Marshall Brain's Blog

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Here's one of those fun facts that gets revealed in a casual side-comment. The article discusses a system that pipes natural sunlight into the interior of buildings using fiber optics:

Fiber Optics Bring the Sun Indoors

Inside the article, one of the justifications used for installing such a system is this: "Citing research showing that sales increase by up to forty percent in stores with natural light from skylights..."

If that is true, then a) it would be fascinating to know why it happens, and b) it is surprising that more stores don't have skylights. Most of these big-box stores are single-story structures with flat roofs. It seems like it would be easy to add lots of skylights to a Wal-mart or a grocery store to increase sales.

Thinking that thought, I walked into a Home Depot about 2 hours later. I found that I had never noticed it before, but the ceiling is full of skylights. Hmmm... Did I buy more because of the skylights? If so, what is going on inside my brain that I am totally oblivious to?