Monday, April 28, 2025

December 4, 2019

OK, So Let’s Check Out Popcorn Popping At 30 000 Frames Per Second [Video]

Am I bothered about what popcorn popping looks like when it's slowed right down? No, not at all. I guess this isn't really for my benefit, though.

Do we have to?

Well, we’re here, so we may as well.

Popcorn, as the name implies, pops. If you slow that process riiiiight down – like 30 000 frames per second down – you need to get ready to “weep salty tears over the beauty of our universe”.

VICE’s words, not mine – I believe I have made my stance on all of this very clear already.

More from those guys:

Warped Perception, Chicago-based YouTubers who’ve turned their Phantom Flex 4K high-speed camera on everything from dog tongues to eyebrow tweezing, bring us the most moving video on the internet today.

By today, they mean back in 2017, when the video was uploaded to YouTube.

The frame rate is important here:

At 1,300 frames per second, the kernel leaps from the heating element, full of starch and joy, and explodes into its fluffy final form before tumbling down in a cloud of steam. Before it pops, the pressure inside reaches around 135 psi and its internal temperature hits 356 degrees fahrenheit.

But that’s not slow enough. At 30,000 FPS—1,250 times slower than real time—you can watch the kernel’s insides expand peel the hard hull apart like a rose blooming. If it gets much slower, this kernel’s heading back in time.

Cool.

Observe:

Wow, I’m now weeping salty tears at my desk and marvelling at the wonders of our universe.

Or something like that.

Good day.

[source:vice]