The Russian Plan To Use Space Mirrors To Turn Night Into Day (vice.com)

merbs writes: Throughout the early 90s, a team of Russian astronomers and engineers were hellbent on literally turning night into day. By shining a giant mirror onto the earth from space, they figured they could bring sunlight to the depths of night, extending the workday, cutting back on lighting costs and allowing laborers to toil longer. If this sounds a bit like the plot of a Bond film, well, it's that too. The difference is that for a second there, the scientists, led by Vladimir Sergeevich Syromyatnikov, one of the most important astronautical engineers in history, actually pulled it off.

Comments

Insanity.

[Anonymous Coward]

Has there been any thought given as to what this might do to the flora and fauna? Screwing up diurnal rhythms, mating seasons, migrations, etc. I mean seriously, this screams terrible idea.

Re:Insanity.

[demonlapin]

Again, I don't know why you guys do this shit for megacorps. Some startup where you might become a billionaire? Hey, I can see killing yourself for a couple of those in your early 20s in hopes you hit the jackpot. But Microsoft? Hell, Google? They're already huge. They've already made their billionaires, and you weren't one of them. Get a job at a company that will pay you for working tolerable hours at a fair rate.

This also goes a long way to explaining the difference in pay between flyover country and the coasts. "Oh, yeah, I pay more for the apartment, but I have a lot more disposable income"... and no time in which to spend it. I get nine weeks of paid vacation a year. You can have that when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Re:Insanity.

[Gavagai80]

Keep in mind that you can't stop maintaining the street lights and you'll have to use them a lot of nights, because space mirrors don't work when it's cloudy or foggy.