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Las Vegas Hotel Vdara an Accidental Death Ray
evanism writes "A hotel in Las Vegas is accidentally designed to be a massive parabolic dish that focuses the suns rays into a death ray! Burns hair, plastic and causes pain." It apparently lasts for several minutes during afternoons of bright sunlight, but if you need to perform science on it, you better hurry since they plan to ruin/fix it.
you better hurry since they plan to ruin/fix it.
Rather than paying the incredible expense of re-engineering the hotel's windows they should just rename. Simply change the stationary and signage to "L'Hotel du Auschwitz".
Hey, they could offer free tatoos, too. Tell people that they're lucky numbers.
Trolling is a art,
with large jar of mutant ants. Ooh crap. The jar is broken. The mutant ants are free! And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
They just haven't gotten around to installing the Sterling motors and generators yet.
Wouldn't the simplest solution be to post a warning? They could set up an infrared camera to monitor where the hot spot is, and have a monitor displaying it, so people could avoid it.
Interesting story. Dumbass images. Besides the burned newspaper bag and perhaps one obscure image of the parabolic hotel in question, every other image is just scenery or people partying in a pool. The fact that there are so many of them on the ABC website touts the true journalistic intent (or perhaps marketing, scantily clad women abound).
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
What makes it unnerving is that they anticipated the problem and coated the windows with a layer which is supposed to reduce the effect by 70%, but they still built a concentrator mirror...
http://goo.gl/maps/ZpTd
So it looks like if the sun is high up in the sky, from probably a S or SSE angle, you'd get some good ant burning action..
So how would they fix that? Put up one of those porous billboard/shade deals that Flamingo does?
0- Eamonman Proud member of DNRC
The fix is to rotate the windows a few degrees to remove any convergence. The possible damage from this phenomenon is significant: increased chance of skin cancer; burned retinas; severe skin burns; fire; etc.
After all, your beginners science class taught that "focus" is where the sons raise meat.
At least you can get your tan on fast. Cancer even faster!
The "Death Ray" title is a bit dramatic. Ok it gets hot. Ok, you shouldn't stand under focused light in the middle of the desert. By the title, it sounds like it will vaporize you. It doesn't even get hot enough to make the pool water boil.
Just wait til we set up the metallized boPET reflectors. That'll make for a good death ray!
The end of the article basically has an employee going "maybe we could get some plants to put in there or something", that doesn't sound like fixing it to me.
I read the internet for the articles.
frag count is still zero.
The Disney Concert Hall in LA used to have a similar problem. Part of the building was covered in mirror finish stainless steel panels (most of the surface had rough surfaced panels). At certain times, the curved surface would focus the sun onto a building across the street, raising the temperature in some rooms. The fix was to roughen up the mirror finish.
The architect thought it would be cool to have a massive dish-like glass structure on the side of the building, shaped like an enormous microwave antenna. Unfortunately, the thing focused the suns rays like a magnifying glass. The insides got really hot, especially near the security desk! Dont' know if anyone got burned, though.
Because it's just soooo hard to scroll past it without clicking on it. Right?
It's a codeword! Everybody knows dark siders run Vegas.
Walt Disney Concert Hall had a very similar problem and was solved by sandblasting the the side to dull the reflection...
Search for: Microclimatic Impact: Glare around the Walt Disney Concert Hall
Alright... that's it, that pun has to be paid for in blood...everybody dies.... I mean "Come on everyone, I'm taking you all to Vegas"
Monstar L
The focal area would get hot enough to melt traffic cones an the free way.
I drove through it once, and temperature in my car became uncomfortable. I don't know what would happen had I beens stopped in traffic.
They eventualy brushed the surface.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Yeah, because you know whining in a random idle story is going to accomplish so much. If there is a site bug, why don't, you know, report it? Instead of being a total whiny douchebag?
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
It's not a euphemism, it describes exactly what it is. 'Death ray' on the other hand is a dysphemism, coined by bad journalism.
There was a news story several years ago about a fire that destroyed a family's patio, and damaged their house. The fire department couldn't figure out how it started, but then they discovered the dog's glass water bowl about ten feet from where the fire started. They tested their theory, and sure enough, the owners were filling the glass bowl with water at just the right time, and putting it in just the right place, that it magnified the afternoon sunlight into a spot that set fire to weather-treated wood boards.
This is hardly a unique event. If you let an architect go nuts trying to make a "modern" and "unique" building, he will inevitably build a magnifying glass.
Architects are rarely versed in function, and are almost always about the form.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
if you need to perform science on it, you better hurry
Quick!Can anyone here perform science? We need some science ASAP!
It is not Orwellian. It in no way implies the opposite effect. It is the more correct term. It in no way is destructive to the welfare of anyone. If it was killing dozens of people, you might have a point.well, you wouldn't then either. Unless they where removing all references to the deaths of others from all media.
That said, the Hotel is missing a golden opportunity.
Every knows it's no actually a death ray, but they could hype it up and do a tongue and cheek promotion.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
apparently leaves a mark!
"Ones and zeros were everywhere. I even think I saw a two!" - Bender
Why would they design a parabolic concave building? This is a huge architecture fail.
In the beginning, there was null.
Actually the Walt Disney Concert hall had a similar issue when they built it. It would direct the heat into cars at the stop lights and cause the people to get way too hot. Of course, it didnt melt plastic, but still!
They needed to scuff the finish a bit to kill the effect .
Is that dangerous?
Pics or it didn't happen. I can't find any images or video of this so-called hotspot. ABC has some video but it might as well be a 5 minute long promotion of the hotel with no mention of the event written in the article next to it. In the video a party promoter says something like "anything to get revenue into the hotel". I'm thinking this might just be a publicity stunt.
In the upcoming game Fallout: New Vegas, I believe that a heliostat-like death ray is available to the player. Who knew that Real Life: Now Vegas already had this?
That reminds me of the Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! "Not My Job" interview/quiz with the Magliozzi brothers (AKA "Click & Clack", AKA "The Car Talk guys"). One of the questions they answered was of a similar mirror sculpture in Britain that some meteorologists warned would kill birds by focusing sunlight on them. The Vegas hotel could draw upon the subsequent banter and rename the place "Click & Clack's Place of Whatever Flies By".
<plug type="gratuitous">Just one more reason to listen to public radio.</plug>
"We are Microsoft. You shall be assimilated. Competition is futile."
Fish bowls or glass vases placed next to windows can spontaneously start fires.
If you're stupid enough to want to be there, you're going to have to put some effort into it.
For once there are direct consequences for modern Architectures obsession with full glass facades. But the other fail is of course putting a glass box in the desert
I'm curious why you think the builder should be doing anything to the windows? Arguably this is either a problem with the manufacturer of the windows (deforming and causing a focussing effect) or else with the vinyl siding (being unable to handle reflections).
The only real solutions are to replace the windows with ones that don't cause the focussing effect, or else to use siding that's more durable (but more expensive) than vinyl.
S'mores for everyone!
The BP building in Anchorage had the same problem in the mid-1970s. Or maybe it was the ARCO building. Anyway, reflective glass in a multi-story building with a curved facade. Seemed to focus on the sidewalk across the street - where it got way too warm on sunny days.
The exact thing same happened when the Disney Theater opened in LA, which is nothing but a series of shiny curves.
I think the smart brother on Numb3rs already solved this a few seasons back.
Sounds like they found an environmentally friendly way to cook bacon. Just stick it on the pool deck and wait! Side effects may include cooking the chef.
Seriously though, this was probably done deliberately by some architect, who is now cackling with glee over the massive parabolic dish. This would be rather difficult to call an accidental design flaw.
Do they keep sharks in the pool?
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
No, mister Bond, I expect you to die!
What lies in Vegas, fries in Vegas.
Get your solar imprinted Tramp Stamps here while you relax by the pool and sip your cocktail.
Their stated plan of getting plants and umbrellas will just result in burned dead plants and flaming umbrellas with holes. I suspect the only practical way to deal with this will be to install metal screens on posts to block the focused rays. Of course, anyone walking between the rays and (near) the blocking screen will get zapped. Alternatively, the hotel should charge extra and say "This is not a bug! It's a feature! We offer SuperQuickTan tm, the only place you can get tanned in 0.1 second! However, if you're already tanned or you're an ethnic minority, DO NOT USE this service."
Someone tell the Mythbusters, they tried to build something like that once.
Yeah, I have melted vinyl siding on my own house from the sliding glass door.
it turns out that two panes of glass with a "vacuum" between makes a kind of curved mirror.
Architects should know this stuff.
One afternoon while working from home I noticed a weird haze near one of our bookshelves. As I walked over to investigate I smelled smoke, which I discovered was emanating from a well-focused image of the sun reflecting from the wood shelf holding a fishbowl. I'm not sure if it would have gotten hot enough to fully ignite; experiments starting fires with a magnifying glass as a Boy Scout taught me that singeing wood is far easier than igniting it. Needless to say, though, the fishbowl was relocated immediately, and I was happy that someone was working from home that day.
I suspect we'd never noticed this effect before because the fishbowl was placed on the shelf during the summer, when the sun is much higher in the sky. The fishbowl incident occurred in early October, when the sun's apparent mid-day altitude changes almost noticeably from day to day.
In order to circumvent the treaty to not weaponize space, the USA plans to build "Hotels" in space.
Unrelated to the story here...
When I went to the link above I received a message that I needed to install Google Earth Plugin to view 3D maps. I was OK with installing it but what surprised me was that when I clicked the button thinking I would get either a firefox dialog asking if I want to install the plugin or a standard file download dialog asking if I wanted to open, save, run etc. it immediately started a windows installer app! Is there someone that could help me understand how that was possible? I'd really like to disable functionality that runs windows installers from a web page button with no confirmation.
Imagine the amazing tan...
Death comes to those who wait.
Now they just need sharks with lasers in the pool ...
Damn, I thought it was just the magic of Vegas that was lighting my cigarettes spontaneously
They should rename the hotel into Hotel Trogdor!
Read the whole article - the "solution" is to put in a small forest of very thick umbrellas! No joke, they are not touching the windows at all!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
According to the last paragraph of TFA, the "fix" is to put additional umbrellas and plants in the area to provide shade. So the effect should still be demonstrable, but executive's toupes will be less likely to burst into flames.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
At a bank, they put in gold-tinted reflective panels as exterior decoration. Shortly afterward they realized that the reflection was roasting their vehicles. So they called in a contractor and they lightly blasted the panels, making them opaque. I forgot what material they used, probably something soft to keep from knocking too much of the gold coating off, just to soften the mirror finish.
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
FTA: "It was as bright as outside," said Pintas, a Chicago lawyer
Does that count as a thing that make you go "hmmm?"
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Couldn't they just pinpoint the area, put some sort of device that concentrates it to cook some steaks?
"Come and enjoy our aged kobe beef, seared to perfection by the deadly rays of our parabolic hotel in a pool side setting."
Seems to be much like what many boys learned about igniting papers with a magnifying glass. Doesn't even have to be a hot summer day, just good bright sunshine in the midday.
Luckily in Vega$, that's almost never going to be a problem.
I like music
Although it doesn't actually cause a problem, I think someone had a sense of humor when they designed the Aldar Headquarters building. A glass building shaped like a giant convex lens in the desert. What could possibly go wrong?
I remember reading a story many years ago which was probably published in the late 1950s or 1960s. It was about an architect who murdered a rival by designing and having built a skyscraper with reflective widows controlled by a computer, ostensibly to maintain the interior environment of the building, but in reality as a way to focus the light of the sun on the rival's house, some miles away. The rival and his house were destroyed by a "mysterious" fire.
I wish I could remember the name of the author and the the story title.
They mixed up the hotel plans and the death ray plans again!
When someone says, "Any fool can see
Am I the only one who clicked the video and realized that it wasn't about the death ray two minutes into it?
Sounds like a good fix to me. Plants have been absorbing the sun's rays for millennium, and they take up sufficient space that a patron won't be able to displace the plant. Of course, you might need to plant quite a few plants to handle migration of the focal point, but that's a lot cheaper than attempting to redesign / retrofit the building.
I just want the comments section to actually WORK in idle. Like, actually expand a comment when I click it instead of reloading the page with only that comment.
Take “idle.” out of the URL and reload the page. It’s a pain in the ass but it works.
I also occasionally use that trick on other subsections of Slashdot whose colour schemes I don’t like (too hard to tell the difference between read and unread posts).
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
Take “idle.” out of the URL and reload the page. It’s a pain in the ass but it works.
That used to work for me, but now it always redirects to idle.
This may be a little crazy, but it's almost as if the /. "editors" don't actually *read* the site. !!!
Really? It still works for me.
http://slashdot.org/story/10/09/29/1622250/Las-Vegas-Hotel-Vdara-an-Accidental-Death-Ray
If that still doesn’t work, try reloading with ctrl-F5 or clearing your cache.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
The article says the windows have some film to reduce the effect by 70%, but that wasn't enough. Perhaps they should just remove the film and make a real death ray. Or put a barbecue pit where the pool is and have environmentally friendly barbecues.
So here's this lawyer burning up, rubbing his head and shifting every which way, watching his newspaper melting, and saying that he "couldn't imagine what it could be." How about the huge building that looks like the eye of freakin' Sauron? Oh wait:
"At the bar, he explained..."
Indeed, lol.
at the damn focus, and build a solar power station like in Fallout:Las Vegas? Where are all the self dubbed environmentalists? Shouldn't they be pushing for it now?
Funny, it's working again. I hadn't tried it in a while. Thanks!
One day I smelled something burning and scrambled frantically, as I thought I had an electrical fire starting within the walls of my house. Turns out it was my wife's make up mirror sitting innocently on the edge of the bathtub. The sun hit the mirror just right and beamed a focused light onto a plastic container. The lid of the container was half-melted and smoking badly.
The BBQ idea is awesome. Unfortunately it would need to be move a little every day. Still doable.
OR a mini portable steam generator all kind of chrome and Brass parts moving from the power of the sun. You could put it on a track and have it move lightly under it's own power.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
As it stand it probably will not kill anyone. OTOH add a second mirror driven by a very simple robotic car to capture to rays at the focal point and reflect them back to a central focal point where the energy could be harnessed. Now THAT would result in a DEATH RAY!
Please mod me 1 or troll. It's where the truth is these days, even on Slashdot. Beware the power of moderators everywh
On the "bright" side, they might qualify for alternative energy tax credits...
Mmm, Carne Asada - please consult your Farmer's Almanac for specific windows where 'medium well' may be ordered.
Ah.. I have an idea a simple 7 step plan for profit:
1. Build crazy concave building with highly reflective glass
2. Insure building has an acute focal point for sunlight in the afternoon
3. Build pool deck at focal point to insure maximum people density
4. Sell bathers and “sun worshipers” some “protective” solar cells
5. Wire ‘em up to the utility grid
6. Sell the electricity
7. Profit. $$$
All the worlds indeed a
it was on, "the out limits" ooooooh!!!!!
It's not a typo if you understood the meaning!
Right now, the hotel is looking at getting some larger, thicker umbrellas, maybe some large plants and a few other more high-tech options,
Plants and umbrellas are "high tech" options?
It was a posting about death rays! How could you possibly NOT click on it!
bickerdyke
I'm suspecting that said plants would need to be replaced on a very regular basis, as they get baked to death by the intense sunlight every day.
I read the internet for the articles.
(OK, so these days hotels in Vegas might probably be immersed in Wifi. Wouldn't know, haven't stayed in a hotel for years and will do my best to continue on that path, have never been in a hotel on either of the American continents.)
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
that we'll see this on CSI by the end of this season? It's only September, TV production is in full swing right now...
Sounds like "A Series of Unfortunate Events", but then .. I might be wrong ...
It accidentally the whole death ray!
If you post as an AC, don't expect me to spend a mod point on you.
I'm extremely worried that the synergy of the energy reflection is going to turn this pool deck into a frying pan. Think ants + magnifying glass. [...] Perhaps CityCenter's crack team of architects have done enough mathematics and simulation tests to have figured out a solution. Perhaps they haven't. We'll find out August 2010.
Somehow along the way I made a bad choice in life and now must live with 0 Karma.
Actually yes. I use Google Reader for my RSS feeds. The RSS feed for Slashdot does not tell you if its "idle" or "politics" or what have you. You just get the main page stories. Sometimes more than once (depends if they come back to the main page). I think you'll find most people complaining about Idle are getting surprised by it.
Personally I don't mind.
You mean this wasn't an intentional green energy project? They could generate power for a few minutes each day!