Cars have convex mirrors instead of flat ones because they give a wider field of view. This means there are fewer blind spots, and the driver can see what's behind the car more clearly. However ...

On the other hand, convex mirrors do a much better job of minimizing blind spots than their flat, aka planar, alternatives. They do such a good job, in fact, that in 2010 the US Department of ...

NASCAR is testing a digital rear view mirror in its next generation Cup Series cars, which are set to debut at the Daytona 500 next year. The tech replaces traditional mirrors with a camera ...

Now that the mirror’s been cast, the team must wait more than year for it to cool down from its casting temperature of 2,552 degree Fahrenheit, to the point where it can be safely used.

A nationwide field study of two types of convex mirror systems was made by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with the cooperation of the General Services Administration (GSA) ...

Seiichi Sugiura, Kenji Kimura, Outside Rearview Mirror Requirements for Passenger Cars—Curvature, Size, and Location, SAE Transactions, Vol. 87, Section 2: 780230–780458 (1978), pp. 1622-1632 ...

The C.H.I.M.P. Rearview Monitor Mirror goes for $8 U.S. on ThinkGeek. There are certainly other desk-friendly convex mirrors out there, and if you know of one, drop it in the comments.

The shape of the mirror also makes a difference in our perception. In the U.S., passenger-side mirrors are convex (meaning curved slightly outward), whereas driver-side mirrors are flat.