Jason Daley - Smithsonian.com
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-new ... QRTU4t5.99[A]ir reacts like a fluid to objects that are moving faster than the speed of sound. This speedy object rapidly forces surrounding air molecules together, causing a wave-like change in air pressure that spreads out in a cone called a Mach cone . . . .
Previous research suggested that light could also produce a similar cone-shaped wakes, called a "photonic Mach cone," reports Charles Q. Choi at LiveScience. But they had no way to test the idea. Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed an ultrafast camera that can actually catch the light boom in action. . . .
...
Choi reports that the photography technique, called lossless-encoding compressed ultrafast photography (LLE-CUP), can capture 100 billion frames per second in a single exposure, allowing the researchers to capture ultrafast events. The camera worked, capturing images of the light cone created by the laser for the first time.
See details at: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/ ... gures-only
Just thought this was kinda cool. There's a short video at the Smithsonian link.
