Light bulb that lasts for 36 years

One of the traditional 'men's jobs' around the home has always been standing on a chair and unscrewing old light bulbs and replacing them with fresh ones.

But new technology from Samsung might make the chore a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Samsung's new range of LED bulbs have a lifespan of 40,000 hours - 40 times a standard incandescent bulb. The company calculates that with normal use, the bulbs should last for 36 years.

'Samsung is now using it's expertise in digital electronics to revolutionize the lighting industry,' says the company.

Samsung is a world leader in 'LED' TVs - actually LCD panels which are lit by a panel of LEDs behind the screen. LED lights are becoming increasingly common, and generally offer a fairly long lifespan, but even so, 36 years is something of an eye-opener.

The downside is that the bulbs aren't cheap. A basic model will set you back $19 - the bulbs are US-only at present - and larger, brighter models are priced up to $70.

But even LED bulbs could soon seem old hat. An American company, Eden Park, is researching an entirely new, 'plasma lighting' technology, which creates light from a paper thin layer of plasma between two sheets of aluminum foil.