Awesome Slow Motion

BBC Earth Unplugged turns its macro lens on the house fly to show just how good they are at detecting impending doom, with their omnidirectional vision and fast reaction time. It’s fascinating footage, but we’re pretty sure they could have hit the fly if they tried harder.

The Slow Mo Guys made a cheap – and dangerous – version of the Catherine wheel aka pinwheel firework by setting a bundle of steel wool on fire and then spinning it around with a string.

The Backyard Scientist shows off what happens when salt is melted (at ~1400ºF) and then poured into in an aquarium filled with room temperature water. The end result is a shockingly big boom that sends glass and water flying everywhere. (Thanks Paul!)

We’ve seen lots of awesome yo-yo tricks over the years, but videographer Darren Dyk gives us a newfound appreciation for the artistry and talent that goes into these tricks by capturing master yo-yo throwers JT Nickel and Paul Dang with his Phantom slow motion camera.

Dan of The Slow Mo Guys acceded to fan suggestions (and the lure of YouTube fame and fortune) and triggered a mouse trap with his tongue in front of their Phantom camera. While the human tongue is indeed strong, it’s definitely not numb. Man that was nasty.

Carsandwater takes a momentary break from his red hot nickel ball to drop an 83.5 pound weight on some lime gelatin, then repeats the “experiment” after deep-freezing some in liquid nitrogen. Why? Because YouTube.

When you think of it, the spinning blade on a lawnmower is like a giant version of the one in drink blenders. In this super-sized version of Will It Blend?, we find get to see the slow-mo destruction of various household objects dropped into said mower blade.

If you’ve ever been clocked on the head by a golf ball, you’d be certain they’re hard as a rock. But they’re actually quite pliable. Here’s slow-mo footage of a golf ball as it hits a steel wall at 150mph. While it’s likely it was a practice ball, a regular ball still flexes quite a bit.

Slow motion photographer Darren Dyk once again captured stunning footage of skateboarders turning in some epic kicks and flips while rolling through colorful powders, turning their motion trails into momentary works of art.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Los Angeles Lakers. Nah, MythBusters tested if a tank car can implode because of a vacuum. After two failed attempts, they succeeded by using a damaged and old car. The funny part? They could’ve confirmed the myth with a YouTube search.

The Slow Mo Guys loaded up a drill bit with several colors of wet paint, then captured the ensuing spatter with their high-speed camera at up to 2500fps. The spiraling paint drops are cool, and they could probably sell the artwork they created at a fancy gallery now.

The most interesting man in Norway doesn’t always have coffee in the morning, but when he does, he does it while ice skating in a bathrobe and sneakers. Also he doesn’t actually drink the coffee.

It’s not a likely real world scenario, but it’s still fascinating to see exactly what happens to a shotgun as a .50 cal bullet is fired directly down its barrel towards the receiver. The explosive slow-motion shot captured by FullMag is Mythbusters worthy.

We’ve seen a short film that’s best watched on a smartphone screen. On the other hand, we imagine Jean-Charles Granjon’s meditative slow-motion film about a cliff diver would be awesome on a large monitor, turned on its side.

The infamous Steve-O dropped by The Slow Mo Guys’ headquarters for one of their best episodes yet. The idea was that he’d set his hand on fire, do a backflip and spit flammable oil to pop a hanging balloon, which would then unload water on him. The stunt starts at 2:11.

“He lost his son, so he adopted the streets.” YouTuber DefendTheHouse made a basketball trick shot video in Fallout 4 with the help of the game’s drug Jet, which slows down everything else but the player. Bonus points for the ballin’ backing track, Whispering Through by Asura.