A new hotel in Las Vegas that emits 'death rays' by concentrating and reflecting sunlight


by

SheepGuardingLlama

As a child, I think many people have experimented with using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight on one point and make holes in black paper, but if you are sunbathing by the pool at a hotel. If you lie down in a place where sunlight is concentrated like the focal point of a huge magnifying glass, it would be scary.

The Las Vegas hotel Vdara, which opened in December 2009, features a curved facade (front view ) with plenty of glass, but the sunlight reflected on the concave mirror-like wall is concentrated. It is said that some guests suffered severe injuries at the poolside, and it has come to be called 'Vdara's Murder Ray'.

Vdara visitor:'Death ray' scorched hair | Las Vegas Review-Journal
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/vdara-visitor-death-ray-scorched-hair/

The hotel has a beautiful and sophisticated design that has won architectural awards, but the concave surface is the most sunny south side, so 10 feet x 10 feet on the poolside where the reflected light is concentrated. A 15-foot (about 3m x 4.5m) 'hot spot' will be created and will move over time.


Mike Johnson / LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

It may be called a design flaw, but according to

MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher, who owns the hotel, the architects put a special film on the glass on the south side in anticipation of this concave mirror effect. However, due to the lack of tall buildings on the south side of the hotel that block sunlight, it seems that the film's effect of scattering more than 70% of the reflected light in front of the already intense Las Vegas sunlight was not sufficient. is.


by

daniel hedrick

Hotel employees working by the pool call this phenomenon 'Death Ray,' and testify that disposable plastic cups can melt. There is also a testimony that the place where the 'death ray' hits is about 20 degrees higher than the surroundings.


Duane Prokop / LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Bill Pintas, a lawyer who visited the hotel from Chicago on September 16, 2010, was also one of the 'death rays.' At around 12:20 noon, Pintas was enjoying a sunbathing in a reclining chair after a swim in the pool, but suddenly it became unbearably hot and he jumped up and evacuated to the shade. that's right. I tried to put on my flip-flops, but it was too hot to touch, so I ran barefoot and moved to the shade, where I noticed a strange odor. The source of the odor was Mr. Pintas's head, and it was said that part of his hair was burnt. When I returned to the poolside after the 'death ray' had left, it was said that a part of the plastic bag containing the newspaper that had been placed had melted.

The thin plastic bag melted and stuck to the newspaper, and the black text on the hotel logo was completely melted and punctured.


Bill Pintas

Attorney Pintas is not willing to file a lawsuit against the hotel in this case, but as one of the owners of a condominium in Vdara, he is concerned about the health effects and hopes that the problem will be resolved early. He seems to expect it.

According to MGM Mirage spokesman Absher, the hotel is considering adding more plants to the pool deck, installing a larger parasol, and adding a roof to create shadows. Considering that the sun and its reflected light move over time, and that people who visit the pool basically want sunlight, adding a roof can be a daunting task.

Absher points out that Vdara isn't the first famous building to have reflected light, and that reflected light has been a problem in Las Vegas at Circus Circus Adventure Dome and Mandalay Bay. increase. According to Absher, many customers prefer sunbathing in warm 'hotspots' in the pools of Mandalay Bay in early spring.

Outside of Las Vegas, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, which is famous for its architecture by Frank Gehry , reflected light raises the temperature of surrounding buildings, causing problems as it blinds passers-by. It seems that he took measures to suppress the reflected light by sanding the part.

in Note, Posted by darkhorse_log