Skip to main content

Giant mirrors Installed in Norwegian village to bring winter sun Down

sunlight for the first time ever thanks to giant mirrors.The mountains that surround the village of Rjukan are far from Himalayan, but they are high enough to deprive its 3,500 inhabitants of direct sunlight for six months a year. That was before a century-old idea, as old as Rjukan itself, was brought to life: to install mirrors on a 400-metre (437-yard) high peak to deflect sunrays towards the central square.
Residents of a remote village nestled in a steep-sided valley in southern Norway are about to enjoy winter

"The idea was a little crazy, but madness is our middle name," said Oeystein Haugan, a local project coordinator. "When Rjukan was founded, it was a bit crazy to start a community in the middle of nowhere with this massive hydroelectric plant, huge pipes and a railway line to transport fertiliser to the rest of the world," he added.

It was first mooted by Norwegian industrialist Sam Eyde, at whose behest Rjukan was established.
Eyde founded Norsk Hydro and wanted to take advantage of an enormous waterfall to produce chemical fertilisers. From just 300 inhabitants spread out across scattered farms in 1900, the population grew to 10,000 by 1913 and the ambitious industrialist endorsed a project to deflect sunrays into the village."It's one of the few projects that Eyde was unable to complete, due to a lack of appropriate technology," mayor Steinar Bergsland said. Instead he built a cable car, which is still in use, to allow his employees to recharge their vitamin D levels with sunlight on a mountain top.
An artist Martin Andersen, who arrived in the village from Paris, picked up the idea around ten years ago.
"The further we got into winter, the further we had to drive out of the valley to enjoy sunlight. So I asked myself: why not move the sunrays instead of moving ourselves?" he explained.
The idea was challenged by other residents who questioned the appropriateness of investing public money in the project instead of in nurseries and schools."Some labelled it a Mickey Mouse project and it's true it's a little insane, but we have to think out of the box and explore new paths," the mayor said.
Five million kroner (615,000 euro, $849,000) was raised for the project—four million from sponsors—and now three 17-square-metre (183-square-feet) mirrors tower over the north side of Rjukan village.
A computer will control the mirrors so that they follow the sun to reflect the light on the market square, lighting up a 600-square-metre (6,459-square-feet) elliptical area.
The inauguration is scheduled for sometime next week, depending on weather conditions.
"After basking in the sun, people are beaming themselves," Haugan said after the final tests.
Besides getting more cheerful citizens, local authorities hope to capitalise on the extensive media coverage of the feat to bring in more tourists.
Encouraged by its expected tourist revival, Rjukan even hopes to be included in the Unesco World Heritage List by 2015, as an example of human industrial genius.
"We have already recovered our investment dozens of times over. Maybe not in cold, hard cash for the local council but in publicity and marketing value," administrative head of the municipality Rune Loedoeen said.
"Now it's up to us to manage this asset properly."  Via: Phys.org
"It's one of the few projects that Eyde was unable to complete, due to a lack of appropriate technology," mayor Steinar Bergsland said.
Instead he built a cable car, which is still in use, to allow his employees to recharge their vitamin D levels with sunlight on a mountain top.
An artist Martin Andersen, who arrived in the village from Paris, picked up the idea around ten years ago.
"The further we got into winter, the further we had to drive out of the valley to enjoy . So I asked myself: why not move the sunrays instead of moving ourselves?" he explained.
The idea was challenged by other residents who questioned the appropriateness of investing public money in the project instead of in nurseries and schools.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-10-giant-mirrors-winter-sun-norwegian.html#jCp
It's one of the few projects that Eyde was unable to complete, due to a lack of appropriate technology," mayor Steinar Bergsland said.
Instead he built a cable car, which is still in use, to allow his employees to recharge their vitamin D levels with sunlight on a mountain top.
An artist Martin Andersen, who arrived in the village from Paris, picked up the idea around ten years ago.
"The further we got into winter, the further we had to drive out of the valley to enjoy . So I asked myself: why not move the sunrays instead of moving ourselves?" he explained.
The idea was challenged by other residents who questioned the appropriateness of investing public money in the project instead of in nurseries and schools.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-10-giant-mirrors-winter-sun-norwegian.html#jCp

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

LG’s first flexible OLED phone due before the year is out

LG plans to launch a flexible OLED smartphone before the end of the year, the company’s VP of mobile has confirmed, though it’s unclear to what extent the work-in-progress handset will actually flex. The OLED panel in question is the handiwork of LG Display according to VP of LG mobile Yoon Bu-hyun, the WSJ  reports, with the proposed device set to launch sometime in Q4. LG Display’s work on flexible OLEDs has been underway for some time, though the company’s efforts have perhaps been overshadowed somewhat by rival Samsung’s YOUM development. Last year, according to a Korea Times report, LG Display was preparing for
Flexible displays are the Future of IT Industry! A part from 4k and smart home appliances, the CES 2013 saw a lot of attention being drawn towards bendable, flexible displays. The elasticised display idea isn’t something new as we have seen hoards of device concepts being crafted around flexible, bendable and even foldable displays. These concept devices give us a futuristic feel, be it a flexible phone to be worn around the wrist or a phone that opens up to turn into a tablet or PSP-like device. But how far is this future? Nokia has been toying with the idea ever since we remember. The technology sounds very fascinating and the possibilities and the extent to which bendable displays could be used are vast and leave us spellbound. However, these have always been concepts and we haven’t seen any device materialise in the real world. There have been several technologies that were conceived in these years and all have been put to their practical use. But the bendable d

Apple Seeds watchOS 9.2 Beta 4 to Developers| Download Now

  Apple has seeded watchOS 9.2 beta 4 to developers for testing. The build number is 20S5357b. This beta version of watchOS 9.2 contains bug fixes and improvements.  Apple notes that "This version of watchOS should only be deployed on devices dedicated for watchOS beta software development." Developers can download the watchOS configuration profile from the link below.    DOWNLOAD This update introduces a new Race Route workout that is made for bicyclists and runners, along with several new features to the Home app. The function allows you to compete against your past exercises and yourself, We are moving closer to the final release of watchOS 9.2 as this is the fourth beta, and we anticipate Apple will release the final version early next week. When will the customers get the update? The final version of watchOS 9.2 could be released the following week, assuming there are no significant issues with the Release Candidate. According to earlier rumours, Apple intends to release