Explain that Stuff

ICYMI It's more fun to SUPER-compute

Sat, 24 May 2025 08:01:00 +0100

What makes supercomputers millions of times better than the one on your desk? Here's our quick introduction to supercomputers and massively parallel processing...

Flushed with success - the tech behind toilets!

Sat, 17 May 2025 08:00:00 +0100

Toilets are one invention we can't live without, though many people in the world unfortunately do. Do you know how your toilet really works, and how it differs from unusual varieties like macerating, vacuum, and eco-friendly composting toilets?

Reinventing instruments - how music synthesizers work

Sat, 10 May 2025 08:08:00 +0100

If you can play an electronic keyboard, you can play not just any instrument in the orchestra but any instrument you can possibly imagine. But how exactly do keyboards - music synthesizers - work?

Sea change - how OTEC turns ocean energy into useful power

Sat, 03 May 2025 08:28:00 +0100

There's enough heat energy in the oceans to meet our energy needs many times over, but can we harness it effectively? In this week's episode, we look at OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) - making electricity from temperature differences in the seas.

Driving through time - a brief history of cars

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 15:41:00 +0100

How did we get from the wild horse to the horseless carriage - in other words, the modern car - in about 5000 years? Here's a half-hour, whistle-stop tour of automobile history!

ICYMI: Smashing atoms - making power from nuclear fusion

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 08:00:00 +0100

Nuclear power plants make about 10 percent of the world's energy by splitting atoms apart, but they have a very mixed history. So what about nuclear fusion, a better kind of nuclear power, that joins atoms together? We explain how it works... and look at whether it can deliver enough power to solve the energy crisis and climate change.

Living in a material world - a quick guide to materials science

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 08:37:00 +0100

Why don't we build houses from leather or planes from glass? Many of life's problems boil down to putting the right material in the right place - which is what materials science and technology is all about.

Let there be light - the science of candles

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 08:29:00 +0100

A candle is an ingenious chemical factory that converts hydrocarbon molecules into light. Which part is hottest? Which is brightest? Can you burn a candle in space? Do candles make harmful pollution?

Why do tiny bullets do so much damage?

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 08:43:00 +0000

Today, a look at the science behind bullets - how do they work and how are they designed to do maximum damage when they hit the target?

Whatever happened to 3d TV?

Sat, 22 Mar 2025 08:02:00 +0000

It's just over a decade since The New York Times declared 3D TV "an expensive flop". How did it work, why didn't it catch on... and will it make a comeback in future?

ICYMI: What is science and why does it matter?

Sat, 15 Mar 2025 08:29:00 +0000

Science seems our best hope for making sense of the world - and ourselves - but what makes it a better bet than, say, art or religion. What exactly *is* science, anyway? What makes a scientific theory and how do you prove or disprove one? How did science evolve through the ages and where's it heading next?

The greatest physics experiments of all time?

Sat, 08 Mar 2025 08:28:00 +0000

From Galileo to Henry Cavendish and Robert Millikan to Ernest Rutherford, here are 10 of the greatest physics experiments - and why they mattered.

Motion in the ocean - the energy in waves

Sat, 01 Mar 2025 08:03:00 +0000

Ocean waves contain surprising amounts of energy - which is why surfing is such a cool sport. This week, a quick look at just how much energy there is in waves... and what we can do with it.

Electronic ears - the magic of hearing aids

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

How exactly does a hearing aid work? Why is it so much more effective than simply shouting louder? Do the latest digital aids really work better than old-fashioned analog ones?

Braking the habit - how regenerative brakes save energy

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 08:45:00 +0000

Friction brakes are brilliantly simple, but they're a huge waste of energy. How can different vehicles - from trucks and trains to bikes and elevators - work more efficiently with energy-saving regenerative brakes?

The great carbon trap - how does carbon capture and storage work?

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 07:41:00 +0000

With thousands of fossil-fuel power plants dotted round the world, we're locked into burning huge amounts of carbon for decades to come. Can carbon capture and storage help us get around the problem and slow the effects of climate change?

Suck it up - how do vacuum cleaners really work?

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 08:01:00 +0000

What's the difference between an old-style Hoover and a new-style Dyson? This week, we take a quick look at the technology that gets your rugs and carpets clean...

ICYMI: Alphabet to Internet - a brief history of communication

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 07:27:00 +0000

From the alphabet to the Internet, enjoy a 10,000-year, whistle-stop tour through the whole history of human communication!

VoIP phone home - a quick guide to Internet telephony

Sat, 11 Jan 2025 08:30:00 +0000

Old-style telephones are giving way to Internet phones - or Skype-style VoIP. What is it and how exactly does it work?

Static fantastic - what really causes static electricity?

Sat, 04 Jan 2025 08:04:00 +0000

The Ancient Greeks knew about static electricity but, surprisingly enough, 2600 years later, we still don't understand it completely. What really causes it, how can it help us, and how can we keep dangerous static properly in check?

Noble lights - how noble gases light up our world

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 08:42:00 +0000

Noble gases used to be called "inert gases" because people thought they were so un-reactive and boring. In this week's episode, we discover how they provide the secret atomic power behind neon lamps, xenon lamps, and the brightest lights in our otherwise dark and dingy world!

ICYMI: Whistling down the wind - a simple intro to aerodynamics

Sat, 21 Dec 2024 08:33:00 +0000

Why can't you blow all the dust off a bookshelf? Why are wind turbines so high? Why does coffee spill when you pour it and barges bang together? Find the answers in our easy-to-understand intro to aerodynamics!

Ebooks - what are they and how exactly do they work?

Sat, 14 Dec 2024 08:20:00 +0000

Are electronic books (ebooks) really the future? For those of you who've yet to discover them, here's a quick guide to ebook readers, ebooks, eink - and how all that stuff works.

Quake! - A simple introduction to earthquakes

Sat, 07 Dec 2024 08:01:00 +0000

What are earthquakes and why do they cause so much destruction? Following the offshore quake and tsunami warning in northern California a few days ago, here's a timely 15-minute introduction!

Goodbye Windows, hello Linux!

Sat, 30 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

If you're tired of all those Windows worms and malware scares, maybe it's time you switched to Linux. What is it and how does it work?

The thing is this - a quick guide to the Internet of Things

Sat, 23 Nov 2024 08:55:00 +0000

Why would "things" want to use the Internet? If you've no idea what people mean by the "Internet of Things," start here... with our quick introduction!

The science of drying your clothes

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 08:14:00 +0000

Washing clothes is easy; drying them can be more of a pain. Understanding a bit of science can help you get your clothes dry much more quickly and efficiently!

Geoengineering - can we really fix the climate?

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 08:36:00 +0000

The climate's in a fix, but can we really fix it with geoengineering - large-scale tinkering with carbon emissions, weather, and the sky?

Floating your boats - whatever happened to the hovercraft?

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 07:59:00 +0000

The hovercraft was an iconic British invention from the 1950s; now we barely hear about it at all. How exactly did it work... and why did it fall out of favour?

Cogs, clicks, and chips - a brief history of the computer

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 08:14:00 +0100

From Blaise Pascal and Charles Babbage to Konrad Zuse, Alan Turing, and Steve Jobs... join us on a 2,500-year journey through mechanical calculators (cogs), relay-driven early computers (clicks), and modern microprocessors (chips) as we explore the fascinating history of computers!

Soft sell - a simple introduction to memory foam

Sat, 19 Oct 2024 08:30:00 +0100

You've probably heard the hype about memory foam, widely used in mattresses and cushions, but what's the science behind it and how does it really work?

Graphene the wonder stuff - a simple introduction

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 09:42:00 +0100

You've probably heard of graphene, but what is it... exactly? What's so good about it... and will this simple new kind of carbon power out future?

Beep! Beep! How do pagers work?

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 08:08:00 +0100

Pagers have been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. Can you remember what they were and exactly how they worked?

Fracking - love it or hate it?

Sat, 28 Sep 2024 09:10:00 +0100

Will fracking save our skins by helping wean us off coal... or push us ever closer to a climate catastrophe? In this episode, we find out how it works and take a balanced look at the arguments for and against.

Catching rays - a quick guide to passive solar energy

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 09:04:00 +0100

With crafty building design, you can heat your home with plentiful, free energy from the Sun. It's called passive solar energy - and here's how it works!

Pollution solutions - what can we do about water pollution?

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 09:15:00 +0100

If water's the stuff of life, why do we still live in a world of littered rivers and oil spills? Today, a look at water pollution - and what we can do about it.

Eye spy electric eye - a quick introduction to LIDAR

Sat, 07 Sep 2024 09:35:00 +0100

How do self-driving cars see where they're going? One way is by using a kind of light-scanning laser called LIDAR - and here's a quick look at how it works.

Mind games - The 10 greatest experiments of psychology

Sat, 31 Aug 2024 09:30:00 +0100

The ideas we have about ourselves and other people are often well wide of the mark - as 10 amazing experiments from the history of psychology impressively demonstrate!

Lost and found - how GPS works

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 09:48:00 +0100

Are you feeling lost? GPS "satnav" will soon put you right. Today we take a simple look at GPS, Glonass, Galileo, and the other space satellite navigation systems spinning around over our heads!

Flying through time - a brief history of flight

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 09:30:00 +0100

No, the Wright Brothers didn't invent flying - the idea actually dates back through thousands of years of history. Today, we glide through the story of human flight!

Atoms on your wrist - telling time with atomic clocks

Sat, 10 Aug 2024 09:22:00 +0100

Today we discover how atoms vibrating 9,192,631,770 times a second can help us tell time. Welcome to the wonderful world of radio-controlled, atomic clocks!

Teaching computers to talk - all about speech synthesis

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 09:30:00 +0100

From HAL and "Speak & Spell" to Siri, and Alexa, we look at how speech synthesizers work... and why they still don't work perfectly!

Inspiration or perspiration - where do inventions come from?

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0100

Is there still a place for the lone genius inventor - the Edison, Ford, Tesla, or Marconi? Or is invention now solely the province of giant corporations like Apple, IBM, and DuPont?

The surprising science of sport

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 09:38:00 +0100

Hurrah, the Olympics is nearly here! From springy pole vaulters and leaping long jumpers to spinning ice skaters and slippery swimmers, we're going to take a quick tour through the surprising science behind sport!

Sparks through time - the history of electricity

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 09:34:00 +0100

Let's zip back over two and half thousand years to understand the sparky story of electricity, from Thales and Aristotle to Edison, Marconi, and James Clerk Maxwell!

Sticky stuff - the science of glues!

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 07:24:28 +0100

How goes a gecko stick to the ceiling... why doesn't glue stick to the tube? Today, I'm exploring adhesive and cohesive forces and trying not to come unstuck as I explore the sticky science of glues.

Getting down with gravity!

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 09:13:43 +0100

Can you feel the force? Maybe it's gravity - the tingling attraction between everything in the Universe and everything else. Where does it come from? What causes it? How near are we to understanding it?

The Internet and the Brain

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:34:04 +0100

From anatomy to abnormality, we compare nature's finest marvel (the human brain) with the best that humans have so far produced (the electronic computer). How are they similar and how are they different? Is the Net becoming increasingly brain-like? Will it ever become conscious and self-aware?

Artificial intelligence - a simple introduction

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 11:06:44 +0100

What is intelligence and, if it's such an essential part of being human, can we ever really hope to build an "intelligent machine"? What are the different kinds of AI? What's the difference between old-style AI and new-style machine learning? How will we know when we've built a machine that is truly intelligent?

Welcome to Explain that Stuff

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 14:33:09 +0100

A two-minute introduction to the podcast!