Mystery of Prince Rupert's Drop at 130,000 fps - Smarter Every Day 86

Why HN readers recommended it

Recommended across Prince Rupert's drop and glass threads for its striking high-speed footage.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

SmarterEveryDay

Topic

prince rupert's drops

Format

demo

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

4

HN mentions in dataset

10

Recommendation years in dataset

2013–2024

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Interesting. I love glass blowing. Maybe I'll learn about it some day. Borosilicate and aluminosilicate cookware is actually pretty tolerant of chipping, because pieces tend to be thoroughly annealed. Tempered soda-lime, on the other hand, is not, so it has tremendous internal stress that makes …

• Also discussed and illustrated in "The Curious Properties of a Molten Glass Blob Dropped in Cold Water" [LINK] The story linked is just a blog wrapper on a "Smarter Every Day" episode, which is definitely worth watching. Smarter Every Day: [VIDEO]

• You'd just see some blinding white light for a few seconds and then maybe nothing else for the rest of your life. Our human eyes and brains limit us from perceiving even everyday things with the majesty they deserve. Even popping water balloons looks amazing …