it's 2010 if you stand right here just of this hotel pool in Las Vegas at a specific time of day you could die [Music] violently same goes for this spot right here on East sheep in London cause of death these two buildings respectively well technically the sun reflecting off of the windows of these two buildings respectively and to add to the truly odd phenomenon it all traces back to one very stubborn man why how what a bizarre beam of light radiates onto the street it's like being under a magnifying glass you were literally being burned
some had managed to fry an egg it got up to 92.6 De that's Celsius this was an attack by the death ray enter a story revolving around fascinating physics phenomena Reckless architecture melting steel and burned human flesh this is the weird world of solar Death Race Fern this is Bill pentus a lawyer from Chicago who enjoys spending time in Las Vegas every now and then he's chilling at the Vdara Hotel on the Strip he takes a little swim in the pool then returns to his lounge chair Martin linay drives into the city for some errands
it's a hot sunny day he Parks his Jaguar you are right behind 20 furch Street on East chep before heading off for about an hour by afternoon it's really really hot in Vegas bill doesn't mind the escalating heat until suddenly his hair starts burning Martin returns to his beloved car only to find someone taking pictures of it he comes closer and notices the car's body is partially melted Bill's hair head and leg are burned he rushes to the shade of an umbrella but it offers little relief the sun is so intense and blistering that no
matter where he goes he can't seem to find an escape both of these stories actually happened it's completely wed and get your hand underneath here and you can get your hand in here it's absolutely um ruined both incidents are due to a phenomenon called solar convergence or much cooler solar Death Race death R the physics behind it is fairly simple when parallel light rays strike a parabolically curved surface they are all reflected to a single point known as the focal point the distance between the Surface and the focal point is called focal length similar to
the focal length of a camera lens depending on how stretched or compressed the parabola curve is the focal point changes either way the result is one concentrated very hot beam of light sometimes capable of melting objects and causing serious Burns these Rays can even melt rocks on YouTube you'll find numerous videos of people showcasing their DIY homebuilt death ray reflectors it's a nice turkey burger in the cases of Bill and Martin the reflective curved glass facade of the Vdara Hotel and the facade of 20 FR Church in London were responsible the focal points of both
buildings happen to be precisely where humans interact luckily these particular Death Race only occurs parodically the alignment of the sun and the parabolic surface have to be just right but a few hours of death rain on a random Thursday can do more than enough damage several reports of burned hair melted plastic extreme sunburns deformed vehicles and charred doormats went viral one journalist even fried an egg in front of 20 fan Church to demonstrate the intense heat it is so hot it is so hot there you go he has just cooked that egg on a frying
pan on the Streets of London fortunately in the cases of the two buildings no one was critically injured at least physically Martin might be a little traumatized from seeing his Jack all burned up if for example a baby had been inside the car the outcome could have been far more serious and luckily no one fell asleep at the hotel pool in Vegas long enough to get seriously burned or even killed reports show that temperature soared up to 17° C on East sheep while at the Vdara temperatures increased by 20° C around the pool not to
be Captain Obvious but that seems like some seriously design right all of this could have been avoided with proper planning and a few design adjustments so who is responsible as it turns out one guy designed both buildings this is the Uruguayan architect Raphael vinoli he seems to really enjoy his parabolical shapes reports show that he was even aware of the problem way before the Vdara was constructed the windows of the hotel had been preemptively covered with a custom film to reduce the sun's Effects by 70% which clearly didn't help all that much so considering that
vinoli was well aware of the issue by the time the Vdara was built why would he make the same mistake again when designing 20 furge also nicknamed walkie-talkie walkie scorchy or the fry scraper Gotta Love British media it is ridiculous you don't need to go on holiday B I'm going to Croatia couple of weeks I think I might just pitch a t down here and actually sunb here is he really good in 2013 venol gave the guardian a legendary interview in which he explained himself that was a completely different problem said vinoli insisting he was
following a master plan that specified arc-shaped Towers we pointed out that would be an issue too but who cares if you fry somebody in Las Vegas right regarding the walkie scorchy he said I knew this was going to happen but there was a lack of tools or software that could be used to analyze the problem accurately hm actually there were many tools available to Architects to avoid solar convergence issues at the time but somehow he didn't stop talking at this point during the interview and just went on when it was spotted on a second design
iteration we judged the temperature was going to be about 36° but it's turned out to be more like 72° they're calling it The Death Ray because if you go there you might die it is phenomenal this thing phenomenal is kind of an odd choice of words when describing that a thing you made could burn people to death but naturally violi wasn't done here when I first came to London years ago it wasn't like this now you have all these sunny days so you should blame this thing on global warming too right so many hot takes
and such a short interview rapael vinoli passed away in 2023 leaving some unresolved questions about his designs 20 furch was awarded the title of the worst building in the UK in 2015 if you Google solar convergence today a planning ad document on the matter by the city of London is the top result the problematic side of the walkie-talkie was outfitted with special sunblinds in 2014 permanent awnings were installed on the upper floors while a briol was added to the remaining glass facade in Vegas next to the non-reflective film that was applied to the glass facade
of the Vdara Hotel staff provided umbrellas and pot plants at the pool and despite the name solar Death Race can also be quite practical for instance parabolic reflectors can Channel sunlight to Dark Places this effect is used in a project in New York City where solar reflectors light in underground space parabolic reflectors outside harness sunlight directing it toward the focal point this concentrated light is then reflected multiple times and directed to an underground space another parabolic mirror at the end spreads it evenly throughout the space or take this solar furnace in France the concentrated heat
evaporates water to generate power temperatures at the focal point can reach up to to 4,432 De C vinoli would be proud when designing buildings a strong foundation and physics and math is clearly essential brilliant is an excellent platform to learn about these subjects and Empower you to understand the world intuitively their lessons are interactive and not kidding actually fun their Hands-On approach makes for an immersive experience for instance brilliant offers a course on scientific thinking a journey through our physical world where you'll engage with fundamental scientific principles and theories a little like parts of this
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