• don@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Imagine a malicious person constantly aiming the light at at the house of someone they don’t like. Good thing it doesn’t seem to be feasible any time soon.

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      3 months ago

      “I want a spot, but I want all of my sunlight focused onto a spot about a centimeter across. I’ll give you the coordinates.”

      • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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        3 months ago

        Because the sun is not a point source but a disk half a degree across, you can’t focus the sun tighter than about a 1km spot from a mirror in low earth orbit.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Okay but can we make that 1 km hot enough to burn everything inside of it?

          For science of course.

      • potentiallynotfelix@lemdro.id
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        3 months ago

        Theoretically, but I don’t see protests or riots stopping because of light… riots happen in the day, too, and the violent ones are going to be masked up so more light won’t do anything to reveal their identity

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Surely not. Mirrors are incapable of destruction. Why that would be dangerous! You could burn crops or boil away water reserves. Surely no corporation would so irresponsible!