Kid creates death ray with $90 worth of mirrors and an old satellite dish
- Thread starter BigBlueBobby
- Start date
lol guess he had fun, but a "death ray" with a focal point a couple feet in front of the dish is hardly a weapon of terror.
Not a new idea... Archimedes supposedly used a similar concept with polished shields to burn Roman ships.
There was an interesting sci-fi story where soccer fans were issued programs that were nice and shiny. They ended up using them to incinerate a ref who's calls they didn't like when they tried to blind him by reflecting the sun off the program into his eyes.... Ouch!
Not a new idea... Archimedes supposedly used a similar concept with polished shields to burn Roman ships.
There was an interesting sci-fi story where soccer fans were issued programs that were nice and shiny. They ended up using them to incinerate a ref who's calls they didn't like when they tried to blind him by reflecting the sun off the program into his eyes.... Ouch!
they did an episode of this on mythbusters. he could have done the same thing with a parabolic mirror for less than $90 , and his claim about melting steel is stretching it.
Deathray MBusters
PARABOLIC MIRROR REFLECTOR 37" SUPER STRONG
Deathray MBusters
PARABOLIC MIRROR REFLECTOR 37" SUPER STRONG
Actually he is correct. It is simply a function of the number of mirrors.
You guys are a bunch of killjoys though. It is a fun project. The more people out there who actually *make* stuff, the better off we all are
Yeah, the amount of reflected light would depend on surface area of the dish, wouldn't it?Agreed.
Also one more feather for the energy shortage myth that seems to be popular these days.
Incidentally, a square meter on earth receives about .5 kW of power, so he's probably focussing about that onto a 1cm square area.
Here is a bigger version
http://www.power-technology.com/projects/victorville/
The trick is in convincing everyone in the army to come and take turns standing in the focal point until they're all dead.
Look how successful the Asian B+S ads were on Craigslist. I'm sure you could find many stupid enough to pay $120 to take turns standing in front of the lens if told they were going to meet their Asian model if they did so!
You could probably blind them in one eye, then lie to them again and they'll come back a second time for the other one!!
Too funny. Maybe all you need is a "stand here for a blowjob from a hot model" sign.
I think they tried to do this on Mythbusters. Jamie was on small sailing ship and Adam was on the shore with a bunch of grade 6 kids who were holding up mirrors. I didn't get a chance to see if the sail caught fire.
Somewhere in his comments, he admits that it probably started the fire. The shed must have had too much sunlight.I find it ironic the R5800 was destroyed in a burning shed.
If I understood Google, it can be measured with a radiometer, or it can be estimated from the number of hours of bright sunshine.
http://books.google.com/books?id=-v_...ion"&f=false
KId gets a "A" for effort but it is a giant version of a "solar oven" that can be made out of a box and mirrors-more sophisticated versions have a sturdy lid,and oven box.Good for survivalist and especially in countries with lots of sunshine.
I did say "supposedly"
And apparently they are going to revisit the myth for a 3rd time with Prez. Obama in an upcoming episode.
http://www.supermediablog.com/news/...es-helped-destroy-roman-fleet-siege-syracuse/
I think some author used the term death ray to get the story published. It's focused light - no different from all the portable death rays we had when we were kids - of course we called them a magnifying glass.
As far as any military use - I'm guessing a smart general would simple advance with the sun in front of him.
As far as any military use - I'm guessing a smart general would simple advance with the sun in front of him.
