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99% Invisible
99% Invisible

Mini-Stories: Volume 21

December 23, 2025 • 29m

Summary

⏱️ 7 min read

Overview

Roman Mars hosts the annual mini-stories episode of 99% Invisible, featuring three quick tales from producers Chris Berube, Vivian Lay, and Jason DeLeon. The stories cover the Luxor Pyramid's sky beam and grasshopper swarms, the accidental traffic goldmine of Gale.com, and the elaborate Vatican process for verifying miracles.

The Luxor Pyramid and Its Sky Beam

Chris Berube returns to pyramid stories, following up on his earlier Great American Pyramid episode. He reveals that the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas features a pyramid 29 feet taller than Memphis's Bass Pro Shop pyramid, complete with inclinators that travel up the sides at 39 degrees. The Luxor's most striking feature is its powerful sky beam, visible from California, which has become both a Vegas landmark and an unexpected attraction for the natural world.

  • The Luxor Pyramid in Las Vegas is 29 feet taller than the Great American Pyramid in Memphis, opening in 1993
  • The Luxor features inclinators instead of traditional elevators, traveling up the pyramid's sides at 39 degrees
  • The sky beam has the luminosity of 42 billion candles and is visible to airline pilots from California
  • The beam creates an ecosystem of moths, bats, and owls that circle around it nightly
" At full power, the beam is said to have the same luminosity as 42 billion candles being lit at the same time. And it is so powerful apparently airline pilots can see the Luxor beam from California. "
" Just like when you turn on your light at home, that moth always goes towards the light. When we turn the beam on, there's moths up there. And then, you know, with moths, they bring predators. bats come in and they eat and there is an ecosystem up there. "

The 2019 Grasshopper Invasion of Las Vegas

In 2019, Las Vegas experienced a biblical-scale invasion of 45 million pallid winged grasshoppers, drawn to the city's artificial lights including the Luxor beam. The swarm was so massive it could be seen from space and covered every surface on the Vegas Strip for weeks. While the Luxor beam became a focal point in media coverage, scientists note that all of Vegas's artificial lights contributed to attracting the insects during an unusually productive breeding season.

  • Nevada's rainy winter and mild spring in 2019 created perfect breeding conditions for grasshoppers
  • 45 million grasshoppers invaded the Vegas Strip, more than the city receives human visitors in a year
  • The swarm was visible from space and lasted for several weeks
  • Urban lights in Las Vegas acted as an attractant, drawing grasshoppers to otherwise poor habitat
" What we saw was that the urban lights in Las Vegas sort of act as an attractant on the landscape, drawing these insects in to what is otherwise very poor habitat, right? Parking lots in the strip of Vegas is not an interesting or attractive place for a grasshopper to be, but this light is drawing them in. "

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