Bullets HITTING Bullets in Slow Motion - THE IMPOSSIBLE SHOT - Smarter Every Day 287

Episode Overview

• The host embarks on a mission to recreate a rare historical artifact—two Civil War-era bullets that collided and fused together mid-air.
• A significant portion of the project is dedicated to safety, emphasizing the principle of "intellectual humility" and involving a team of engineering and explosives experts to "over-engineer" the setup.
• The experiment involves a rigorous troubleshooting process to diagnose and solve aiming inconsistencies, leading to a deep dive into variables like ammunition loading and equipment vibration.
• Using custom-built, electrically fired guns and high-speed cameras, the team successfully captures multiple bullet collisions, including one with a near-perfect momentum transfer that causes the fused mass to stop in mid-air.

Key Concepts

• The primary goal was to recreate a historical artifact from the Smithsonian: two Civil War bullets that collided and fused mid-air.
• A core safety principle, "intellectual humility," guided the project, emphasizing the need for expert review and acknowledging personal knowledge gaps.
• A custom-engineered system was built to overcome challenges, including an electrical firing system to eliminate the mechanical "lock time" of traditional firearms and ensure microsecond-level timing.
• The experimental process involved rigorous troubleshooting of aiming inconsistencies by analyzing variables such as gunpowder distribution, bullet seating, and equipment vibration.
• 3D-printed models were used to visualize and diagnose how inconsistencies in ammunition cartridges could affect bullet velocity.
• The climax of the experiment involved capturing a near-perfect head-on collision in slow-motion, where the conservation of momentum caused the fused bullets to momentarily stop in mid-air before falling.
• Different bullet types (lead, full metal jacket, hollow-point) were tested, which resulted in unique fragmentation and collision patterns upon impact.

Quotes

• At 2:04 - "The way we did that is intellectual humility." - Destin explains that the key to conducting dangerous experiments safely is to humbly accept what you don't know and consult with experts.
• At 5:13 - "Lock time is how long it takes the mechanical hammer to fall and strike the firing pin..." - Destin explains a key technical variable his team eliminated by building a custom electrical firing system for better timing.
• At 15:34 - "At this point we got frustrated. We started missing things several times and we didn't know why." - The narrator describes the team's difficulty in diagnosing why their previously accurate setup began failing, highlighting the challenges of the experiment.
• At 21:54 - "It stopped!" - The narrator expresses his astonishment while reviewing high-speed footage of two bullets colliding, where the resulting fused mass appears to stop completely in mid-air.
• At 24:48 - "That looks like it, to me... Yes!" - After finding the remnants of the perfectly collided bullets on the ground, the team confirms they have recovered the unique artifact they set out to create.

Takeaways

• For high-stakes projects, adopt a principle of "intellectual humility" by actively seeking expert review and planning for every conceivable failure mode to ensure safety.
• When troubleshooting complex systems, meticulously isolate and test one variable at a time, as seemingly minor factors like a single loose nut can cause significant and unpredictable failures.
• Visualizing scientific principles, such as the conservation of momentum, through high-speed footage can provide a powerful and intuitive understanding of complex physics.