🤖 AI Summary
Overview
This episode explores the fascinating world of slowing down time through groundbreaking imaging technologies. From the invention of the strobe by Harold Edgerton to modern trillion and quadrillion frames-per-second cameras, the episode delves into how these innovations reveal phenomena invisible to the naked eye, such as light traveling through objects and electron dynamics.
Notable Quotes
- Harold, can't you take a picture of something a little more interesting?
– Harold Edgerton's wife, inspiring him to expand strobe photography beyond motors.
- The attosecond is to the second what the second is to the age of the universe.
– On the mind-boggling precision of attosecond imaging.
- When you have a prediction, and then you have a measurement, and they don't agree, that's when you get really excited.
– On the thrill of scientific discovery.
📸 The Invention of the Strobe
- Harold Edgerton developed the strobe in the 1930s to freeze motion, solving the problem of blurry images caused by fast-moving objects.
- His strobe used a high-voltage pulse to ionize gas, creating a brief, intense flash of light lasting just 10 microseconds.
- Edgerton's strobe photography captured iconic images, such as hummingbirds in flight and tennis balls deforming on impact, showcasing events invisible to the human eye.
- His work extended to military applications, including nighttime reconnaissance during WWII, where strobes illuminated enemy positions from high altitudes.
🎥 Spatial vs. Temporal Resolution
- Modern high-speed cameras face a trade-off between spatial resolution (image detail) and temporal resolution (frame rate).
- Edgerton's strobe technique excels in spatial resolution, capturing sharp single frames, while modern cameras like the 20,000 FPS Photron Nova S16 prioritize temporal resolution for motion sequences.
- The episode demonstrates this trade-off by comparing a bullet piercing a card using both techniques, highlighting the strengths and limitations of each.
🌌 Watching Light Move
- Cameras capable of capturing one trillion frames per second can visualize light traveling through objects, such as a laser pulse moving through a bottle.
- These cameras use single-pixel sensors and time-of-flight measurements, scanning scenes point by point to reconstruct ultra-slow-motion videos.
- The technique relies on predictable light scattering and can achieve unlimited spatial resolution by increasing scan points.
🔬 Imaging Electrons at Quadrillion FPS
- At SLAC's 3.2-kilometer-long electron accelerator, researchers use attosecond x-ray pulses to study electron dynamics within molecules.
- By ionizing specific atoms in a molecule and measuring the kinetic energy of ejected electrons, scientists infer electron density and its changes over time.
- This method creates molecular movies
at over a quadrillion frames per second, revealing processes like charge distribution shifts in unprecedented detail.
- The technique requires repeatable molecular behavior to stitch together snapshots into coherent sequences.
⚡ The Future of Ultra-Slow Imaging
- Combining strobe photography with trillion FPS cameras opens new possibilities, such as visualizing electron behavior and molecular transformations.
- These advancements challenge our understanding of fundamental physics, offering insights into phenomena like wave-particle duality and molecular bonding.
- The episode emphasizes the importance of curiosity and experimentation, encouraging viewers to pursue their own creative and scientific endeavors.
AI-generated content may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth.
📋 Video Description
What happens if you keep slowing down time? Sponsored by Hostinger - Make today your Day One and visit https://ve42.co/VE10. Use code VERITASIUM for an additional discount.
If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://ve42.co/SnatomsV
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0:00 How does a strobe work?
3:28 The Man Who Stopped Time
8:43 Spatial vs Temporal Resolution
13:09 1 Trillion FPS
16:56 Watching Light Move
19:04 The Straightest Building in the World
24:19 How to get 1 Quadrillion FPS
28:25 Seeing Electrons
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A huge thank you to Jim Bales, Kim Vandiver, Jamie Chelel and everyone at the MIT Edgerton Center for walking us through Edgerton’s demos - https://ve42.co/EdgertonC
Thank you to Tech Imaging for letting us use their Photron Nova S16 high-speed video camera - https://ve42.co/TechImg
A massive thank you Nikhil Behari, Ramesh Raskar and MIT’s Camera Culture Group for having us over - https://ve42.co/CameraCulture
Check out Prof Raskar’s original trillion FPS coke bottle video here - https://youtu.be/EtsXgODHMWk
A big thank you to Anagh Malik and the University of Toronto Computational Imaging Group.
Check out Anagh’s work here - https://ve42.co/Malik2024
Finally, a huge thank you to Aaron Groff, James Cryan and everyone at SLAC for letting us visit their electron accelerator - https://ve42.co/SLAC
The paper on the final charge density simulation is available here - https://ve42.co/Grell2023
Check out the AlphaPhoenix billion FPS camera here - https://youtu.be/IaXdSGkh8Ww
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References: https://ve42.co/StoppingTimeRefs
Visual References:
Charge density simulation video by Gilbert Grell, Alicia Palacios, and Fernando Martín, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Edgerton images courtesy of © 2010 MIT. Courtesy of MIT Museum - https://ve42.co/MITMus
Bullet Shadowgram available via CC-BY-SA-3.0 on Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/Shadowgram
Various SLAC shots via - https://www.youtube.com/@SLAC
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Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:
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Writers: Gregor Čavlović, Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Producer & Director: Gregor Čavlović
Presenter: Gregor Čavlović
Editors: Jack Saxon, Peter Nelson & Trenton Oliver
Additional Editors: James Stuart & James Horsley
Animators: Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, Andrew Neet, Emma Wright & Rokas Viksraitis
Illustrators: Jakub Misiek, Kathryn Chan, Grace Nemanic, Nataly Zhuk & Isaac McRee
Camera Operators: Michael Cimpher, Jesse Chandler & Gregor Čavlović
Researcher: Aakash Singh Bagga & Gabe Strong
Thumbnail Designers: Abdallah Rabah, Ren Hurley & Ben Powell
Production Team: Josh Pitt, Matthew Cavanagh, Anna Milkovic, Gabe Strong, Sulli Yost & Katy Southwood
Executive Producers: Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound