Vegas Death Ray

Via Gardner Dozois, the news that the new Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas has its very own built-in death ray, which it is using for the very best purpose— cooking lawyers.

“I’m sitting there in the chair and all of the sudden my hair and the top of my head are burning.  I’m rubbing my head and it felt like a chemical burn. I couldn’t imagine what it could be.”

. . . Speaking with employees, [lawyer Bill Pintas] was alarmed to find out that the hotel staff was aware of the situation.  He recalls, “They’re kind of giggling and say: ‘Yeah, we know. We call it the death ray.”

The “death ray” appears to be created by the glass surface of the hotel itself — acting as a concentrating parabolic dish — similar to those used to heat water to a boil in solar power systems.  The dish concentrates light on a 10-foot by 15-foot hot zone moving across the pool.  Temperatures in this area spike 20 degrees Fahrenheit — or more.

Bill Pintas saw his plastic newspaper bag literally begin to melt.  The bag — composed of polyethylene — is designed to withstand temperatures of up to 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.  And the employees recall seeing plastic cups — which have a melting point of 160 degrees Fahrenheit – actually melting.

. . . The hotel is baffled by how to solve the problem of the “death ray”, though.  When initially constructing the building, they anticipated the issue and put a coating over the glass that absorbs 70 percent of the daytime sunlight.  However, that was not enough to reduce its painful effects.  And the ray sweeps across a wide area, making it hard to protect a specific region.

Comments Mr. Absher, “This is quite literally an astronomical challenge,” Absher said. “We are dealing with a moving target.”

Yeah, those lawyers can move pretty fast when they want to.