Every year needs to begin with a new internet sensation. In 2018, pride of place appears to be going to the Mpemba Effect. It involves throwing hot, preferably boiling, water into the air in freezing temperatures, and watching it turn into a mist of snow.
One of those annoying effects that are so spectacular that people can’t watching – or trying – trying, the Mpemba Effect is having its moment in the, well, sun. Named after Erasto Batholomeo Mpemba, it demonstrates that hot water freezes in very cold weather quicker than cold water.
This has led to the videos like the one above, where the experimenter claims to have achieved a world-record setting Mpemba Effect – except there’s really no proof of that. It isn’t easy at all – misjudging the direction of the wind could have the hot or boiling water scalding the person trying the trick.
But here are more videos of the phenomenon, and an explanation at the bottom. Maybe the science is less important than the fact that people are clearly having so much fun doing this.
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