Category Archives: Video
This Fire is Cool
Researchers experimenting with flames onboard the International Space Station have produced a strange, cool-burning form of fire that could help improve the efficiency of auto engines.
Splasharific
This is a fascinating shot and there is lot going on. Play it at least three times and watch what happens above the water surface, at the water surface and below the water surface!
The explanation over at Fuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics
In air, some of the energy of this pressure wave would be dissipated by compressing the air. Since water is incompressible, however, the blast instead moves water aside as the bubble expands. Eventually, the bubble expands to the point where its pressure is less than that of the water around it, which causes the bubble to collapse. But the collapse increases the gas pressure once more, kicking off a series of expansions and collapses. Each bubble contains less energy than the previous, thanks to the loss of pushing the water aside.
Hawaii Lava Timelapse
Where the Cicadas Are, 2013 Redux
I went back to cicada-land with my slow-motion camera. I’ve still got a lot of video to edit, but here’s a decent shot at 210 fps.
I had a pretty good shot at 420 fps, but unfortunately it started out in a shaded area before going into the sunlight, and the camera does not dynamically adjust the contrast once you start shooting. So a lot of it is overexposed. Grrr.
Also got a few stills.
Great Ball o' Fire
Dropping hot charcoal into liquid oxygen – filmed with a high-speed camera.
So Hot, So Cool
Where the Cicadas Are, 2013
The video is for listening, mostly. I know it’s cicada season and brood II was supposed to be big in places along the mid-Atlantic and northeast, but I had only heard a few buzzes thus far — where I live and work were inundated back in 2004 by brood X, and I don’t know how much that crowds out other groups. It makes sense we wouldn’t have a big brood XI, if the hordes from the previous year allowed a predator population explosion, but I’ve seen some in other years and expected more this year.
But once I got outside of town to go geocaching, I saw (and heard) swarms. The background sound that’s reminiscent of the phaser sound on the original Star Trek is the chorus, and then there’s the other chirping/buzzing. And it was LOUD. It’s interesting that the buzzing comes and goes, like a resonance. It’s like one cicada starts calling and the others join in because they don’t want to be left out of advertising to the ladies.
I had one land on me and start calling, which was a little weird because all of the sudden there’s this screaming sound coming from a different place than the background. Plus, I’m not his type. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my slo-mo camera; there was a lot of flying about going on, which I’d like to capture. Maybe all the factors will cooperate next weekend.
That's Hot
♫ The Periodic Table ♪
As cute as this is, silicon and silicone are not the same thing.
However, showing a submarine for Hafnium scores a bonus point (reactor control rods)