Watch what happens when a red hot nickel ball is placed in warm water

(CBS News) Experimentation of unknowns is a cornerstone of science. So while you can hypothesize, you don't always know the outcome. Take for instance the video above with a ball made of nickel heated red hot and then placed in warm water. What do you think will happen?

Did any of you guess that particular reaction? If so, I applaud you, and honestly didn't see it coming. I was going with "explosion" as my hypothesis (which is often a very good guess when it comes to most YouTube science experiments in my experience). 

The rather bizarre but interesting video was posted by YouTube user carsandwater, who writes that the water in the experiment was "as hot as I like my coffee". I'm going to go with a guess of somewhere between warm and just-below scalding. Of course I was wrong with my first hypothesis, so definitely don't take my word for it. And for those who are curious, the actual scientific basis for this reaction is known as the Leidenfrost effect.