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 187 • “The earliest such mechanisms didn’t have familiar clock faces”

Volcanic descent

Jellyfish rides

GLOBAL EYE • Showcasing the incredible world we live in

Gene variant guards against Parkinson’s disease

WISH LIST • The latest MOVIE NIGHT GADGETS

TIME • What is time? A look at some of the ways we measure this unstoppable force of nature and its intimate connection with space

ABOARD THE WORLD’S LARGEST SOLAR BOAT • This catamaran runs on sunshine, powering its journey around the globe

ANATOMY OF A WRECKED CAR • The humble hospital scanner has been supersized to look inside mangled car wrecks and learn how to make cars safer

THE FIRST MAP-MAKERS • How did ancient cartographers calculate and draw the contours of their countries?

WHO WERE THE FIRST AMERICANS? • The first humans in the Americas were thought to have travelled across a land bridge from Asia 13,000 years ago, but new evidence suggests otherwise

SEASONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM • Do other planets have a spring, summer, autumn and winter?

INSIDE THE ASTEROID BELT • Any ideas this sprawling ring of debris orbiting the Sun had of forming a planet were wiped out by the Solar System’s largest inhabitant

INSIDE A GIANT FUSION MACHINE • JT-60SA will pave the way for making nuclear fusion a viable energy source of the future

WHAT ARE YOUR TONSILS FOR? • You might not pay them much attention until you get sick, but these lymph nodes at the back of the mouth can shield you from illness

STEM CELLS UNCOVERED • Long billed as the next big thing in medical treatment, a change in approach may unlock stem cells’ limitless potential

WHAT IS KERATIN? • Learn about the vital protein that helps hold your body together

HOW TO SURVIVE THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK • From bush tucker basics to sourcing trapped water and combating crocodiles

WHERE DID THE OZONE LAYER COME FROM? • The invisible layer in the atmosphere that protects us from deadly radiation formed billions of years ago

WHAT ARE PLANKTON? • Drifting through the world’s waters are tiny organisms that feed fish and trap carbon

GARDEN TOOL GUIDE • These manual and electric implements are vital for growing plants and maintaining a perfectly manicured lawn

HOW A BOWLING ALLEY WORKS • Explore its inner mechanisms and discover how pins and balls quickly resume position

BRAINDUMP • Amazing answers to your curious questions

Where does light end up when it enters a black hole?

THE LIBRARY • The latest book releases for curious minds

BRAIN GYM • Give your brain a puzzle workout

HOW TO… • Practical projects to try at home

INBOX • Speak your mind

How It Works

FAST FACTS • Amazing trivia that will blow your mind