May 20, 2020 Astounding Facts You Didn’t Know About Skyscrapers

Today, whatever city you visit, you’ll almost always see very tall multi-storied buildings or what we call “skyscrapers.”

Today, whatever city you visit, you’ll almost always see very tall multi-storied buildings or what we call “skyscrapers”. The term “skyscraper” first came into use during the 1880s after the first skyscrapers were built in the United States. Aside from skyscrapers being really tall, there are still some astounding facts about skyscrapers that remain hidden for most people. In this article, let’s take a look at some of them

1. Skyscrapers Do Have A Limit
   We all know that the tallest building in the world today is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai which stands at 830 meters or 2,723 ft. tall. However, there is the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia that’s currently under construction, and it’s more than 1 kilometer taller. Another is the plan of a skyscraper in Tokyo that’s twice the size of the Burj Khalifa. Because of this, you might be wondering if there’s a height limit for the skyscrapers that humans can build? Of course, there is! At some point, skyscrapers cannot become taller– this is because of the curvature of the Earth that requires both the base and height of a skyscraper to have a limit.
2. Some Tall Buildings Can Burn You Alive
   Did you know that a skyscraper can become a destructive weapon? A building can accidentally transform into a microwave capable of harming people.

   There’s the “Walkie-Talkie” skyscraper in Central London. It has a curved, concave surface on one side that has windows that concentrating light into a narrow beam, turning it into a magnifying glass to burn ants. In 2013, a car actually ended up with some completely melted parts by parking next to the Walkie Talkie. In fact, a journalist was able to fry an egg under the “heat ray” from the building. Fortunately, the skyscraper was equipped with structures that help dissipate the reflected light in 2014, so pedestrians can now walk calmly under the Walkie-Talkie.

3. Skyscrapers Affect Weather
   Skyscrapers can modify the patterns of wind currents in the area. “Wind tunnels” that blow hard at ground level are created by skyscrapers close to each other. Moreover, as the building acts as a wall, there’s another part of the wind that’s loaded with chemical pollutants rising into the atmosphere. These pollutants then travel either to other regions or settle in areas around the building.
4. Skyscraper Occupants Age Faster
   This is probably something that’s hidden from almost everybody– but a person ages faster by living on top of a tall building. This is because of an extraordinary physical phenomenon called gravitational dilation– a phenomenon where, when we move away from the Earth, time goes faster for us. So, a person who lives all his life in a skyscraper would age a few seconds faster than a person at ground level.

Now that you know these facts about skyscrapers, you probably already find them more interesting than just being attractive tall structures that you can see almost everywhere.

About the Author
Chris Jackson is an experienced Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the construction industry. He is currently employed by Best Access Doors, an access door supplier in the US and Canada, and has been working for the company for more than 12 years now. His area of expertise is on Negotiation, Roofers, Sales, Project Estimation, and Facility Management (FM).

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