Lab, Camera, Action!

Short, sharp science videos

Lab, Camera, Action! is a series of short videos about physics, explaining basic concepts, the work done here in Oxford, and even some experiments to try at home. Please explore the first few episodes by following the links below. Like all the best science, Lab, Camera, Action! is experimental and we'd love to hear what you think—please get in touch with Andrew if you have any feedback.


Transit of Venus


In June this year, one of the rarest predictable astronomical phenomena will occur: Venus will pass directly in front of the Sun. So what can you see, and why is it so unusual?

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Maglev train


Wheels are so last century. We’ve got a train set which doesn’t have any; it just floats around the track in a billowing cloud of steam. Dr Andrew Steele explains how our superconducting magnetic levitation—or maglev—train really works.

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Make your own CD spectrometer


How do we know what the stars are made of when we've never been to one? Find out how to make a spectrometer, a device used by scientists to analyse light, using a cereal box and a CD.

Watch this video »

Lab, Camera, Action! is released under a Creative Commons Attribution–Non-commercial–Share-alike license.