Watch a Bullet Being Fired in Super-Super-Super Slow Motion — 73,000 Frames Per Second
It's not exactly a busted myth, but being able to see what it really looks like when a bullet is fired from a gun is pretty damn spectacular nonetheless. What makes this particular video from Discovery's Mythbusters stand out is its astonishing speed: the firing was filmed with a specialized camera at 73,000 frames per second. (A normal camera's standard speed is 24 frames per second, to give you an idea.)
The Mythbusters guys seemed to have blown even themselves away with this one. The multiple puffs of smoke, the silver sheen of the bullet emerging, the whirling cloud left in its wake -- it adds up to a mesmerizing glimpse into an event that the human eye simply cannot come close to grasping at real-life speeds.
In fact, Adam Savage has a fairly tough time even describing what he saw, but it's quite evident that he's just had his mind blown. "Mushroom clouds and little rivulets of gases and fire forming on flame fronts of pressure waves and stuff," he says, clearly impressed. "I'm not sure many people in the world have ever even looked at ..."
Then, after trailing away, he concludes, "It's just really cool."
We concur.