Stanford Scientists Created A Sound So Loud It Instantly Boils Water

Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory based at Stanford University created an underwater sound so loud that it instantly vaporizes water and appears to set the threshold for how intense sound can be in water.

The scientists used SLAC's powerful X-ray laser to blast tiny jets of water with short pulses of high frequency energy. When the x-rays hit the microscopic stream of water they instantly vaporized the water molecules around them like spit on a hot skillet. They also sent a shock wave traveling through the stream that can actually be seen moving to the left and right of the blast spot below:

After blasting tiny jets of water with an X-ray laser, researchers watched left- and right-moving trains of shockwaves travel away from microbubble filled regions.