When a water drop hits a surface that’s much hotter than its boiling point, part of it will vaporize immediately. Depending on the temperature, this Leidenfrost effect can be a relatively gentle process — or not. Here, the surface is so hot that the entire drop is boiling before it’s even finished spreading from impact. The vapor in contact with the surface is trying to escape, bubbling up so violently that it rips the original droplet into a spray of tiny droplets. (Video and image credit: L. Gledhill)