Supersonic soda stream and firework blobs in slow motion

Slow motion videos are not only mesmerising – they let us see physical phenomena usually invisible to the naked eye.

The Slow Motion Video Awards, presented on 9 November at the 31st International Congress of High-Speed Imaging and Photonics held in Osaka, Japan, recognise the art and science of high-speed imaging.

Here are two of the winners. Click here for the full list.


The Excellent Slow Motion Video Award,
which came with prizemoney of 200,000 yen (US$1,860), was won by Phred Petersen and Phil Taylor from Melbourne, Australia.

Filmed at 53,000 frames per second, you can see flow hurtling at around 1.02 times the speed of sound from a soda bottle. The “shock diamonds” are standing waves that occur in supersonic flow.

Chihiro Inoue from Tokyo, Japan won the Scientific Slow Motion Video Award and 50,000 yen with this footage of fireworks. 

Each spark is a droplet, propelled as air bubbles on the surface of the firework pop.

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