |
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policeman, night watchmen, steel workers (it would be
too expensive to heat up the crucible every day), any 24
hour store needs night shifters ... am I missing the point
of your question? |
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futurebird, you forgot doctors, nurses, detox workers, trash collectors, street cleaners, office cleaners, electrical utilities workers, firefighters, customs agents, airport workers, etc. it's amazing how many people take for granted the people who work hard to give them their easy, comfortable, problem-free lives. |
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Isn't this how the division between the Eloi and the Morlocks started? |
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Lots of rich upper class people do night work too. I bet
my brother (consultant) would live here. He makes like
150k too... but he has to work all night for weeks on end
to meet the random whims of his clients. People with
erratic schedule could use the night features when
they're working late and turn to the "day light word" on
other days. |
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So I don't envision this being a socioeconomic divide
thing... ther'd be apartments of all sizes with varying rents
so as to attract a nice politically correct collection of
people from all classes. |
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Also I think insomniacs (like my self, I get 5 hours on a
good night) might come here. I feel much better in the
summer when days are longer but I'd really like it if sunset
could be at 1:30a. With my sunset ajusto-window I could
have that .... oh how I love vitamin D! |
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well, I see two ideas here: |
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1. A community with time-shifted activities (clubs, bars, etc. at different hours) |
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2. A community with no noisy hours (so you can sleep whenever you want). |
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#2 would be useful for people who keep irregular schedules or need to work late occasionally. #1 is, I think, the more original and interesting idea, and would only be useful for people who are always on the night schedule. |
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I do like the idea very much, but like RobertKidney mentioned earlier, there will allways be a problem either entering the Nightshift Towers or leaving them. At that point you enter a world that has is own opposite rythm, and it will take you some time to adapt, if you will adapt at all (depending on the time you stay there). So how to deal with that? |
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The adaptation to which you refer is the same thing as jet lag. I've had good results in the past with a diet that for me, at least, eliminates jet lag. But the diet lasts four days prior to the trip and is a real pain. More recently, I've had surprisingly good success with a technique that involves shining a flashlight on the back of your knee while you sleep the night before you travel (at least for west-east travel; for east-west, the timing is different). I know this sounds preposterous, but I'll post links to the scientific studies that form the basis for it if I can find them. |
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Let me see if I have this straight: we take the guys who used to work nights and put them in an environment where they work "days", then take the guys who used to work days and put them in an environment where they work "nights". What have we gained here? |
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waugs, I wonder that about a lot of things (licking hallucinogenic toads, for instance). Actually, one of the articles does imply the reasoning: Early tests with light exposure used lights in the eyes, and concluded that the important reaction was not in the optical receptors but in the blood. Since it is important to get exposure near your point of deepest sleep, a light in your eyes or face is not convenient. But major arteries (or veins?) run close to the skin at the back of the knee, where exposure can occur without preventing sleep. |
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I think this is a great idea. Most people who work night a swap shift do so because if they work nights they can't go out... it there were alternate facilities people working nights would probably not mind working nights all the time. Well done, bread thingy on it's way. |
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chipm: I think the idea is that the people who work day shifts now stay in the normal-phase parts of the city. That way, everyone is working "day" shifts, even those people who are awake when the sun is down. |
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Interesting idea. The main problems I see with this are: 1) the cost of technology (at least at the moment) for decent "indoor sunlight" and darkness in daytime would be prohibitively expensive for shift-workers who usually don't work nights because they have heaps of spare money and it's a good job (sorry futurebird); and 2) the unfortunate side-effect of insulating the nightshift tower people from the rest of human existence by deliberately and fully reversing day/night. We could start getting a Wells-Time-Machine-esque societal division (thanks francois). On the other hand, for Morl... night-workers themselves, it could be a very good thing... |
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Full-spectrum fluorescents are more expensive than normal ones, but only once; and 'full darkness' is simple to do, just tinfoil on the windows if you don't want to paint them black. Many of us who (in my case, used to) live in the dark do that. |
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Croissant, by virtue of the fact it's 2am and I'm in a computer room lit by (non-full-spectrum) flourescent lights with a can machine being the sole amenity. The realisation that things could be so much *better*. |
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i've done the midnight and evening shifts before and . . . this is brilliant! very nice! |
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Hung over for the nightshift!? |
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I hate to mix things up but life helps. With the control of days and nights couldn't you slow time in a realitive sense by creating longer days/nights than the Earths 24 hrs? Could this help space travel go faster by slowing time? please reply. this is my first halfbaked idea. |
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This place would attract geeks by
the truck load. LAN parties, Table
top RPGs and LARPs are only a few
things that come to mind. + |
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apart from being baked, one of the thing about night shift workers is that their cheap labour. building all that crap would cost a fortune. |
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//morning shows come on when you're waking up//
So you sleep here? Sounds great! + |
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Bun, for the whole idea. But especially the last line. |
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Darn! dbmag9 beat me to it! |
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//one of the thing about night shift workers is that their cheap labour// |
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where'd you get that idea from? |
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This sounds like a great idea, you might even be able to have a hotel-like "jetlag reduction" service in which over the period of a couple of days the time cycle ajusts to local time for travelers BUN! |
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No no no! Leave the dark/light
cycle alone. Sunrise is what
makes me sleepy. If you swap
them around, I'll only end up
waking up at "real" dawn again. |
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If people stayed in their jobs as long as they stayed in their residences this would have been baked already. A valient and bunworthy plan. |
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...such sheltered lives people live, who would say things like |
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/why are there still jobs to do at night?/ |
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/one of the thing about night shift workers is that their cheap labour/ |
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Jesus, most factories, refineries, mines, shipyards, fabricators, hospitals, Law enforcement units, and many other industries run 24 hour operation. I mean, we pay our guys 25% extra to work nights. Over $100k per year is anything but cheap labour... |
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BTW bun for the idea, I think it's great. |
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please please please open one in LA. |
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Build 50 of 'em and run half an economy at night to lower stress on emergency services, roads, and utilities. |
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//The main problems I see with this are: 1) the cost
of technology (at least at the moment) for decent
"indoor sunlight"// |
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..and technology provides, a mere 12 years after the
original comment and we now have LEDs to provide
any amount or flavour of light you could want. |
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^and yet, if you really want sun-like-light you still have to buy tungsten incandescent bulbs. Nothing else will suffice for a light junkie. LEDs aren't really there yet. |
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I worked nights for three years straight. I had to
maintain my sleep schedule on my days off and
even on holidays. So I agree strongly that the
towers should have nightclubs. For three years I
never once went out for beers after work. People
thought me strange for drinking at 9 a.m.! Great
Idea! |
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I disagree strongly with DIY Matt about LED
technology. I installed them everywhere, even in
my silverware drawers. |
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//even in my silverware drawers// |
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Do you jingle when you tinkle ? |
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[eyes to the floor, slightly embarrassed] "yes" |
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[futurebird], hugs. Where is that woman? |
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^<pictures a woman off somewhere momentarily puzzled at receiving a mental embrace accompanied by an odor of fresh pastry> |
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Having worked nights, this is one of my favorite ideas: bacon & eggs at 8pm and a beer at 8am. |
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... and the "tower" could be sunk into the ground for a HVAC expenditure of almost nothing, no matter where on the planet it is. |
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