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 184

Pine cone close up

Heavenly nebula

Mountainside Christmas tree

Penguin party

Caterpillars evolved chubby little ‘prolegs’ from crustaceans

GIRL DISCOVERS 100,000-YEAR-OLD MAMMOTH BONES IN A RIVER

Scientists finally discover a ‘lost continent’

The collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet is ‘unavoidable’

SCIENTISTS DETECT THE FASTEST EVER FAST RADIO BURSTS

Scientists used a supercontinent to solve a 390-million-year-old ‘murder mystery’

ANCIENT SKELETONS OF THE LARGEST EVER MARSUPIAL ARE UNEARTHED

The Moon is 40 million years older than we thought

Scientists unveil an ‘atlas’ of the gut microbiome

Mammal cells may use some viruses like vitamins

Scientists found a way for two black holes to orbit each other forever without colliding

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN NEW YEAR’S SCENE IS UNCOVERED IN A 2,200-YEAR-OLD TEMPLE

WISH LIST • The latest tech for CHRISTMAS

The perfect Christmas gift • Get a whole year of How It Works

20 CHRISTMAS SCIENCE questions answered • How does Santa Claus deliver presents around the world in one night? Discover the chemistry, biology and even theoretical physics of Christmas

SANTA’S secret science • The technology and theoretical physics that get Santa around the world in a single night

WHAT’S ON the tree? • The science behind festive decorations and ornaments

Aboard the WORLD’S LARGEST CRUISE SHIP • Sail away on the Icon of the Seas: Royal Caribbean’s latest luxury floating voyager can hold around 8,000 people

WHAT ARE CAT’S EYES? • These glowing road safety devices have steered drivers in the right direction for decades

How the AEROPLANE WAS INVENTED • Hop aboard the Wright brothers’ ingenious creation and discover the beginning of modern-day aviation

WHAT WAS THE BOSTON TEA PARTY? • Why American colonists attacked British tea ships 250 years ago

HOW AIRPORTS ARE GETTING SMARTER • Discover the latest smart airport technology that’s making air travel a safer and smoother process

WHAT ARE HAPTIC DEVICES? • Haptic technology is bringing the virtual world to life through touch

HOW TO PAY BY PHONE • Near-field communication has revolutionised how we pay for goods and share data

HOW WOOL IS MADE • Discover the process that turns fluffy fur into fabric

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HOW EARTH GOT ITS WATER • A lot of our water likely came from space, which could be shown by a NASA spacecraft that just returned from a nearby asteroid

VENUS: EARTH’S EVIL TWIN • The second planet from the Sun is a hellish place of boiling temperatures and acid rain, but can it teach us about our future?

HOW THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WAS BUILT • The football-pitch-sized science lab presented the toughest engineering challenge of modern times, but a historic level of international cooperation and an innovative modular design made this remarkable satellite a reality

GREAT ANIMAL MIGRATIONS • Taking to the skies, sea or land, what drives certain animal communities to make long voyages across the globe?

WHY ARE SEA LEVELS RISING? • How civilisation and natural processes are turning Earth into a water world

FROM FANG TO PHARMACY • Venoms are often associated with sickness and death, but they’re actually packed with...