Italian village gets lit up thanks to gargantuos mirror

Considering nobody (well, mostly) likes to be alone in the dark for months on end, a group of Italians have devised a method to brighten everyone's day. Due to their position around numerous mountaintops that cut off direct sunlight and warmth during the winter months, the villagers were previously left to fend off darkness and cold without any external assistance, but thanks to a ridiculously large mirror (and some clever engineering), all that's changed. The sun-challenged hamlet nestled in the Ossola Valley now has a "towering 26- by 16-foot mirror installed on the flank of one bluff," and it utilizes a "computer to follow the sun's path and cast its rays back on Viganella." The project, seven years in the making, was reportedly difficult to construct and fund, but now that they've forked out the €100,000 ($131,260) and rediscovered the sun, we imagine the current population of 185 will likely be on the rise when envious folks from neighboring towns start to move in.

[Andy @ Dec 19th 2006 11:28AM]

Anyone have a rock?

[Jonathan Kutz @ Dec 19th 2006 11:47AM]

To the post above,

That was the exact thing I was thinking.

[NitroNeo @ Dec 19th 2006 11:53AM]

nothing yet that I'm aware of and I've practically checked the original post daily.

[codywatson @ Dec 19th 2006 12:04PM]

I think if you were to break this, the years of bad luck are the square metres of surface area of the mirror. The 26 foot by 16 foot (7.924816 metres x 4.87681 metres) mirror should garner you about 38.647822 years bad luck. So you should be back to neutral (or good) luck on August 11, 2045 at about 2:15pm PST.

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2006 12:44PM]

Forget the science of Star Trek being realized today, it's about time someone used a piece of tech from a James Bond movie!

[teodoro @ Dec 19th 2006 12:51PM]

So I guess solar power has not been in use in this part of the world for some time.

[Derrick @ Dec 19th 2006 1:14PM]

How long before someone tries to use the mirror to block out the sun?

[John Doe @ Dec 19th 2006 10:25PM]

Simpsons did it! ;-)

[Matt B @ Dec 19th 2006 1:15PM]

I bet it makes the town look fat.

[granny down east @ Dec 19th 2006 1:22PM]

WCU Cullowhee NC could use a dozen of these, the East's most depressing town.

[The Schizo @ Dec 19th 2006 1:35PM]

curve the mirrors a little and you have a giant solar ray to... let's just say it'll be like an ant farm.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2006 2:30PM]

Why do I get the feeling Breitbart is using a stock photo of a sunset that they purchased from Getty Images to illustrate this news story?

[Den @ Dec 19th 2006 2:38PM]

I am Sorry, Engadget team, but your source on Viganella is a hoax. The mirror does not exist, there is in fact a project in Viganella to build one, but no financing is found yet.

The source Bretbart article is a hoax and it doesn't even have a source link. The official links to this story are:

BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4413580.stm

Viganella Web-Site: http://www.comune.viganella.vb.it/ProgettoSpecchio.asp?cod=1

[George @ Dec 19th 2006 3:25PM]

This article from BBC (Dec 18, 2006), which is newer than the article Den posted from 2005, claims the mirror was finally installed this past Sunday, Dec. 17, is it still a hoax?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6189371.stm

[Lee @ Dec 19th 2006 2:46PM]

How much windex will it take to clean this thing? And if a bird leaves it's droppings? It would cast a 40 ft shadow on the town. I would hate to be the guy to clean that thing.

[Den @ Dec 19th 2006 4:11PM]

I have not seen that new article on BBC web-site. I looked at Viganella's web-site and saw that the project is still in "modelling stage".I have not seen any photos of "real mirror" on their web-site either.
(http://www.comune.viganella.vb.it/ComHome.asp)

I trust BBC and found a small article on ANSA.it (the BBC's source): http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/news_collection/awnplus_topnews/2006-12-17_11729776.html

Seems like Viganella web-site have not been updated yet. So I was wrong, and I apologize in fromt of Engadget community.

[tedk @ Dec 19th 2006 3:46PM]

Any picks for first follow up story to this article?

"Hailstorm sends Italian village into darkness, years of bad luck"

or

"Hundreds blinded in Italian village, UN airlifting 185 pairs of sunglasses"

or

"Risks at dangerous blind corner eliminated in Italian village"

[Gamer90 @ Dec 19th 2006 7:48PM]

No excuses. KILL HIM!!!!

[freeshri @ Dec 19th 2006 7:57PM]

"Look! There's a ring around the mirror!"

[Winship @ Dec 20th 2006 1:17AM]

Immediately i could envision a window washer cleaning this enormous mirror, while casting a horrific shadow of a flying man over the town...


Either way this could have all been avoided by just NOT living down in a hole that gets no sunlight. "There's no sun here. Let's find somewhere else to live."

[schimmi @ Feb 3rd 2007 3:28PM]

this was on digg a while ago, yeah i dugg it.