Posted on 02/03/2011 5:15:15 AM PST by numberonepal
Eric Jacqmain, from Indiana in the US, covered an ordinary fibreglass satellite dish with 5,800 tiny mirror tiles - and made his very own 'death ray'. When aligned correctly it can generate a heat spot a couple of centimetres across, with an intensity of 5,000 shining suns, the 19-year-old claims. The inventor then posted video of his invention on YouTube, with people commenting in awe of the power of the satellite. The ray generates enough power to melt steel, vaporize aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate any organic material in an instant. It stands at 5ft 9ins and measures just 42 inches across. Jacqmain, commenting on YouTube said : 'I drilled a small hole in the dish and glued a piece of PVC pipe on the back. 'Light shines through the hole and hits the translucent plastic on the end of the pipe. All I had to do was aim the dish once and mark the spot. 'As long as the target doesn't conduct heat away too fast it will melt or vaporize just about anything eventually. 'I have vaporized before carbon, which occurs above 6,500 Fahrenheit.' The American teenager called his invention the R5800 solar 'death ray'.
snip
Unfortunately for Jacqmain, his 'death ray' dish met it's own grisly end when it was destroyed in a shed fire. Jacqmain added: 'Yeah. It "committed suicide". It's very likely that it was the cause of the fire...' If there was ever a case of self-destruction, this was it. But Jacqmain's despair at the death of his 'death ray' has simply spurred him on to develop a yet more powerful alternative. 'Plans already in place for the new one, he added. 'The goal is to use about 32,000 mirrors this time.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Hmmm ... excellent point.
Yup....all good points. A couple times I was going to cook something in my solar oven. It was cloudy. Fail. :)
Like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages.
That’s just silly. An Article could never be posted on the internet if it were fake.
only 20 cents and a match, forget thousands of mirrors and the time necessary to attach them to a salvage satellite dish. Your dad has broken this down to the real bottom line.
Too bad your dad isn’t in charge of the economy of California. I’m betting he would have that problem solved in a jiffy. Then on to the world.
With that said, it seems to me that instead of denigrating the lad because HE didn't actually invent what he built, or because he may not fully understand exactly how/why it works, adults (even, or better yet especially the 'physics geniuses' and 'history professors' among us) would want to provide some positive feedback regarding his efforts.
Who knows, such a reaction might encourage him to engage in more serious study of the subject matter so that he can learn for himself why 5,800 small mirrors, even when focused at a single point, do not equal "5,000+ suns" (assuming he actually SAID that, and that he was not simply misquoted by the press).
At any rate, even the most cynical among us should be able to agree that a young man who spends his free time working on "death rays" and other science-related projects in his back yard shed, is most likely NOT going to be out spray painting graffiti on buildings or loitering on street corners listening to 'hip-hop' music with his trousers pulled down around his knees while he waits for his next 'public assistance' check to arrive.
He BUILT a composite parabolic mirror.
He didn’t “invent” anything.
Or DoD Research Contractor :-)
LOL You betcha.
No; but you can probably google it.
-——Then again there was all that parabolic mirror stuff back in the Carter era-——
Which means he got the idea from a 1976 Mother Earth News
BTW, Spain went broke financing electric power generation this way
You didn't watch the end. It was destroyed in a shed, get this, fire.
Gee, I wonder how that happened? The door left ajar and the cover
removed by nocturnal critters in perfect alignment with the
morning Sun?
Not to worry. He's supposedly working on the 32" version.
Except if his numbers are right, it would just melt the prism.
As a kid some of my favorite books were “The mad Scientist club” books. While they were short on technical stuff they were perfect for inspiration of a young boy’s imagination.
>>>During the course of the books, the boys often use technology (such as ham radios) and science to pull off harebrained schemes. For example, in “The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake,” they build a fake sea monster out of chicken wire mounted to a rowboat, and row it out on Strawberry Lake. When it gets too dangerous to take the boat out on the lake themselves because hunters are preparing to shoot it with an elephant gun, they rig a remote control system to operate it at a distance.<<<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mad_Scientists%27_Club
Hard to believe it didn’t severely burn himself trying to find that “focal point”, if that’s how he did it.
That’s severe radiation Boys and girls....can you say “Severe radiation”?....Good!
Pretty efficient and the old satellite dish is a great base because it has an easy to locate focal point. I’d like to see one made out of one of those old satellite dishes...on about 4 feet in diameter....that could be a lot of fun....
Maybe it can be used for snow removal . . .
Agreed! ...seems like a good kid with an inquisitive mind.
...as long as he doens't tell his little brother, "Hey, Stand right here."
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