We’ve seen the Pistol shrimp snap its claws so fast that you can only see it at 10,000 frames-per-second, but the little guy’s trick is even wilder than just that. A Pistol shrimp can actually snap its claw so fast that sound turns into light, and scientists still don’t know how that’s even possible.
https://gizmodo.com/incredible-slo-mo-footage-of-the-pistol-shrimps-devast-509523860
As MinutePhysics explains, the phenomenon, called “sonoluminescence,” is easy to reproduce, but way more difficult to understand. The flashes of light last a mere .0000000001 seconds, and are hotter than the surface of the sun, but what goes on in there is still up for grabs. Is it a flash of plasma? Burning Argon? Exploding H20? All are possibilites. Time to round up those Pistol shrimp and get them talking.
