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This is pretty neat:

Authorities in the capital Reykjavik will turn off street lights on Thursday evening and people are also being encouraged to sit in their houses in the dark, writer Andri Snaer Magnason said on Wednesday.
While the lights are out, an astronomer will describe the night sky over national radio.

Iceland is a wee bit more homogeneous than the United States. What would happen if a smallish big city in the U.S. tried this? Well, a segment of the population would use the opportunity to riot and/or commit crimes. A few rednecks would spray spotlights into the night sky ("Ain't no fancy pant asstomer gonna talk to me 'bout stars"). The ACLU might find some sort of church-state violation. Libertarians might protest that government is now telling us how to use our free time. And a shocking number of Americans wouldn't have gotten the memo and wouldn't care if they did: they need to watch TV.

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