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.

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Unusual life forms

Lurking on the seafloor

Stranger things

New view of Jupiter

The Milky Way is ‘rippling’ like a pond

RARE CRYSTAL DISCOVERED ON THE MOON

$3 million prize won for an AI that predicts every protein’s structure

Huge ancient lava flow seen from space

GHOSTLY RINGS OF NEPTUNE SHINE IN NEW WEBB IMAGES

China approves first inhaled COVID-19 vaccine

A SECRET STAR AT THE CENTRE OF THE CAT’S EYE NEBULA

A vanished arm of the Nile helped build the pyramids

Tardigrade survival attributed to proteins found in no other animals

Ancient ‘dragons’ were Earth’s first gliding reptiles

Acid lake atop ‘Mount Doom’ in striking new image from space

MYSTERIOUS ‘BLUE GOO’ ON THE OCEAN’S BOTTOM STUMPS SCIENTISTS

WISH LIST • The latest tech for WINTER

GET CHRISTMAS WRAPPED UP EARLY • Receive five books with your magazine subscription

20 SPIDER MYTHS BUSTED • There are many misconceptions about these eight-legged creepy-crawlies. We sort the facts from the fiction

SPIDERS BY NUMBERS • ORB-WEAVING SPIDERS ARE ABLE TO ADAPT TO MICROGRAVITY ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

HOW BIRDS MAKE NESTS • Explore the amazing beakwork of the world’s feathered architects

HOW DO DOGS SMELL? • See inside the nose of man’s best friend

SECRETS OF THE BOG PEOPLE • Meet the mysterious Iron Age mummies buried in Northwest Europe’s swamps

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HOWARD CARTER • 100 years ago, this archaeologist shot to worldwide renown when he discovered the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun

ANGEL’S GLOW • Why injured Civil War soldiers glowed with a pale-blue light that seemed to heal their wounds

What are MICROPLASTICS? • Take a closer look at these miniscule pollutants and how they affect all life

REMOVING MICROPLASTICS • These technologies and techniques can help reduce microplastics’ environmental impact

WHAT IS ASTIGMATISM? • How a change in the shape of the eye can alter the way people see the world

BLUE STARS EXPLAINED • Take a look at the hottest stars in the galaxy, which live fast and die young

TEN BIG TERRESTRIAL TELESCOPES • These giant Earth-based structures serve as our eyes, peering far into space

SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER CHEMISTRY • Much of the power of NASA’s new rocket comes not from its main engines, but its boosters

STEAM DECK TEARDOWN • This new portable console takes gaming to the next level

HOW NEWBORN INCUBATORS WORK • Found in hospitals around the world, these medical boxes have saved the lives of countless sick and premature babies

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL • Air traffic controllers are tasked with keeping pilots, planes and passengers safe in increasingly crowded airways – this is how they do it

INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE ATC TOWER • This is where the hard work of air traffic controllers goes down. The beginning and end of a flight are monitored from here

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL OFFICER • Air traffic control officer Bart Montilla explains how he keeps you safe in the air

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Are Buzz Aldrin’s footprints still on the Moon? If so, why? • We consider the Moon to have no atmosphere. There may be...