That's when he found the so-called death ray. AdvertisementSener surmised the Archimedes death ray wasn't impossible if it had used many more mirrors and a hotter heat source. A long history of death ray attemptsMany others have tried to recreate the death ray, with varying levels of success. Most recently, the TV show "Mythbusters" took on Archimedes' death ray three times and never managed to make it work. The reflective surfaces and fiery boats could have become conflated in the ensuing centuries, possibly creating the myth of a death ray.

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Persons: Archimedes, —, Sener, wasn't, Syracuse Sener, Roman, Marcellus, Descartes, Athanasius Kircher, Georges, Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, Ioannis Sakkas Organizations: Service, Getty Images Scientists, London Public Library Locations: Syracuse, Sicily, French