system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: how do laser pointed thermometer guns find a reading of the temperature?
gpt
The laser is just there so you know where the reading is being taken from.  Everything emits infrared radiation as long as it's above absolute zero and if it gets hot enough it starts emitting visible light.  The radiation things normally emit based on their temperature is a form of light below what the human eye can see unless it gets intensely hot.  The laser thermometer is able to sense this radiation and determine temperature based on how strong and what "color" the light is.