A mantis shrimp punches so fast that the water around its club briefly boils.
Some mantis shrimp strike with club-like limbs that accelerate faster than a .22 bullet. The blow is so quick that it creates cavitation bubbles, which collapse with a flash of heat and light.
Why is this true?
The limb is loaded like a spring and released by a latch, so the energy is delivered in a fraction of a millisecond. Prey is hit twice: once by the club and once by the collapsing bubble.
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More about animals
Animals are the easiest place to find facts that sound invented. Three hearts, blue blood, cube-shaped droppings, a punch fast enough to boil water for an instant — every one of these is ordinary biology to the animal doing it. The collection here leans on well-documented behaviour and anatomy rather than folklore, so each entry comes with a short explanation of why the trick actually works and a source you can read next.