What does a data centre do? - Science Scrapbook 12.03.08

Launched in 1977 to study the Solar system's gas giant planets, Voyager 1 is still operating. But now it's so far away that the Solar wind has weakened and a deluge of cosmic particles from intergalactic space is assailing it. Now interstellar space awaits. But where does the Solar system end and this new frontier begin?

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have found evidence of a new fundamental particle, that could be the much sought-after Higgs boson. In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out what a Higgs boson actually is, and why finding it could help us understand the structure of the universe a little bit better...

What do nerve cells look like, how do they carry information, and how does one nerve connect and communicate with another nerve? Find out in this spine-tingling Naked Science Scrapbook episode...

Hydrogen could be a key clean fuel of the future, powering cars, planes and technology. The challenge facing us before we can switch to this energy-dense fuel has been to produce it cleanly and efficiently. Now a team at the University of Birmingham have developed a way of harnessing the power of microbes to make it for us...

Whether you're watching a YouTube video, downloading an email, buying a birthday present or linking up with friends online, you're sending data across the Internet. But how does "the web" actually work, and what lies behind it? Here, in this Naked Science Scrapbook episode supported by 4D Data Centres, all is revealed...

Fungi are a biologically important, and often overlooked Kingdom of organisms. In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out what a fungus actually is, how they live and how they cause and fight disease. Plus we see that many of our favourite meals wouldn't be the same without them.

A lot of the metals we use every day, from car wheels to cutlery, are made from alloys. In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out how alloys are made and how we change their properties to suit our needs. Plus we discover why alloys have a vital role to play when we fly off on holiday...

Why do we feel tired or awake at the wrong times when we go on holiday to a different timezone? In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out how your body clock works, how it is disrupted by long distance travel and if there's any way around getting jetlag.

When companies can't back up their data themselves, they often turn to data centres. But what do they do? In this Naked Science Scrapbook, supported by 4D Data Centres, we find out how a data centre is designed to minimise environmental impact, and how they can prevent personal information from being stolen...

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!