Building melts a guys car, sets fire to a shop, melts paint and ruins a plastic lemon. "London gots a Death Ray"

[Badnik Mechanic]

So the BBC sent someone out to do a look at some of the stores near the 'hot spot' and found some alarming evidence that this could have been a lot more serious.

 

Theres a hairdressers just opposite the hot spot, they took a look at the front of the store and discovered that the paintwork had started to melt, the products in the store had reacted to the heat, there was a plastic lemon that had melted and more scary... the carpet had set on fire!

 

Furtherdown the street the floor tiles from a coffee shop had come loose as the intense heat had destroyed the stuff holding them in place.

 

They took a temperature reading and found that temperatures were hitting as high as 90oc!

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23944679

[TCB]

Alright, what the hell? Really surprising this was being overlooked.

 

Still pretty interesting though not going to lie. 

[spinny]

...Oooookay... Did some drunkard they found on the street make the blueprints for this thing!? It pretty much could end up a death ray at this rate. First a car and now setting a carpet on fire? Jeeeeeesus christ.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Super Spindash

[Tani Coyote]

This just gets more glorious by the day... I'm seeing a forced closure pending remodeling.

 

So how long before they weaponize this.

 

As memory serves laser weaponry already exists; they're just so expensive, bulky and inefficient no one really bothers with them. Same overall principle - concentrating light on a target until it starts to burn. It just takes a few hours to do it when for it be effective as a weapon it needs to be near-instantaneous.

 

Well interestingly, the building opposite is Maplin, they are an electronics company who sell solar pannel kits... if I were the CEO of Maplin, slap some of those kids onto the front of their building for some amazing publicity.

I know this was a typo, but I misread this so bad. That'd generate publicity alright but I'm not sure it'd be the good kind.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Bikes!

 

 

Lemons!

 

 

And it's so hot we're cooking eggs!

 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2409710/Walkie-Talkie-building-melting-bicycles-Light-reflected-construction-City-skyscraper-scorches-seat.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ousmnx1B-gU

[Muddyfingers]

I quite like the statement from the developer saying it only lasts a couple of hours a day for two to three weeks. Presumably that's twice a year, early summer and late summer. Death and destruction for six weeks a year. Its only London. I can live with that.

[Covskin]

Haha, so blasé! "What's the big deal, its not deadly most of the time! Suck it up, people who don't like burning to death!"

 

Yeah, you'd really have thought the architects would have realised the consequences...

[Patticus]

What these developers fail to realize is that they've left themselves wide open for countless heat-related lawsuits to be brought against them every summer. Not only that, but the businesses operating in the line of fire are also in danger of lawsuits if they fail to take appropriate measures to protect their patrons, as perhaps is the city partially liable for all heat ray-related injuries or damage on the street outside those businesses. Large awnings or other shade-making devices would do wonders for the street, and the businesses there could save some money if they put solar panels on them and elsewhere on their buildings.

[Tani Coyote]

And it's so hot we're cooking eggs!

Well. I could see this place becoming popular with vagrants; as we know that is likely to cause change quick.

 

At least people who would have difficulty lighting a stove at home have a, how you say...

Hot spot to gather in.

[novelty]

Step 1 - Buy a Property under the focus of the light

Step 2 - Design property to take advantage of such light

Step 3 - Set up a Breakfast/Steak Bistro using such light focus as a heating palette for the summer months

Step 4 - Get Ingredients and Staff

Step 5 - ???????

Step 6 - Enjoy your moolah.

[Tani Coyote]

Step 1 - Buy a Property under the focus of the light

Step 2 - Design property to take advantage of such light

Step 3 - Set up a Breakfast/Steak Bistro using such light focus as a heating palette for the summer months

Step 4 - Get Ingredients and Staff

Step 5 - ???????

Step 6 - Enjoy your moolah.

 

You know, that actually would be a really clever gimmick, I think. There are some serious ways to profit from this overall I think... they need to do some remodeling but gimmicks often sell like hot cakes if it's clever.