Explain that Stuff
by Chris Woodford
Latest episode
ICYMI It's more fun to SUPER-compute
ICYMI It's more fun to SUPER-compute
About this podcast
Welcome to Explain that Stuff... in podcast form! Yes, by popular request, an audio version of the easy-to-understand science website you can listen to round the house or on the move.
We cover the basics of how things work, cutting-edge science, cool gadgets, and computers. Unlike other websites, the emphasis is on explaining things simply and clearly so you can actually understand them. Not masses of facts and unnecessary details. Just clear, simple explanation. We teach stuff the way a teacher would, by building out from what you know already.
Please subscribe and stay tuned...
Episodes
The newest 20 of 50 episodes
- ICYMI It's more fun to SUPER-compute · 22 min · Episode 37What 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! · 17 min · Episode 22Toilets 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…
- Reinventing instruments - how music synthesizers work · 22 min · Episode 49If 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…
- Sea change - how OTEC turns ocean energy into useful power · 17 min · Episode 48There'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…
- Driving through time - a brief history of cars · 36 min · Episode 47How 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 · 21 min · Episode 6Nuclear 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…
- Living in a material world - a quick guide to materials science · 20 min · Episode 27Why 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…
- Let there be light - the science of candles · 12 min · Episode 40A 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…
- Why do tiny bullets do so much damage? · 15 min · Episode 45Today, 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? · 15 min · Episode 44It'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? · 26 min · Episode 3Science 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…
- The greatest physics experiments of all time? · 21 min · Episode 50From 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 · 24 min · Episode 43Ocean 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…
- Electronic ears - the magic of hearing aids · 22 min · Episode 42How 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 · 16 min · Episode 41Friction 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…
- The great carbon trap - how does carbon capture and storage work? · 14 min · Episode 28With 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…
- Suck it up - how do vacuum cleaners really work? · 17 min · Episode 39What'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 · 31 min · Episode 5From 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 · 23 min · Episode 36Old-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? · 20 min · Episode 46The 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…
