How do you melt a car using a building?

[jtbell]

By using a bit of creative architecture!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23930675

A new London skyscraper dubbed the "Walkie-Talkie" has been blamed for reflecting light which melted parts of a car parked on a nearby street.

 

[D H]

Who had the bright idea (pun intended) to shape the side of a building like this?

TV interview with an solar physicist:

 

[A.T.]

Who had the bright idea (pun intended) to shape the side of a building like this?

Me, a while ago, but they beat me to it. Centrally controllable sun deflectors at the windows would allow you to point your death ray in the desired direction... muahahahah...

 

[Crazymechanic]

If Tesla would still be alive he would sue them for stealing his patent on death ray... :D

 

[Borg]

Who had the bright idea (pun intended) to shape the side of a building like this?

I laughed pretty hard when I saw this story this morning. Anyone who has taken even one course in optics would be able to figure out what was going to happen when you point a concave surface at the sun.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall had a similar problem but they solved it by sanding the surfaces to dull them. This one will probably be a lot tougher to solve - I don't think that they will be willing to sand the windows.

That's a great one DH! Too funny.

 

[voko]

Nah, I think the priority on the Sun-powered heat ray rests firmly with Archimedes of Syracuse.

 

[student34]

Who had the bright idea (pun intended) to shape the side of a building like this?

If they would have just built it like it is shown in this picture with the windows vertical, there wouldn't be a problem; of course it wouldn't look as cool.

 

[Borek]

Definitely plagiarism.

 

[A.T.]

A melted Jaguar is a shame. But next thing could be a fuel truck, a corn transporter or an ice cream van.

 

[Khashishi]

If Tesla would still be alive he would sue them for stealing his patent on death ray... :D

I'm pretty sure the Greeks call prior art on that one.

 

[student34]

A melted Jaguar is a shame. But next thing could be a fuel truck, a corn transporter or an ice cream van.

You're forgetting about the Gingers; they'll burn up like vampires.

 

[AlephZero]

The Brits have some form over this sort of mistake. The history faculty building at Cambridge univ. (built in the 1960s) was designed to make full use of natural north-facing light. Unfortunately, something got screwed up and they actually built it with the plan rotated through 180 degrees, so all that glass gets full sunshine all day!

There were endless problems with cracked glass panes, water leaks, etc - not to mention a steady stream of ambulances carrying away historians with heatstroke.

At least they found out about the "walkie talkie" while the builders were still there. Given the usual british climate, there might not have been any problems before the warranty had expired!

 

[Cthugha]

If Tesla would still be alive he would sue them for stealing his patent on death ray... :D

Have you never heard of the Las Vegas death ray hotel?

Same principle: Curved building, heated floor/pool/tourist, clueless architects.

 

[lisab]

Of all places on Earth to put an enormous concave lens, I would think London would be the safest. When did they start getting sunshine there?

 

[SteamKing]

Architects should always have adult supervision lest they commit malpractice.

 

[D H]

Have you never heard of the Las Vegas death ray hotel?

Same principle: Curved building, heated floor/pool/tourist, clueless architects.

After chasing this building down, I have a correction for you. You said clueless architects. You should have said clueless architect. Singular. The same person, Rafael Viñoly, designed both buildings.

And now he's designing another, this time in Abu Dhabi.

 

[nsaspook]

After chasing this building down, I have a correction for you. You said clueless architects. You should have said clueless architect. Singular. The same person, Rafael Viñoly, designed both buildings.

The inventor of the "fry-scraper".

 

[Cthugha]

After chasing this building down, I have a correction for you. You said clueless architects. You should have said clueless architect. Singular. The same person, Rafael Viñoly, designed both buildings.

And now he's designing another, this time in Abu Dhabi.

Wow. I am not sure whether I should be glad now that it is not a whole generation of architects building superlenses or whether I am amazed that he did not learn. At least Abu Dhabi is an ambitious project. There is so much sunlight that he might be able to create some real damage this time.

 

[adjacent]

The inventor of the "fry-scraper".

 

[milesyoung]

After chasing this building down, I have a correction for you. You said clueless architects. You should have said clueless architect. Singular. The same person, Rafael Viñoly, designed both buildings.

And now he's designing another, this time in Abu Dhabi.

First time I've seen a Wikipedia biography page with a "Death Ray" entry :thumbs:

 

[A.T.]

The inventor of the "fry-scraper".

Seen here as a kid, playing with ants:

http://www.breakfront.com/Portals/38894/images/Boy%20Burning%20Ant.jpg