How It Works

Welcome to How It Works, the magazine that explains everything you never knew you wanted to know about the world we live in. Loaded with fully illustrated guides and expert knowledge, and with sections dedicated to science, technology, transportation, space, history and the environment, no subject is too big or small for How It Works to explain.

WELCOME • Issue 186

Global eye

Methane under the Arctic could trigger a climate feedback loop

WHO warns that climate change could spread malaria

LASERS ARE A GIANT LEAP FOR MOON AND MARS COMMUNICATIONS

The Great Wall of China is being held together by ‘biocrusts’

THE WORLD’S OLDEST KNOWN FORT WAS CONSTRUCTED 8,000 YEARS AGO

NASA identifies 17 planets with possible subsurface oceans

ICE FROM SATURN’S MOON COULD BE STUDIED FOR SIGNS OF LIFE

We finally know how tardigrades reproduce

72-million-year-old ‘blue dragon’ unearthed in Japan

Hammerhead sharks are vanishing from underwater mountains

Scientists create a chip that will pave the way for 6G

HALLEY’S COMET HAS BEGUN ITS RETURN JOURNEY TO EARTH

WISH LIST • The latest tech for PETS

YOUR HOME EXPLAINED • From kitchen chemistry and bathroom bugs to the function of fittings and electronic entertainment

KITCHEN BASICS • Explore the culinary chemistry, sophisticated physics and bacterial biology of food preparation

THE LAVATORY LABORATORY: HOW YOUR BATHROOM WORKS • Whether you prefer a shower or bath, this room cleans you up

THE VERY BEST REST • How home comforts are specially designed to make you cosy and restore your energy

SURVEILLANCE FROM THE STRATOSPHERE • This lightweight solar-electric aircraft is an alternative to high-altitude satellites

HOW FLAMETHROWERS WORK • These tools that hurl plumes of fire through the air were originally weapons of war

ANIMAL ATTRACTION • The weird and wonderful techniques some species use to charm potential partners

Raging RIVERS • How the watery veins of planet Earth can become turbulent and toxic

DEADLY DINOSAUR DISEASES • From prehistoric parasites to ancient airborne infections, discover the illnesses that plagued these giant creatures

TINY LIVING RAINMAKERS • Scientists have tracked down the culprits behind some of our rain, and they could become a force for good

VALENTINA TERESHKOVA • This pioneering cosmonaut was the first woman in space and remains the only woman to fly there solo

BIZARRE INVENTIONS • From passenger jets to the internet, humanity has changed the world with many ingenious technologies. But some creations have been a little unusual…

ARE BRAIN TRANSPLANTS POSSIBLE? • This controversial surgery has complicated technicalities to consider before our body’s most sophisticated organ can be switched out

HOW SEASONS CAN CHANGE YOUR MOOD • The science behind seasonal affective disorder and how the brain responds to daylight

HOW SEA GLASS IS MADE • This ocean process turns household trash into sea treasures

HOW TO FIND ALIEN LIFE • Scientists have a variety of ways to search for life in the cosmos

SEARCHING FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE • If aliens use lasers, this advanced new tool might be able to catch them in the act

SEEING STARS IN A NEW LIGHT • A telescope perched on a mountain in Chile allows us to watch stars and planets form in the most distant parts of the universe

FUTURE STEAM POWER • How modern steam trains are ditching coal for cleaner and more efficient engines

BRAINDUMP • Amazing answers to your curious questions

THE LIBRARY • The latest book releases for curious minds

BRAIN...