February 29 2024- Legends surrounding the Greek inventor and mathematician Archimedes suggested that he used mirrors to set fire to Roman ships over 2,000 years ago. To test the possibility, a Canadian middle school student, Brenden Sener, designed a science fair project. Using light bulbs and mirrors, he created a scaled-down version and found that while he wasn’t trying to set anything on fire, the setup, including heat lamps and mirrors, significantly increased the temperature of the target. Based on his project’s results, the 13-year-old concluded that if scaled up with a strong enough heat source, Archimedes’ concept would likely be possible.
