We know all the ways technology has made it possible for us to appreciate the hidden beauties in our world, but yet it’s still surprising where we find it. Like in this strangely serene, quietly beautiful slow-motion footage of popcorn being popped.

The video, posted by the YouTube channel Warped Perception, shows individual kernels popping at 30,000 frames per second. They filmed this with a Phantom v2512 Ultra High Speed Camera in ultra slow motion macro (filming in macro lets you capture much more detail than normal slow-mo lenses), and the popcorn looks like it is being birthed from an alien egg, exploding out in a fluffy cloud-like burst of white tasty goodness.

I think slow-motion videos like this captivate us because they clearly show that human perception is limited. You’ve seen/eaten popcorn your entire life, but because of the brain’s “frame rate,” you’ve never really seen popcorn pop. In slow motion you can almost see the chemical reactions taking place. The pulsing starches, the evaporating oils. So much of the world is hidden from view. Technology — a slow motion camera in particular — is like a non-meat software update for your internal frame rate.

Now we just need a follow-up slow-motion video of someone applying way too much butter (or whatever that yellow substance at the movie theater is) and we’ll truly be able to appreciate popcorn the way it was meant to be eaten. Though copious amounts of butter isn’t exactly a hidden beauty. It’s more in your face. Literally.

What other cooking process would you like to see in slow motion? Quickly pop into our comments section below to tell us your best ideas.

Images: Warped Perception