An MIT Alumni Association Publication
slice Topics

Search | Slice of MIT

What Happens When You Grind Seven Lighters in a Blendtec Blender?

  • Amy Marcott
  • slice.mit.edu

Filed Under

Recommended

Media Lab PhD candidate and Time Warp Cohost Jeff Lieberman '00, SM '04, SM '06 (right) with Dr. Megavolt, a performance artist who uses high voltage—millions of volts—as his medium. His birdcage hat protects him from deadly shocks during his shows. Photo courtesy of the Discovery Channel.
Time Warp Cohost Jeff Lieberman ’00, SM ’04, SM ’06 (right) with Dr. Megavolt, a performance artist who uses high voltage—millions of volts—as his medium. His birdcage hat protects him from deadly shocks during his shows. Photo: Discovery Channel.

Ever want to see a grease fire go wild—and then view it again in reverse? How about a Kun Tao master striking through 12 concrete blocks with the five tons of force he generates? These and more are viewable on the interactive video gallery for the Discovery Channel show Time Warp. Simply move your mouse across the frame and control the speed and direction of the video. Some videos will surprise you, like how a dog laps up water. Others satisfy curiosity for a number of don't-try-this-at-home stunts (like pureeing lighters in a blender).

If you haven't yet seen Time Warp, which airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, you should check it out. The show uses high-speed photography to turn all kinds of common and not-so-common actions—body punches, popcorn popping, soap bubbles bursting—into learning opportunities that are deftly explained by cohost and Media Lab PhD candidate Jeff Lieberman ’00, SM ’04, SM ’06. Learn more about Lieberman and his research at MIT.

Previous episodes have focused on stuntmen and what really happens in movie fight scenes, the secrets behind a samurai swordsman's lethal blow, barefoot waterskiing, and the freezing power of liquid nitrogen.

Filed Under

Related Articles