[kj] OT: Brighter than 5000 suns

[Brendan Quinn]

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/teens-solar-death-ray-can-melt-con
crete-20110204-1afxk.html

A US teenager has built his own "solar death ray" out of thousands of
mirrors that is capable of melting anything from metal to concrete.

Eric Jacqmain, 19, from Indiana, demonstrated the $US90 contraption in a
YouTube clip
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtzRAjW6KO0&feature=player_embedded>  and
claims it offers the "power of 5000 suns". That claim is likely an
exaggeration but the clip shows the ray can melt pretty much any object.

It is essentially a fibreglass satellite dish covered in 5800 small mirror
tiles, which focus the sunlight into a spot the size of a coin when
positioned correctly.

"This intensity of light is more than enough to melt steel, vaporize
aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate any organic
material in an instant," said Jacqmain, who demonstrates this claim in his
video.

Responding to questions on YouTube, Jacqmain said the temperature of the ray
varied based on the darkness of the material being targeted.

"It was able to destroy tungsten lightbulb filaments and vaporize carbon,
which occurs at temperatures above 6000 F (3315 celsius). Most other
materials simply burn, melt, or evaporate," he wrote.

The project demonstrates how much power the sun can generate if you have the
right tools to harness it.

In an ironic twist, the death ray was destroyed in a shed fire that was
likely caused by the device. But Jacqmain is reportedly working on a new
model, this time with 32,000 mirrors.

In October last year, MGM Resorts International took some heat for an
intense beam of searing Las Vegas desert sunlight - dubbed the
<http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/hotels-death-ray-burns-las-vegas-s
unbathers-20101004-163gi.html> "death ray" - that was being reflected from
its Vdara hotel and burning hotel guests.

 

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