UV (which stands for Ultra Violet) is high energy and short wavelength electromagnetic radiation just past the violet end of the visible spectrum. UV is what gives you vitamin D and a tan… and a sunburn… and, well, skin cancer. It’s a case of a little being ok but too much being pretty bad. Like bacon.
You can do some things to reduce your UV exposure while still enjoying the nice weather (and getting that all-important vitamin D). Here are a few:
wear long sleeves,
wear a hat, and
use adequate strength sunscreen
You can get an idea of what to do by checking the UV forecast for your area. That will give you an indication of what the relative strength of the UV radiation will be. In the US, the EPA makes this information available online by zip code.
In this project, we use that to fetch current UV index data and display it on a PyPortal screen.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
