美國紐約時代廣場的新年倒數活動，晚間6點在時代廣場大廈頂樓新年除夕綵球升起和照射下正式展開。為了紀念100週年的水晶球慶祝活動，今年主辦單位特別打造了一顆全新的節能水晶球，並在午夜新年交際的鐘聲之下緩緩落下。
這顆會發光的水晶球由9576個節能燈泡所組成，所需要的電力約等於一個廚房火爐所耗費的能源。
發明LED發光二極體的飛利浦半導體公司表示，比起去年由600個日光鹵素燈泡混製而成的水晶球，今年的水晶球亮度多上兩倍。這顆新型水晶球表面所安裝的672片水晶三角版，經過特定的排列後能夠折射出超過1600萬種顏色。
The New Year's countdown celebration in New York's Times Square, begins at 6 o'clock with the lighting and raising of the New Year's Eve Ball atop One Times Square. A new, energy-efficient ball has been created to mark the 100th anniversary of the ball lowering celebration. The ball will descend at the stroke of midnight and ring in the New Year.
The new ball is lighted with 9,576 energy-efficient bulbs that use about the same amount of electricity as it takes to power a single kitchen oven.
Philips Lighting, which created the light-emitting diodes, or LED bulbs, for the event, says they are more than twice as bright as the lights on last year's ball, which were a mix of more than 600 incandescent and halogen bulbs.
The new lights can create more than 16 million colors against 672 Waterford crystal triangles arrayed in stylized, radiating sunbursts that cover the ball's surface.
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
