Naked Science Scrapbook

From DVD players and supermarket scanners to laser pointers and Bond movies, lasers are part of our lives. But just how do they work? In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out how excitable atoms produce the laser beams and how those beams are used to perform surgery, send information through the internet and even measure the distance to the moon!

Huge amounts of energy are lost from power stations and cars as heat. But what if we could harness that heat and turn it into useful electricity? That's what thermoelectric generators or TEGs can help us do. In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out how they exploit a temperature gradient to produce power and how they're already powering space exploration.

Most of us have a microwave oven in our kitchen. They make heating up leftovers and the dreaded readymeal much faster than a conventional oven. In this Naked Science Scrapbook, we find out how the microwave oven produce the microwaves, and how they actually cook the food, plus how popcorn played a key role in the invention of the microwave oven...

Every Christmas, one vegetable divides opinion – Brussels sprouts. Some of us love them, some of us hate them, but eating them can have some embarrassing consequences. In this Naked science Scrapbook, we find out why sprouts cause flatulence and what makes sprout-induced gas such an offensive addition to the Christmas table...

Millions of people now own compact digital cameras and camera phones that will automatically focus on parts of a scene, without having to turn a focus wheel. But how does autofocus work? In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out how battleship technology has found its way into cameras and why some autofocus cameras use ultrasound to figure out what to focus on...

How do we tell people apart by using their DNA? From murder investigations to paternity testing, DNA fingerprinting is an essential tool in the modern world. But how is it carried out? Find out in the latest Naked Science Scrapbook!

Fuel cells may be a major energy source of the future, but how do they work? In the latest Naked Science Scrapbook, we find out how to generate electricity from hydrogen, how fuel cells helped man to get to the moon, and how you could use one to heat your water at home...

Cheese is a major (and tasty) part of our diets and humans have been making it for thousands of years? But how is it made? In this Naked Science Scrapbook, we find out how we go from liquid milk to solid cheese and how the blue mould and pungent smell of blue cheeses is formed.

If a diver surfaces too quickly after a dive, they can get the bends, or decompression sickness, causing excruciating pain and sometimes even death. In this Naked Science Scrapbook, find out what causes the bends, why human divers can get it and why (usually) whales don't...

Why are some people short sighted and some people long sighted? And how do we use something more usually associated with a Bond villain to correct someone's eyesight? Find out in the latest Naked Science Scrapbook!

Being able to fly off on holiday is something we may take for granted. But how does the big metal tube you're flying in stay up in the air? We'll find out in the latest Naked Science Scrapbook. Plus we'll see that if the plane's engines stop working, you won't just plummet out of the sky...

Humans have wanted to fly for thousands of years. Modern jet engines allow us to fly more efficiently, at greater speeds than ever before. In this Naked Science Scrapbook, we'll find out how engineers stop the engines from melting at such high temperatures, and why you couldn't run a plane on coal...

Why does ice float in the cool summer drink of your choice? And why don't ponds and lakes freeze from the bottom up, killing all the fish? Find out with the latest Naked Science Scrapbook, where we'll see that it's all down to the weird and wonderful water molecules...

Mosquitoes can transmit deadly diseases like malaria.But could they pass on HIV if they drank from an infected person?Find out with the Naked Science Scrapbook!

Copper compounds can be blue, green, yellow, brown and black - so how does it produce so many different colours? We find out the answer to this, plus why copper's flame test is green...

What's actually going on in a lightbulb when you switch it on? And why are energy saving bulbs more efficient than normal incandescent ones? Find out in the latest Naked Science Scrapbook.

Why is a storm cloud flattened on top? In this episode of the Naked Science Scrapbook, we'll find out what causes cumulonimbus clouds to form characteristic anvil shapes...

What makes a cake rise? In this episode of the Naked Science Scrapbook, we'll find out what ingredients cause a baking cake to go from a gloopy mass to a light fluffy sponge...