Because it's Friday: Good vibrations

If you've ever wanted to see how guitar strings actually move as they make music, it turns out you don't need an expensive high-speed camera. All you need to do is set your smartphone to record video, and put it inside:

 

While some have suggested this is due to the rolling shutter in an iPhone camera, I'm not so sure. I think this is just an example of motion frequencies resonating with the video frame rate — the same effect that makes wagon wheels appear to move without rotating in old black-and-white films. Whatever the cause, it's cool to see the shapes the strings make.

That's all for this week. We'll be back on Monday — enjoy your weekend!