[ExI] mr. medes car fire

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting Tom Nowell:


> Spike, you don't need to have many mirrors to reflect enough light  
> to warp a modern car. I bring you an example of London  
> architecture's finest, the Walkie Talkie! (It is compulsory for  
> landmark buildings to have a nickname, the more stupid the better. I  
> don't make the rules).
> This is what the BBC said:'Walkie-Talkie' skyscraper melts Jaguar car parts

> 'Walkie-Talkie' skyscraper melts Jaguar car parts
>
> A new London skyscraper dubbed the "Walkie-Talkie" is blamed for  
> reflecting light which melted parts of a car pa...

> NBC newsThis London skyscraper can melt cars and set buildings on fire
> This London skyscraper can melt cars and set buildings on fire
> London isn't famous for hot weather, but that may change soon, and  
> not because of global warming: The design of...
> AutoevolutionThis London Glass Skyscraper Could Melt Jaguars, Fry  
> Eggs and Start Fires

The cool thing about this is that it is a proof-of-principle that  
Archimedes, the guy who invented density, buoyancy, and pi could  
actually have used men holding polished shields atop the walls of the  
harbor of Syracuse to burn the whole fleet of approaching Roman ships.  
They should totally make a movie about that guy. He was amazing. He  
used science and technology to hand the Roman Navy its ass

> You'd think an architect from Uruguay would know enough to avoid  
> concave mirrors focusing heat, but then maybe he thought London  
> wasn't sunny enough for this to be a problem.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Probably not a sunny day the  
whole time they built it. I imagine there are many such examples of  
architecture poorly designed for climate change waiting to be noticed.

Stuart LaForge