A closely related thing is happening in the Western Australian desert: http://www.quora.com/Australia/What-is-going-on-in-the-Western-Australian-desert-to-have-

A closely related thing is happening in the Western Australian desert: http://www.quora.com/Australia/What-is-going-on-in-the-Western-Australian-desert-to-have-all-these-lights-so-visible http://www.quora.com/Australia/What-is-going-on-in-the-Weste... Mining companies operate 24hrs a day with huge lighting rigs illuminating the pits. One of the motivating reasons for the automation work I did for Rio Tinto was that autonomous trucks can drive perfectly happily in the dark, saving a fortune in energy bills.