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Most drivers know to look out and guard against commonly known threats to their vehicles. Things like rust and corrosion, falling tree limbs and errant deer. While some of these threats are easier to avoid than others, we’re all aware that they exist and either through vigilance and/or skilled driving they can be prevented or avoided. But what do you do if an entire building is trying to melt your car? While it sounds like science fiction: a towering malevolent building with heat ray vision and a hatred for automobiles, this is actually a problem a few Londoners have run into recently. The building in question? 20 Fenchurch Street, or as the locals have taken to calling it, the Walkie-Talkie. Because, it kind of looks like a giant walkie-talkie.

The reason that the Walkie-Talkie has been melting cars has more to do with its design than its demeanor. The building curves in such a way that it collects and concentrates light at a specific point on the street below, like a giant parabolic mirror. So far the focused has done some damage to the local shops below and a few parked cars, including a Jaguar that was unlucky enough to be caught in the center of the Walkie-Talkie’s glare and needed $1,000 worth of repairs. Right now the area on the street where the beam is the most intense has been coned off but a permanent solutions has yet to be found. The building owner claims the beams of concentrated light only occur during summer and then only during two hours each day where the son is at a certain point. Regardless, they’re exploring a number of fixes such as changing the angles of the windows or a type of coating which would cut down on the reflexiveness of the glass. The Walkie-Talkie is still under construction, so only time will tell what they come up with.

(Story and image via BBC News)