Winners of WSC23: Non-photographic media

The following post list the winners of WSC 2023.

This winning submission of Non-photographic media shows carbon dioxide going into a supercritical state with increasing temperature. The video was made by Maxim Bilovitsky.

Comment from the author:

My name is Maxim Bilovitsky, I am a popularizer of science from Estonia, and also a blogger on YouTube. For one of my videos, I decided to show the transition of carbon dioxide to a supercritical state, for which I bought a small ampoule with this substance. In this ampoule, carbon dioxide is under high pressure, about 70 atmospheres, which is why it is in liquid form. If you fix such an ampoule and heat it with an ordinary hair dryer above 32 degrees Celsius, then the carbon dioxide in the ampoule will go into a supercritical state, which will cause the phase separation line in the ampoule to disappear. After some time, the ampoule begins to gradually cool down to room temperature, which is why the carbon dioxide inside again goes into a liquid state, but not immediately, since the walls of the ampoule have some heat capacity. From this, you can observe such an unusual effect of changing the phase state of the substance.

Comment from the jury:

This video effectively showcases the nature of supercritical fluids, a state of matter less frequently noticed under natural conditions, despite being studied at school. The presentation’s simplicity — with its well-executed focus on the experimental setup — highlights the precision and technical skill behind the process while sparking curiosity about the underlying science, effectively inviting viewers to rethink familiar concepts like temperature, pressure, and phase changes.

Compared to other finalists, the video stood out for its completeness, from the thoughtful depiction of the apparatus to its overall editing.

Runners-up:

Video of the volcano eruption next to Litli-Hrútur in Iceland in 2023. Giles Laurent from Switzerland.
Synthetic images of the Moon using orthographic projections. Ángel M. Felicísimo from Spain.
Sublimation of iodine under a microscope. Tavo Romann from Estonia.
Melting an iron nail with a supercapacitor. Tavo Romann from Estonia.
Video of silver micromirrors in solution under optical darkfield microscope demonstrating Brownian motion, Casimir effect and colorful scattering of surface plasmons. Siim Pikker from Estonia.
Starlink satellites passing over the Swiss night sky as seen from Mürren. Giles Laurent from Switzerland.

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