Teenager builds a steel melting "death ray"with 58,000 mirrors

Teenager builds a steel melting "death ray"with 58,000 mirrors

www.examiner.com

His dish, with a diameter of only 42 inches, has the ability to "melt steel, vaporize aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate an organic material in an instant." He shows off some of the "death rays" capabilities in a youtube video. While it is impressive and clearly dangerous, "death ray" is a bit of an exaggeration.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not exactly High Tech but is his version of Archimedes Death Ray. Unfortunately it burned itself up which the builder, Eric Jacqmain, is calling a suicide.

Eric Jacqmain, 19, took 5,800 tiny mirrors, put them onto a 5'9” dish at a cost of only about 90 dollars, and proceeded to obliterate anything he put into its focal point (you remember discussions on parabolic reflectors from high school, don't you?).

The article has a link to a YouTube video demonstration of his ray burning through wood, metal, rocks, concrete.

Every home should have one??

www.examiner.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Title needs to be fixed, it's actually 5,800 mirrors.

Edit: I suppose I should comment on the topic itself

He was able to melt steel for about 90$ worth of material and only needs the sun to operate, I would think they could put something similiar to use in industry in place of heat sources fueled by other (costly) sources.

"Death ray"? "Melting steel"? Guess headlines sell. It'll take a lot more than gluing mirrors to the surface of a satellite TV dish antenna to do any of the things this kid is alluding to. Far stronger mirrors are used in solar power plants with less fanfare... (see Solar Power Plant)

reply to post by Erongaricuaro


Unfortunately, it seems to have been a victim of its own immense power:

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. Nothing left of it but half melted wagon parts and the adjustable mount.' If there was ever a case of self-destruction, this was it.

Source: Daily Mail

But it's cool - the next one is going to have 32,000 mirrors!

Originally posted by warbird03
Title needs to be fixed, it's actually 5,800 mirrors.

Edit: I suppose I should comment on the topic itself

He was able to melt steel for about 90$ worth of material and only needs the sun to operate, I would think they could put something similiar to use in industry in place of heat sources fueled by other (costly) sources.

edit on 31-1-2011 by warbird03 because: (no reason given)

Thanks for the correction. I must have confused his next project which is to build one with 32,000 mirrors. Star.

I had the same thought in mind, this is a lot of power coming from a device made for $90.

So his only motivation for building this "Death Ray" is to put different things in the focus point and burn them?? ..Has he never heard of a magnifying glass???

Surely he could of come up with a better use for it than that.

StrangeyD

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
"Death ray"? "Melting steel"? Guess headlines sell. It'll take a lot more than gluing mirrors to the surface of a satellite TV dish antenna to do any of the things this kid is alluding to. Far stronger mirrors are used in solar power plants with less fanfare... (see Solar Power Plant)

He did a demo, looks like it could do some damage. Sure, not high-tech what this kid built. Your power plant looks a bit pricier than $90. I have to give the kid credit for building his project on the cheap. I think it pretty amazing he got it in such precision alignment to get such a tight focal point.

Like it. You could easily heat water and cook with this, I'm amazed it's not used more as a free energy source. Although, not good for those of us who live with constant cloud above our heads (like here in England, yes, we like to moan about the weather, you would too if you lived here, heh)

Anyway, here's a bigger version of these mirrors, this one melts thick steel www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Hawkwind.


See now those are far better motivations and uses for this device other than just melting stuff...
dont get me wrong its a nice bit of kit and a great acheivement for the Teenager that built it it just seemed silly to me at first when i read that all he did was burn stuff with it. lol

StrangeyD

That youtube link at the source is not working. Anybody got a good one.

reply to post by sonofliberty1776


There's a HD version embedded in this link: Daily Mail

Originally posted by Hawkwind.
Like it. You could easily heat water and cook with this, I'm amazed it's not used more as a free energy source. Although, not good for those of us who live with constant cloud above our heads (like here in England, yes, we like to moan about the weather, you would too if you lived here, heh)

Anyway, here's a bigger version of these mirrors, this one melts thick steel www.youtube.com...

That is some wicked ray in your link. I think I would be afraid of that one in my backyard. There has to be some good industrial use for one this large.

I wouldn't want to stand near it myself. Wicked.

Originally posted by lizziejayne
reply to post by sonofliberty1776

 

There's a HD version embedded in this link: Daily Mail

Much better photos than OP. Wish I had stumbled across that one to begin with. Star.

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.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

Jesus Christ, people. Must you bitch and moan about everything? So he used it to melt things. You're criticizing him for that? It's a science experiment! What should he be doing instead, sitting on his ass playing video games? Or maybe he should be wasting his time posting on message forums criticizing people who engage in productive and intelligent activities they enjoy? Remind you of anyone?

Are you people really comparing his creation to industrial solar panels? Really? Of course his isn't as big or powerful. He's a damn 19 year old kid who spent $90 to run some experiments. He doesn't have the money, resources, or manpower of a government or corporation. No one is claiming this creation of his is the best of it's kind and is some sort of new invention. He's just conducting a science experiment.

I swear, some of you people need to lighten up and grow up. I applaud him for what he did. It's encouraging to see younger people doing things like this with their time instead of sitting around a TV watching American Idol.

I guess not all the younger generation waste all their time on facebook and twitter...

Good for him!

reply to post by pianopraze


Exactly. Yeah, his device isn't going to change the world. But shouldn't we be encouraging more of this? Who knows, maybe if more people of the younger generation got more involved in science and less involved in Facebook, someone could develop something that WOULD change the world. It's possible. But one thing I know for a fact is tweeting and updating your Facebook status is not going to change a thing.

For all you guys that want a death ray just get yourself a fresnel lens off of an old rear projection TV.

this just in.. TSA just announces that mirrors and fresnel lens will no longer be allowed on planes..

thanks for posting this .. im gunna make one! off to pick disco ball apart..

Just imagine something like this orbiting the Earth oh and with perhaps a couple million dollars in spending....

Talk about solar energy....of destruction!!!