Las Vegas Cowers at ‘Death Ray’

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  09.30.10 | 11:13 AM ET

It singes hair! It melts plastic cups! It inspires funny leads on blogs!

The “Vdara Death Ray,” as it’s known to some pool employees at the Vdara Hotel & Spa at the Las Vegas CityCenter, is apparently a result of the design of the building. The sun reflects off one of the hotel’s towers in a way that targets a section of the hotel’s pool area with extreme temperatures for short periods of time. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Viewed from above, the Vdara tower resembles a crescent. The crescent’s southern-facing side is concave. There is no tall building farther south to block the sun’s hot afternoon rays, so Vdara receives the full brunt. Its pool lies at the center of this southern-facing wall, on top of a low-rise building that is three stories tall.

How hot is the “Death Ray”? If it can melt plastic cups, as reported, it’s pretty hot. According to the Review-Journal, plastic cups melt at around 160 degrees.



5 Comments for Las Vegas Cowers at ‘Death Ray’

Next Media Animation 09.30.10 | 12:27 PM ET

Next Media Animation (NMA), the Taiwanese media group that brought you the animated depiction of Tiger Woods’ car crash, has created a short, animated video reporting on this story, “Vegas hotel guests fried by death rays”.  Check it out!
http://www.nma.tv/2010/09/30/vegas-hotel-guests-fried-by-death-rays/

Julie Huang
Next Media Animation
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
646-571-2114

TambourineMan 09.30.10 | 3:18 PM ET

160 degrees. Wow, surely hot enough to heat Paris Hilton’s crack pipe as she lounges poolside.

Everest Base Camp Trek+Trekking 10.04.10 | 2:06 AM ET

even my sunglasses might get melt on that temperature.!!!

nicoleclayton 10.07.10 | 1:00 PM ET

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Las Vegas 10.19.10 | 2:40 AM ET

“Death rays” sound more like a sci-fi creation than a pool-side concern, but guests soaking up the sun at the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, might want to take cover.

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