How to Have Fun with Water and the Polar Vortex
We don't condone frolicking outside during this ongoing Coldmageddon, nor do we approve of playing games with boiling water, but these videos of other people having fun with science, freezing temperatures, and the dreaded Polar Vortex are pretty cool way to pass the time today.
Yes, there are a few brave and foolish American souls are determined to trifle with nature, video cameras, and a whole host of objects just begging to be frozen in record times. Here's the best of their handiwork.
Boiling Water = Snow
People throwing boiling water into the air and watching as the freezing cold temperatures turn it into snow was actual a YouTube phenomenon not too long ago, originating from the always frigid country of Russia. Now people are doing it in the Midwest, like the guy above. Explaining why boiling water turns into snow faster than cold water does is something that stumps scientists, who can't really explain why that is, as Yahoo reports. Yahoo explains:
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The phenomenon is known as the Mpemba effect and is named after Ernesto Mpemba, a student from Tanzania who found that he could make ice cream faster if he used milk that had been heated up. His claims were mocked by some, but Mpemba asked around and found that local ice cream merchants were already using his technique. Today it's widely accepted, if not exactly widely understood.
Here are more clips of the Mpemba effect in action
And one more:
Please remember that these people are throwing BOILING water and if you do this wrong, it will hurt.
Super Soaker Fog Machine
That same Mpemba effect works in turning Super Soaker water guns into fog machines:
And one more:
Things Freezing Fast
Apparently, there is a great human desire to see how fast things freeze. The woman in the video below shows us how cold it is in Chicago, and how fast her bottle of water freezes. It's hypnotizing:
Things Freeze
There is apparently also a desire to see things freeze that normally aren't frozen. Like eggs and oranges:
And soap bubbles:
Things Break When They Freeze
Another things people like to freeze are t-shirts:
And naturally, after you freeze something, the next thing you want to do is break it:
Again, we cannot stress this enough, that there are dangers of being out in the cold right now, like frostbite and hypothermia. (Seriously, be careful.) Remember, it is so cold that polar bears in Chicago are being kept inside.
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This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/01/how-have-fun-water-and-polar-vortex/356760/
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