“Let's say you you were into making solar ovens.”
July 23, 2018 6:03 AM   Subscribe

 
Ah, short-term memory. I've learned never to leave things as though I'll be "right back."
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:14 AM on July 23, 2018 [13 favorites]


You rushed to the local plastics store and bought highly reflective Mylar and glued it to the antenna.

“Upon reflection, this was a regrettable decision.”
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:17 AM on July 23, 2018 [74 favorites]


You think that's bad, the author was so preoccupied with the damage to the car that he forgot about the termite farm he'd left in his office.
posted by duffell at 6:20 AM on July 23, 2018 [28 favorites]


Oh, and earwigs DO NOT clean your earwax for you.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:25 AM on July 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


What's the "uh oh" picture showing? Did he cook that white car, too?
posted by wenestvedt at 6:29 AM on July 23, 2018


wenestvedt- the point isn't the other car in the mirror- but the dripping that you can see from the roof of his own car reflected in it.
posted by Gratishades at 6:31 AM on July 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


Building designers say: hold my beer

but don't hold it over there, it'll boil
posted by lalochezia at 6:31 AM on July 23, 2018 [24 favorites]


@lalochezia, I just remembered an old SF story in Analog where a building with adjustable windows was used as a murder weapon. I say we check the architect for priors.
posted by Mogur at 6:51 AM on July 23, 2018 [13 favorites]


that reminds me, I want a solar oven......ever since I spent a week with no power after a hurricane, I have thought, I'd like to have a solar oven, if that ever happens again
posted by thelonius at 6:55 AM on July 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


So back to the buildings: there was a building in London that was built with a parabolic form, that cause a bit of street during parts of the year to become deeply, unpleasantly hot.

Then there was a hotel in Las Vegas that did the same thing to the pool area, but for a large portion of the year, making it dangerous.

Both of these were designed by the same architect. Who, I think, we need to give either a psychological examination to determine his dangerous intent, or a revocation of architect license for ridiculous failure in paying attention. What if the third one really, actually DOES work?
posted by mephron at 6:59 AM on July 23, 2018 [17 favorites]


I've never had a problem because I always safely eject the parabolic mirrors from my car.
posted by Western Infidels at 7:01 AM on July 23, 2018 [22 favorites]



Building designers say: hold my beer

but don't hold it over there, it'll boil


I travel into Dallas for the museums, and the Nasher really has been destroyed by the solar disaster of a condo building that went up beside it.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:02 AM on July 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


Will it produce a deathray that'll zap pigeons from the sky? Because our local(ish) landmark would like a word.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:06 AM on July 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


Can I use this to bake/cook food in the car?
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:18 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


Can I use this to bake/cook food in the car?

You can probably use it to bake other cars. Aim carefully!
posted by BungaDunga at 7:22 AM on July 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


I just remembered an old SF story in Analog where a building with adjustable windows was used as a murder weapon. I say we check the architect for priors.

Found it! It's "Katakiuchi", by Charles Colyott. It's available in a collection called Uncommon Assassins , but I think I read it in Analog, sometime before that.
posted by Mogur at 7:32 AM on July 23, 2018 [12 favorites]


it brings a whole new meaning to "riding eternal, shiny and chrome"
posted by BungaDunga at 7:34 AM on July 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


Okay.

You you were into making solar ovens...
posted by Naberius at 7:43 AM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Cockeyed - the death ray. Read the whole thing.
posted by theora55 at 7:44 AM on July 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


I just remembered an old SF story in Analog where a building with adjustable windows was used as a murder weapon.

I remember a similar story about a reflecting telescope causing someone to drive off a rocky cliff.

But now I'm thinking a better story would be about a dog and cat abandoned in a hot car using the parabolic mirror to escape and destroy all humans.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:56 AM on July 23, 2018 [9 favorites]


Okay.

You you were into making solar ovens...


I'm not sure why you are solar-oven-shaming........this comes from a high school physics teaching blog
posted by thelonius at 8:00 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


More science fiction:

An Arthur Clarke story about the crowd at a game being told to aim their shiny program books at the umpire. They had the impression is was a prank which would blind him briefly, but the heat killed him. Probably a Tales of the White Hart story.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 8:03 AM on July 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm starting with the man in the mirr...argh,
I'm asking him to change the rays,
And no message could have been any clearer,
If you want to make the world a hotter place,
Get a satellite dish and melt the change.

Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!
posted by arcticseal at 8:03 AM on July 23, 2018 [15 favorites]


ZeusHumms: You might have better results with this cookbook.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:06 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


If you got a parabolic mirror with a shallow enough curve could you focus that sunlight back into space? Could you get the focus such that it would vaporise space debris? (Or satellites that you didn't like)
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:15 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


No, don't leave an UNCOVERED parabolic mirror in your car...
posted by jim in austin at 8:32 AM on July 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


.You you were into making solar ovens...

I'm not sure why you are solar-oven-shaming........this comes from a high school physics teaching blog


I think the sass is referring more to the double use of the word "you" in the title ("Let's say you you were into making solar ovens....").

Personally, I just feel like every time we see a post like this asavage quietly gnashes his teeth and says "We busted it three times and it will still not die!"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:37 AM on July 23, 2018 [7 favorites]


No, don't leave an UNCOVERED parabolic mirror in your car...

Not with an open/unshaded sunroof, in an uncovered parking spot.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:54 AM on July 23, 2018


I've never had a problem because I always safely eject the parabolic mirrors from my car.

Metafilter has the weirdest tastes in running gags.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:59 AM on July 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


This is Just To Say

I have taken
the mirror
that was in
the backseat

and which
you were probably
saving
for a death ray

Forgive me
it was so brilliant
so shiny
and so hot
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:10 AM on July 23, 2018 [35 favorites]


Metafilter has the weirdest tastes in running gags.

This is Just To Say


Now that's what I call synchronicity.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:15 AM on July 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


I want a solar oven.....

I've heard that cooking with one can be very satisfying.
You can just wrap up a bunch of savory stuff in aluminum foil, place it at the focus and retrieve it later, when it smells good.
posted by Rash at 9:19 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


I had something similar happen with a overhead projector on the passenger seat of a car I was driving. I was sitting at a stoplight and smoke started coming out of it. I was WTF it's not even plugged in till realized it had a frenel lens that was burning the inside from the sun.
posted by boilermonster at 9:34 AM on July 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


“Upon reflection, this was a regrettable decision.”

fry_narrowing_eyes.gif
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:55 AM on July 23, 2018 [9 favorites]


Can I use this to bake/cook food in the car?

I date myself perhaps, but you don't need fancy equipment to bake in the car.
posted by Western Infidels at 10:07 AM on July 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


Metafilter: the weirdest taste in running gags.




hey, SOMEBODY had to.
posted by hearthpig at 10:17 AM on July 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


Somewhere I still have a Dutch-made thermos which features a glass, vacuum insulated (but not silvered) bottle in a teardrop shaped case which opens up to expose two curved metal mirrors designed to focus sunlight on the bottle when properly oriented with respect to the Sun.

Seattle's weak sunlight would give you 750ml of boiling water in ~20 minutes, but I didn't use it much because a black anodized aluminum insert was essential if you didn't want to wait an hour or more.
posted by jamjam at 10:29 AM on July 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


> Both of these were designed by the same architect. Who, I think, we need to give either a psychological examination to determine his dangerous intent, or a revocation of architect license for ridiculous failure in paying attention. What if the third one really, actually DOES work?

According to the Gizmodo link, the two buildings are by the same architect but the problems with the second one (the London building) are the builder's fault, for refusing to obey the architect's design details that would have prevented focusing the sunlight rays.
posted by ardgedee at 10:36 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


could you focus that sunlight back into space?

No. The smallest possible beam you can create with mirrors, lenses, and the sun will have a spot size of 1/2 degree. So, at 100 miles, your beam will be almost a mile wide.

The sun is 1/2 degree wide. These two facts are related.
posted by Hatashran at 11:30 AM on July 23, 2018 [8 favorites]


RobotVoodooPower: "I remember a similar story about a reflecting telescope causing someone to drive off a rocky cliff."

That's Arthur C. Clarke's "Let There Be Light", one of the White Hart stories.

Nancy Lebovitz: "An Arthur Clarke story about the crowd at a game being told to aim their shiny program books at the umpire. They had the impression is was a prank which would blind him briefly, but the heat killed him. Probably a Tales of the White Hart story."

And that's Clarke's "A Slight Case of Sunstroke." Not a White Hart one.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:37 AM on July 23, 2018 [4 favorites]




" I think I was lucky that my car didn't catch on fire."
That's not luck; it's regulation mandating non-flammable or self extinguishing plastics in cars.
posted by Mitheral at 12:52 PM on July 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


I think the sass is referring more to the double use of the word "you" in the title ("Let's say you you were into making solar ovens....").

I didn't consider the post title at all, and the joke went over my head: sorry, Naberius!
posted by thelonius at 2:03 PM on July 23, 2018


OK most of us don't drive around with parabolic mirrors, but did you ever leave a bottle of water in your car on a sunny day? You're lucky your car didn't catch fire.
posted by beagle at 3:48 PM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is why I only drive at night, or when it's cloudy. Can't be too careful...
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:03 PM on July 23, 2018


I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Burning Mirror of Archimedes, with which he burnt the boats of the Roman fleet as it approached Syracuse. Unfortunately, it's more of a clever tale than actual history, but it's one of those legends one wishes were true.
posted by SPrintF at 5:12 PM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


That's the myth what was busted three times.
posted by onya at 6:45 PM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


Teacher tip: All those projection televisions which are being thrown out in favor of plasma and LCD have large frenel lenses inside of them.
posted by eustatic at 9:00 PM on July 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


You can melt sand on the beach with the fresnel lens from an old tv. Wear welding eye protection
posted by Dr. Curare at 11:42 AM on July 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


I almost had this happen to me because I left one of those "helping hands" with a magnifier on my workbench near the south-facing window in my garage. after a few weeks (months?) the change in the elevation of the sun was enough that it was shining right on it. My wife came home, opened the garage door, and smoke rolled out. I was really lucky she wasn't working that day because all of my oil and paint and other flammable things are in that corner of the garage too.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 2:05 PM on July 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


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