A soap bubble is a layer of water molecules sandwiched btwn two layers of soap molecules. It begins freezing at its coldest point, but the fluid inner layer shears off ice crystals & swirls them about, until they finally interlock

Rosemary Danielis

That swirling snow globe effect depends on critical differences in temperature and surface tension, though. It's not a given. Sometimes the freezing happens more cohesively, as feathers of ice growing from bottom to top

Carey Sherrill

Lori Grimmett has captured some wonderful close-up footage of the swirling inner layer of a freezing soap bubble, showing how crystals tend to form wherever the bubble rests against a cold surface, before potentially breaking away like fractal icebergs

Apparently it is also possible for soap bubbles to freeze MID-AIR

Physics is magic

A Gandalf in training with a pasta spoon for a wand

Frozen bubbles weave intricate designs from water and air. They make the ethereal solid, the transparent gorgeously opaque. They are fragile yet resolute, ephemeral and timeless all at once.

Sam Williams

I mean, just look at this. The ensorcelling geometry of ice. The sheer beauty of this world. That such a marvel might exist, if only for a moment.