A-Z index

Last updated: May 20, 2008.

A word of explanation...

The articles on Explain that Stuff! are designed for a variety of readers. Each one has a colored dot next to the title showing who it's intended for:

A short, simple introduction, particularly suitable for younger readers.
A longer and more detailed article, suitable for most readers.
A more academic piece. Younger readers may find these articles too detailed and complex.

Obviously this is a very crude system. Don't let it put you off reading anything!

List of articles

A

• Adhesives (glues)
• Airbags
• Airplane jet engines
• Air pollution
• Alarms, burglar/intruder
• Alarms, smoke
• Alarms, anti-shoplifting (RFID tags)
• Alcoholism and Winston Churchill
• Aluminum
• Analog radio
• Atoms

B

• Batteries
• Beepers (radio pagers)
• Bicycles
• Bicycles, electric
• Binoculars and field glasses
• Biofuels
• Bioplastics and biodegradable plastics
• Blister plasters
• Blu-ray discs
• Brakes
• Breadmaking machines
• Bridges
• Building a website
• Buildings
• Bulletproof glass
• Bullets
• Burglar alarms
• Burgundy
• Burning rainforests
• Broadband Internet
• Broadband, mobile (how HSDPA works)

C

• Calculators
• Camcorders
• Cameras and digital cameras
• Cams, web
• Car engines
• Cars, electric and hybrid
• Catalytic converters
• CCDs (charge-coupled devices)
• CDs and DVDs
• CDs and DVDs, Blu-ray
• Ceramics
• Cellphones (Mobile phones)
• Cellphone broadband (how HSDPA works)
• Charge-coupled devices (CCDs)
• Chocolate science
• Churchill, Winston
• Climate change and global warming
• Clocks and watches (quartz)
• Coffee (pod) makers
• Composites
• Computers (how they work)
• Computer memory (flash memory)
• Computer mouse
• Computer printers
• Computers: a brief history
• Concrete and steel
• Converters, catalytic
• Cookers, microwave
• Cooking hobs, halogen
• Copiers (photocopiers)
• Copper
• Criminal investigation
• Cycles

D

• Detectors, smoke
• Detective work and criminal investigation
• Detergents and soaps
• Dictation (speech recognition) software
• Digital cameras
• Digital pens
• Digital radio
• Diodes and light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
• Dishwashers
• Diving, scuba
• DVDs and CDs

E

• Earbud headphones
• Eco-homes
• Electric cars
• Electric bikes
• Electric toasters
• Electric toothbrushes
• Electric guitars
• Electricity
• Electricity transformers
• Electric motors
• Electric surge protectors
• Electronics
• Electron microscopes
• Energy
• Energy-saving fluorescent lamps
• Energy, solar
• Engines:
  • Car engines (gasoline engines)
  • Jet engines (airplane engines)
  • Steam engines
• External sound cards
• Eyeglasses, photochromic

F

• Fiber optics
• Field glasses and binoculars
• Fire extinguishers
• Fire-retardant fabrics (Nomex®)
• Flash memory
• Flatscreen television
• Fire smoke detectors
• Forensic science
• Fridges (refrigerators)
• Fuel cells
• Fuels, biofuels
• Fuses and surge protectors

G

• Gasoline engines
• Gears
• Glass
• Glass, bulletproof
• Glasses, photochromic
• Global warming and climate change
• Glues (adhesives)
• Goggles, night vision
• GORE-TEX® waterproof clothing
• GPS satellite navigation
• Green eco-homes
• Griffin iMic external sound cards
• Guitars, electric

H

• Halogen cooking hobs
• Happiness (Neuropsychology and the science of happiness)
• Hard drives
• Headphones and loudspeakers
• Headphones, noise-cancelling
• Helicopters
• History of computers
• Hovercraft and hydrofoils
• HSDPA and mobile (cellphone) broadband Internet
• Hybrid and electric cars
• Hydraulics
• Hydrocolloidal plasters and wound dressings

I

• Induction motors (Linear motors)
• Infrared remote control
• Inkjet printers
• Ionization smoke detectors
• Internet
• Internet, broadband
• Internet, wireless
• Intruder alarms

J

• Jackhammers/pneumatic drills
• Jet engines (airplane engines)
• Jet Ski® and Sea-Doo®

K

• Kevlar®

L

• Laser printers
• Lasers
• LCD television
• LEDs (light-emitting diodes)
• Lenses (covered in Binoculars)
• Light
• Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
• Linear motors (induction motors)
• Linux (computer operating system)
• Liquid-crystal displays (LCD televisions)
• Locomotives, steam
• Logic gates
• Loudspeakers and headphones
• LP records and cassette tapes: converting to MP3 files

M

• Machines, simple
• Media players (streaming media)
• Memory chips, flash
• Microscopes, electron
• Microwave ovens
• Mobile phones
• Molecular manufacturing (nanotechnology)
• Motors, electric
• Motors, linear (electric induction motors)
• Mouse, computer
• MP3 players
• Musical instruments
• Electric guitars
• Synthesizers

N

• Nanotechnology
• Navigation, satellite
• Neoprene wetsuits
• Night vision goggles
• Noise-cancelling headphones
• Nomex®
• Nonstick cooking pans (Teflon® and PTFE)
• Nuclear power

O

• Obesity and orson Welles
• Office photocopiers
• OLPC: One laptop per child
• Optical fibers
• Optical scanners
• Optical smoke detectors
• Organic food and farming
• Orson Welles and obesity

P

• Pagers
• Pens, digital
• Personal Water Craft (PWC)—Jet Ski® and Sea-Doo®
• Phones (Cellphones/cellular phones/mobile phones)
• Phones (landlines)
• Photocopiers
• Pianos
• Plasma flatscreen televisions
• Plasters, hydrocolloidal
• Plastics:
• Plastics (ordinary petrochemical plastics)
• Bioplastics and biodegradable plastics
• Pneumatic drills/jackhammers
• Pocket calculators
• Pod coffee makers
• Pollution:
• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Power plants (power stations)
• Power, solar
• Printers, inkjet
• Printers, laser
• Protective materials

Q

• Quartz clocks and watches

R

• Radar
• Radio:
• Radio, analog
• Radio control
• Radio, digital
• Radio pagers
• Rainforests
• Recycling
• Refrigerators
• Remote control
• RFID tags
• Robots
• Rockets (space)

S

• Satellite navigation, GPS
• Satellites
• Science of buildings
• Scanners
• Science of chocolate
• Science of happiness
• Scuba diving
• Sea-Doo® and Jet Ski®
• Simple machines
• Smoke detectors
• Soaps and detergents
• Solar cells
• Sound and ultrasound
• Space rockets
• Space Shuttle
• Space telescopes
• Speech recognition software
• Steam engines
• Steel and concrete
• Streaming media
• Submarines
• Subway stations
• Suicide in young people
• Sunglasses, photochromic
• Sunscreen
• Surfing
• Surge protectors
• Synthesizers

T

• Tapes, magnetic, and LP records: converting to MP3 files
• Teflon® and PTFE nonstick cooking pans
• Telescopes in space
• Telephones
• Television (general principles and cathode-ray tube TVs)
• Television, flatscreen (LCD and plasma)
• Titanium
• Toasters
• Tools and machines
• Toothbrushes, electric
• Transformers (electricity)
• Transistors
• Trash recycling
• Tunnels
• TV remote control
• Typewriters

U

• Ultrasound
• USB

V

• Vehicles, electric
• Virtual reality
• Vision, night
• Voice recognition software
• Vacuum cleaners

W

• Waste recycling
• Watches and clocks (quartz)
• Waterproof GORE-TEX® clothing
• Washing machines
• Washing machines (dishwashers)
• Webcams
• Water pollution
• Websites (how to set them up)
• Wetsuits
• Wind tunnels
• Wind turbines
• Winston Churchill
• Wireless Internet
• Wireless remote control
• World Wide Web (WWW)
• Wound dressings, hydrocolloidal

Y

• Yo-yos