Black sorcery
October 8, 2019 4:32 AM Subscribe
One of the most interesting subreddits is r/blackmagicfuckery. Here are the best clips of all time. Here is the regular flow of posts.
My dog is upset, my downstairs neighbors probably hate me, but god damn if my Vans didn't just land right side up every single time.
posted by phunniemee at 5:10 AM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 5:10 AM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
Of course they did. Because the soles are thick and heavy and the tops are light and rounded. Not rocket science.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:23 AM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by kinnakeet at 5:23 AM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
Cool, cool. But thick and heavy sole describes basically all of my shoes, and I have a front door right now surrounded a meter thick with upturned shoes. (Except 🧙♂️ for the Vans.)
posted by phunniemee at 5:58 AM on October 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 5:58 AM on October 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
I have to say that if, like me, you weren't impressed with the shoes, there are much cooler things on the sub-reddit right now.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:15 AM on October 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:15 AM on October 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
oh wow, I'm old!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:17 AM on October 8, 2019
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:17 AM on October 8, 2019
Um nvm, that's some cool shit in there.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:18 AM on October 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:18 AM on October 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
Couldn't you black magic this by only posting the tests that had the shoes land right side up and numbering them "Test 1", "Test 2" and so on no matter what? Don't get me wrong, that sort of misdirection is in the best tradition of stage magic but I'm doubtful about this fact.
(Got a pair at home, going to solve this the only way to be sure once work is over)
posted by Quindar Beep at 6:40 AM on October 8, 2019
(Got a pair at home, going to solve this the only way to be sure once work is over)
posted by Quindar Beep at 6:40 AM on October 8, 2019
True, but I wouldn't consider it "black magic" because the principles of this are well-known.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:21 AM on October 8, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:21 AM on October 8, 2019
ok, after actually RTFA I see I misinterpreted what the subreddit was actually about, and now I regret my previous comment. That's what I get for commenting Before Coffee, I guess.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:33 AM on October 8, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:33 AM on October 8, 2019
True, but I wouldn't consider it "black magic" because the principles of this are well-known.
yeah the creepy part wasn't the illusion itself, it was that about 1/2 between the transition from the 1st image to the 2nd image I saw He Who Waits Between the Walls gazing around the curtain that separates the worlds and in that brief moment he saw me and smiled.
sorry, shoulda been more specific.
posted by logicpunk at 9:43 AM on October 8, 2019 [4 favorites]
yeah the creepy part wasn't the illusion itself, it was that about 1/2 between the transition from the 1st image to the 2nd image I saw He Who Waits Between the Walls gazing around the curtain that separates the worlds and in that brief moment he saw me and smiled.
sorry, shoulda been more specific.
posted by logicpunk at 9:43 AM on October 8, 2019 [4 favorites]
I saw this on Youtube years ago. Camera trickery, yes?
Nope, just clever finger movements... even the last one... try frame by frame to see how he does it.
posted by Pendragon at 9:52 AM on October 8, 2019
Nope, just clever finger movements... even the last one... try frame by frame to see how he does it.
posted by Pendragon at 9:52 AM on October 8, 2019
The bit with the dude slapping molten metal and remaining unharmed is (probably) explained by the Leidenfrost effect, which also (probably) just came up here recently with someone asking about their weird burn.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:25 AM on October 8, 2019
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:25 AM on October 8, 2019
Also can we PLEASE stop with the "laminar flow" nonsense? Laminar flow is real. It doesn't look like what 99% of the videos online claim to be showing. What they show are camera artifacts, having to do with scan rates, like the propellers that seem to stand still or look twisted up. If water shooting out of a tank in a "laminar flow" looked magically solid, we'd all have seen it a thousand time in real life, and it wouldn't seem special or worth sharing.
Also by definition laminar flow has parallel streamlines, so the example posted there (like most) cannot be laminar, because the stream has an obvious braided look.
This is especially galling bc there are real and visually interesting science facts about flow, but its this bullshit lie that gets spread over and over /rant.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:35 AM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
Also by definition laminar flow has parallel streamlines, so the example posted there (like most) cannot be laminar, because the stream has an obvious braided look.
This is especially galling bc there are real and visually interesting science facts about flow, but its this bullshit lie that gets spread over and over /rant.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:35 AM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
/r/ant
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:06 AM on October 8, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:06 AM on October 8, 2019 [4 favorites]
Laminar flow’s new single is out?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:07 PM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:07 PM on October 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
The orange stripey cat who just had to get inside now!
posted by Mesaverdian at 1:28 PM on October 8, 2019
posted by Mesaverdian at 1:28 PM on October 8, 2019
>Also can we PLEASE stop with the "laminar flow" nonsense? Laminar flow is real. It doesn't look like what 99% of the videos online claim to be showing. What they show are camera artifacts, having to do with scan rates, like the propellers that seem to stand still or look twisted up. If water shooting out of a tank in a "laminar flow" looked magically solid, we'd all have seen it a thousand time in real life, and it wouldn't seem special or worth sharing.
This is laminar flow, or more accurately extremely low turbulence flow, as the water is moving in lines that are very nearly parallel. This kind of flow is easy to make, just fill a balloon with water and make a hole. I have a faucet at home that flows like this when opened up the right amount--it's extremely common.
posted by Bobicus at 5:05 PM on October 8, 2019
This is laminar flow, or more accurately extremely low turbulence flow, as the water is moving in lines that are very nearly parallel. This kind of flow is easy to make, just fill a balloon with water and make a hole. I have a faucet at home that flows like this when opened up the right amount--it's extremely common.
posted by Bobicus at 5:05 PM on October 8, 2019
I love the sounds made by ice sheets. I remember throwing rocks and snowballs in the air with my Dad to listen to the frozen lake, and never getting cold.
The fundamental "teeow" is surely a dispersion effect from stiffness, where the higher frequencies travel faster because the ice sheet resists bending, just like a bridge girder makes a Star Wars blaster sound. But the echoing sounds complicated.
posted by away for regrooving at 11:58 PM on October 8, 2019
The fundamental "teeow" is surely a dispersion effect from stiffness, where the higher frequencies travel faster because the ice sheet resists bending, just like a bridge girder makes a Star Wars blaster sound. But the echoing sounds complicated.
posted by away for regrooving at 11:58 PM on October 8, 2019
This kind of flow is easy to make, just fill a balloon with water and make a hole.
Yes, I know, I've seen plenty of laminar/very low turbulence flows, and you're right that it's extremely common. But that frozen-solid, appearing-completely-stationary effect is due to the camera, not the flow. Real laminar flow isn't something that people are amazed by, but the camera artifact makes people go nuts, apparently.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:02 AM on October 9, 2019
Yes, I know, I've seen plenty of laminar/very low turbulence flows, and you're right that it's extremely common. But that frozen-solid, appearing-completely-stationary effect is due to the camera, not the flow. Real laminar flow isn't something that people are amazed by, but the camera artifact makes people go nuts, apparently.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:02 AM on October 9, 2019
What is the deal with those exit signs, anyways?
posted by whir at 10:43 PM on October 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by whir at 10:43 PM on October 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
Apparently it's two clear sides (with the EXIT text painted in) sandwiching a thin mirrored layer. It looks transparent because you're looking at the sign from below, so you can only really see ceiling anyways; it looks the same on both sides so you can't tell the mirrored image from the way it would look if it were truly transparent. One of the posts showed another example of an exit sign that was mounted lower on a wall, and it was pretty obvious what was going on.
I feel like that sign is a good illustration of the principle that some magic is really just about going to great lengths to create a totally viable but ludicrously improbable method of producing an otherwise fantastic and unbelievable effect.
posted by chrominance at 8:36 PM on October 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
I feel like that sign is a good illustration of the principle that some magic is really just about going to great lengths to create a totally viable but ludicrously improbable method of producing an otherwise fantastic and unbelievable effect.
posted by chrominance at 8:36 PM on October 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
« Older You were born from the ruins of empire. You are so... | There are no tropical cyclones in the Atlantic at... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Literaryhero at 4:52 AM on October 8, 2019