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Monday, March 19, 2012

The unilluminable room...illuminated (literally!)

You enter a room. It is dark. You cannot see, so you light a lamp that emits light through a tiny hole. You notice the walls are covered with mirrors.Suddenly, you realize there is still a part of the room that is dark. Wherever you go,this is true.Where are you? Your'e in... Tokarsky's unilluminable room!

Tokarsky unilluminable room was discovered by George Tokarsky in 1995, as a response to Victor Klee's problem. There are actually two rooms, a 26-sided one and a 24-sided one, both of which work.
My idea for making it illuminable is the following:
Take Tokarsky's room and turn it into a bubble wand. Take this, dip it in some soap, and run.
Tell your friend to take a picture of the bubble just before it comes out.
Place the match at the top of this dome, and Tokarsky's room will be illuminated!

Click here to see Tokarsky's room.