Skip to main content

This time-lapse video of pills dissolving in water will both awe and horrify

Pills Dissolve in macro
Most of us have at least one type of pill that we take on occasion, be it for pain, fever, or just to supplement our nutrition. But what actually happens to these pills when they are in our systems, how do they dissolve and spread throughout the body?

Ben Ouaniche, a 27-year-old Tel-Aviv-based photographer specializing in macro photography, who is the video producer over on the YouTube channel The Macro Room, wanted to find out. So he took various pills and placed them in water, and captured their dissipation through the beautiful — yet somewhat horrifying timelapse that you see above.

Advil, for example, which is one of the most commonly used pills worldwide, is featured, and you see the pill start to lose its composure moments after entering the water. Soon the Advil branding dissolves and the contents of the liquid-gel tablet starts to flow into the water. It is a beautiful thing to see, but imagining this occurring in your stomach, mixing with your taco from lunch and that afternoon coffee kick may make you a little squeamish.

Some of the other beautifully dissolving pills were actually of the solid variety, and they tended to bubble and shuffle and break apart as they sat in their bath. Some of their contents turned into a cloudy-looking substance and others seeming to retain their particle rigidity. Accompanied by a lovely musical score, some of the frames of this time-lapse could easily be mistaken for some form of abstract art.

The grand finale of the video, featuring an assortment of 13 individual pills, is visually stunning as the gels and cloud particles meet and mix. Giving you a firsthand look at the sort of interactions that may occur in your stomach when you take a number of pills at the same time. Our poor, poor stomachs — is anyone else considering a strict broth diet and no pills from now on?

Editors' Recommendations

Anthony Thurston
Anthony is an internationally published photographer based in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Specializing primarily in…
How to remove location data from your iPhone photos
How to transfer photos from an iPhone to an iPhone

We all love making memories, and a great way to collect those memories is to take a quick snap of a gorgeous landscape, a party in full swing, or a particularly incredible meal. The Apple iPhone now also adds a location to your pictures, meaning it can collate those images together into a location-themed album, or show you all the shots you've taken in a specific location. It's a fun little addition, and it's one that adds a lot of personality to the Photos app.

Read more
‘Photoshopped’ royal photo causes a stir
The Princess of Wales with her children.

[UPDATE: In a message posted on social media on Monday morning, Princess Kate said that she herself edited the image, and apologized for the fuss that the picture had caused. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she wrote, adding, "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."]

Major press agencies have pulled a photo of the U.K.’s Princess of Wales and her children amid concerns that it has been digitally manipulated.

Read more
Nikon sale: Get up to $700 off select Nikon cameras and lenses
nikon d780 review product  1

Crutchfield has a huge sale on many different Nikon cameras with some of the best camera deals that we’ve seen in a while. With nearly 30 different items in the sale, the best thing that avid photographers can do is take a look for themselves. However, if you want a little insight before you dive in, take a look at what we have to suggest below.

What to shop for in the Nikon sale
Nikon makes some of the best DSLR cameras around with our overall favorite -- the -- available for $2,197 reduced from $2,297. The camera is perfect for both photographers and videographers with a 24.5-megapixel full-frame image sensor. Its rugged magnesium-alloy body is weather-sealed against dust, dirt, and moisture so it’s great for all occasions. The Nikon EXPEED 6 image processor is optimized for low-light performance while maintaining long battery life with an autofocus sensor module with support for 51 focus points. You just need to add a lens to reap the benefits with features like the 273-point phase-detection AF system detecting and tracking subjects throughout the entire frame.

Read more