I finally managed to get some video editing software to work, and I have put together a more polished video of the Kaye effect, including some slow-motion shots of the streams!
(If the embed doesn’t work right now, try the direct link.)
Please feel free to let me know what you think of the video in the comments!
Skulls in the Stars 
I like the demo with the text and the animation. I think seeing the animation a bit earlier would have been more effective. You might lose some of the audience after the slow motion portion. I’m not sure that the final replay was adding more to the value of the video. What are the chances you will create a tighter version of this video, say, less than 2 minutes? Might you add a creative commons image of Kaye to the video? These are just initial thoughts.
Thanks for the suggestions — since I’m new to video making and hoping to do more in the future, every thought helps! I could potentially create a shorter video — it would be easier to do a 2 min or less version. I’ll have to look and see if there are any images of Kaye available — couldn’t find one on Wiki.
The image has flares & is a little underexposed. You can get control over the exposure by diffusing the light. A simple, small diffuser can be made from a large polyethylene roto-molded jug. Remove the bottom & top to make a cylinder. Place the cylinder around the subject & arrange the lights around the periphery outside the diffuser. You may find little to no more light is needed.
Thanks for the comment! Yeah, I didn’t work too hard to perfect the lighting on this video, as this was literally my first try at the Kaye effect — I was so stunned that it worked so easily that I immediately started filming! On future endeavors I’ll be more careful with the lighting.
Perhaps you’ve seen the supplementary videos of “Michel Versluis et al J. Stat. Mech. (2006) P07007”? http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-5468/2006/07/P07007
I’ve watched the group’s YouTube compilation of results, which is what got me interested in looking at the Kaye effect in the first place — thanks for the link!
Hi there,
This is a fabulous demo of the Kaye effect! I’d love to find out a few details about your technique, because I’d like to reproduce it for one of our Physics classes (you can see from my email addy where I work). Something like a “parts” list and a couple of photos would be wonderful.
Thanks,
Mark
The other day I noticed this bouncing effect while taking a shower. But instead it was only water and not a viscous liquid. On the corner of bath tub where the inside curve was pretty steep. Water stream was pretty thin, and the first large bounce was almost stable. It was so cool that eventually a short shower took 30 min!!! I had read your post before, and I was trying to justify what was happening. Based on observation, it could have been bouncing on a thin layer of water on tub, or the tub was greasy enough! Anyway, after touching the area, the effect was gone and I could not make it again. And I could not guess how much viscosity have influence in this effect.
Nice! I would guess that there might have been a thin layer of soap on the side of the tub that allowed a Kaye effect.