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.

Comments

Too much money to fix, thing outside the box

[grub]

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.

Re:Too much money to fix, thing outside the box

[jedidiah]

They should call out the Mythbusters. It looks like Archimede's death ray may have been vindicated.

Re:Too much money to fix, thing outside the box

[pckl300]

They could take the Steve Jobs approach and just tell customers to avoid being in the hot zone

Images

[cosm]

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).

Re:Images

[RDW]

The article they probably got this story from is a bit more informative - complete with diagram!:

http://www.lvrj.com/news/vdara-visitor---death-ray--scorched-hair-103777559.html

Or rent it out

[tomhudson]

They could rent it out to a couple of boys to raise cattle.

After all, your beginners science class taught that "focus" is where the sons raise meat.

Re:Post a warning?

[red_dragon]

They could set up an infrared camera...

Damn engineers and their overcomplicated solutions. Why can't people just look for where the smoke and smell of charred human flesh is coming from?

One pun over the edge

[antifoidulus]

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"

Re:Post a warning?

[krnpimpsta]

Wouldn't the simplest solution be to post a warning?

"Do not look into hotel with remaining eye."

Re:Death ray

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not a euphemism, it describes exactly what it is. 'Death ray' on the other hand is a dysphemism, coined by bad journalism.

I've heard of this before.

[zero_out]

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.

Same thing happened at Walt Disney Concert Hall

[default luser]

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.

Re:Same thing happened at Walt Disney Concert Hall

[theIsovist]

You've given one example, which is a building by Frank Gehry. He's an architect who made his millions by converting software made to develop jet fighters into "architecture". Is it any wonder his buildings attack people?

I am a practicing architect, so please, let me fill you in. Architects take classes on sun angles and reflected light. Understanding how to make use of and control natural sunlight is a major part of modern architecture. I counter your example with a modern building designed by Steven Holl (a much more impressive architect IMHO). If you note on one of the diagrams, the building has been designed to strategicly filter light into different areas of the school based on certain landmark days. No death rays here.

Re:Post a warning?

[smooth wombat]

Since the building is basically parabolic, won't the spot stay mostly stationary?

Obviously neither you nor the mod who gave you insightful read the article because had either of you done so, you would have read the following:

Fixing the problem isn't going to be easy. As the Earth spins, the sun moves across the horizon. But as the seasons change, the angle of the Earth to the sun changes too, meaning shadows - and in this case the hot spot - move in a different way. Putting in one row of thick umbrellas won't solve the problem because each day they would have to be a few feet back or a few feet forward from their prior day's position.

One doesn't even need a parabolic reflector to experience this. Go to any city during a clear, sunny day and you will find hot spots being created from the nice, shiny windows on the flat (non-curved) buildings. While not focused like the rays from this building, you will feel substantially warmer.

However, stand still for a few minutes, and as the Earth rotates and moves about the sun, the hot spot will move with it.

I'm not the most brilliant person when it comes to science, but even I know what you said is wrong!