Things You Can Do With A Giant Fresnel Lens

Ant writes "Here is a link where this guy always wanted Edmund Scientific's Giant Fresnel Lens. 'Melts asphalt in seconds!' the ad said. When he went to graduate school he met several other people with the same enthusiasm for aimless destruction through bizarre means, and just enough combined cash to make it happen. Thus the reign of terror began."

Comments

Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu

[Anonymous Coward]

Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu :chiyo:

EEK!

[intekra]

Lets hope this doesn't get into the wrong hands! This can be worse than WMD's!

Re:EEK!

[Dizzle]

It already is because this actually exists.

Re:EEK!

[OrthodonticJake]

I know; I just finished with the AP Physics B test, and I thought I was rid of specific heats forever. Why, God?? Why won't they die?

Re:EEK!

[mrchaotica]

because you haven't used the lens on them yet!

Burnination

[OneFootIn]

And to think, when I was a kid I had to settle for burning ants with a magnifying glass.

Re:Burnination

[edoc]

This is what happens when you don't grow out of those times! On a positive note at least you have some change of getting laid.

Re:Burnination

[bergeron76]

Heh! When I was in High-school we took things a step farther by taking Mr. Bouknecht's overhead projector lens out of the housing. [I'm quite certain] it's a true Fresnel Lens - but the point is that it was like a magnifying glass on steroids. We had to be careful just walking out into the parking lot with it because if it caught a friends leg and the sun at the right angle, they'd be in a world of hurt.

Aaahh, fun times being a juvenille. My advice to the next generation though - be as mischievious as normal, but don't do anything stupid or anything that will get you thrown in jail. Be intelligent with your "inevitable" delinquency [you call it rebellion] - we've all been there - however don't get anyone hurt or needlessly damage property.

Life is much more exciting as an experienced adult making thousands of dollars a month. Trust me on this one all you guys. Science is fun, but it can also be very dangerous... Be safe - because if you go to jail or die, the guy you hate will likely reproduce and you never will. And that would suck.

Re:Burnination

[Tablizer]

when I was a kid I had to settle for burning an ant

Now you can burn like......two ants!

Re:Burnination

[Skjellifetti]

Science is fun, but it can also be very dangerous... Be safe

My father once caught me making gunpowder using a chem lab kit he'd bought me and an old mortar I'd found in the garage. His first reaction was "Idiot kid!" Then it was "Oh, wait, that's what I used that mortar for when I was a kid. Let me show you how to do it safely." Basically wet the ingredients down so it doesn't accidentally catch fire while you are grinding it. I suspect he'd learned that one the hard way. I'm big on the safety angle with my kids now, too. In my case its a result of an experiment with some gasoline and an Estes rocket engine when I was a teenager.

Re:Burnination

[Thing 1]

[...] however don't get anyone hurt or needlessly damage property.

I'd love to see the attempt at explaining to the cops how you needfully damaged that property...

Ants

[eightball01]

Now the ants really don't stand a chance!!!

Re:Ants

[wankledot]

Even ants the size of horses.

Re:Ants

[antdude]

DOH! :(

Re:Ants

[servognome]

I for one pity our ant overlords.

Re:Ants

[madbastd]

Ants? I'm more worried about the humans.

Re:Ants

[drinkypoo]

Well you know what they say, you're either part of the solvent, or part of the solute. (Actually, I think it was part of the solution, or part of the precipitate, but I think it's equally valid either way. Perhaps moreso my way.)

Re:Ants

[zcat_NZ]

"If you're not part of the solution, your're part of the precipitate" .. the usual non-chemist version is s/precipitate/problem

Terrorism...

[Mz6]

I wonder what his Terrorist Quotient is?.

A use for AOL CD's

[ErichTheWebGuy]

A friend and I were discussing what to do with all of our AOL CD's. We both came up with the idea that you could make a similar device out of them.

Welcome! You've got fire!

Re:A use for AOL CD's

[clone22]

I entered that idea in a contest a couple of years ago, but the lamp won.

Since each CD is an individual reflector you can mount each one independently on a flat surface with a wedge or two to direct light to the focal point.

All we need now are...

[Fiz Ocelot]

Sharks with...giant Frensel Lenses attached to their heads!

Giant Fresnel Lens ...

[john82]

Meet Brood X of the 17-year Periodical Cicada.

Snap! crackle! pop!

Why waste such a monster on mere ants. I realize there are some of you out who would think of a certain movie and popcorn (lots of popcorn), but you've got to agree this is more unique.

Re:Giant Fresnel Lens ...

[NewtonsLaw]

but you've got to agree this is more unique

Important note from the grammar police...

The phrase "more unique" has recently been replaced by the more concise term "uniquer".

Similarly, the phrase "most unique" is now "uniquest"

Check out the difference between absolute and relative terms :-)

If only I had this as a kid

[Anonymous Coward]

This is just like the magnifying glass and ant game only this scales up to poodle sizes. Oh well. If I ever have a son...

Oh great

[iminplaya]

Now the Dept. of Homeland Security is going to order various municipalities to block the sun.

If you like burning up stuff with a lens...

[PissingInTheWind]

you'll love this flash game: Ant City

Would this be possible?

[Fiz Ocelot]

Would it be possible to build a giant one, say 100 square feet, and focus it into a fiber optic type of cable, essentially using it for a cutting laser?

Or what if you had a few massive ones in space, could you focus enough energy for use in a fusion reactor? You'd amplify all of that free energy and I don't really know what I'm talking about. Perhaps you could attach it to a shark's head.

Hmm, The Ant Equivalent

[Danny Dale the Not-S]

of a Nuclear Bomb.

Imagine kicking over an ant hill, then frying thousands of the little fuckers with each sweep of the beam when they come pouring out. Considering you can melt nickels and cut soda cans in half with this thing, it's possible you can actually [i]glass[/i] that anthill!

Just make sure it's fire ants. Those bastards deserve it...

And remember

[Flower]

Do not taunt giant Fresnel lens.

Avoid antabuse at all costs

[plover]

A buddy who was in the army was busted for showing up drunk, and they made him take antabuse. According to him, when you're taking it drinking even the smallest amount of alcohol makes you puke puke puke.

Re:Mindless

[mlh1996]

But, onto the other point: many geeks like high amounts of kinetic energy. It's true. Often, this love tuns into the irrational lust for wanton destruction of random objects.

Which leads to my observation that, when presented with a large electromagnet, a REAL geek immediately constructs a railgun

I mean, really. Is there anything more beautifully destructive than a railgun?

So I'm reading this to my wife...

[jbellis]

... and I come to the $99 part. The first thing she says is, "You can't have one."

"But a professor," I try to explain...

"You can't have one."

Obligatory "Death Star" reference

[Cirrocco]

I can't believe, with all the talk of putting one in space, nobody has used the words "DEATH" and "STAR" just yet.

Glad I'm the first. I think.

O_o

[micronix1]

there goes my plastic army men collection

Re:Ideas

[Anonymous Coward]

I daresay this may be the long sought for absolutely sure method for permanently removing data from a hard drive in such a way that nobody, not even the NSA will be able to recover it.

That is, until they pull a Mr. Burns and block the sunlight over your house.

Re:Nice picture of a giant fresnel lens in action

[danharan]

Seeing as how the person who did this first works for SCO, should I be concerned if I want to copy his idea? :)

Though seeing as how he lets people use it at the burning man festival, he doesn't quite seem like the type to do that... sounds like a very neat guy.

Quotation

[HyperCash]

The Quotation at the bottom of /. after I read this article was:

"Is something VIOLENT going to happen to a GARBAGE CAN?"

I think there is more to that fortune program than is generaly acknowledged.

--HC

"found"

[Anonymous Coward]

"I found one of these at my school last year"

Heh heh, just like that car I found outside your house last summer.

Maybe this was the secret

[earthforce_1]

Behind the Strategic Defence Initiative missile shield. A giant magnifying glass in space, to burn incoming missiles, or enemy cities.

pfft

[ShadowRage]

I melted asphalt with good 'ol gasoline.

Re:I have one of these.

[ShaunC]

Is there anything else anyone thinks I should burn with it? it's in my garage.

That depends. Do you happen to live near Lindon, Utah?

Really genuis-like!

[Anonymous Coward]

More unique than an airbourne plasma laser and phase-conjugate mirror? Next you're going to be telling us you can drive a 10-inch spike through a board with your penis!

Welcome!

[scatter_gather]

Your'e on fire!

Re:Watch Your Eyes

[Tablizer]

I stqred at 1t qnd ny eyys wOR k jus t fiin .

Re:Mindless

[gr3g]

I don't know what you were doing in chemistry (probably wearing the proper equipment) but lye burns like all hell once it gets through the first couple layers of skin.