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 • The magazine that feeds minds!

Meet the team…

MEET THIS ISSUE’S EXPERTS…

SCALLOP SIGHT

YELLOWSTONE’S HOT SPRING

A STAR IS BORN

FILTRATION UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Astronomers spot the fastest star in the galaxy

Massive Anglo-Saxon cemetery and treasure trove unearthed

Upward ‘blue jet’ lightning spotted from ISS

Tomb of murderous Chinese emperor identified

Man tries to smuggle chameleons in socks

NASA finds ‘Lost Galaxy’ shining in Virgo

Elephants counted from space using satellites and AI

CO 2  levels to pass an alarming milestone in 2021

Gorillas at San Diego park catch COVID-19

WISH LIST • The latest FITNESS gadgets

APPS & TOOLS

DEADLY RADIATION • FROM DENTAL X-RAYS TO NUCLEAR REACTORS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IONISING RADIATION, ITS USES AND HAZARDS

That spooky blue glow

Radiation shielding • Some types of ionising radiation are easier to block than others

The electromagnetic spectrum • The EM spectrum spans a vast range of phenomena and technologies

How radiation damages DNA • The health hazards of ionising radiation come from its effects on DNA molecules

Alpha and beta radiation

Measuring radiation

Radiation in space

How Geiger counters work • The oldest way to measure ionising radiation uses that very same property

EXTREME TEMPERATURES • Why leaving our usual range of warm and cold makes materials do strange and exciting things

Absolutely impossible zero

Cold or hot stuff? • Changing matter’s temperature affects its energy, pushing it through phase transitions between different states

Time dilation • What does the theory of special relativity mean in terms of time? We’d suggest reading our explanation of special relativity first to truly get a grasp of time dilation…

HOW TIME WORKS • From the beginning of the universe to the present day, it’s one of the few things we regard as regular and unchanging. But is it really so constant? We take a look at the physics of time…

Special relativity • How Einstein changed our perception of time

Space-time

Atomic clocks

How long is a second?

TIME COMPARISON • How do these different lengths compare?

What is dandruff? • The causes of an itchy and flaky scalp

Antifungal treatment

Making flakes • How can microorganisms on your head cause your skin to shed?

COLD WARFARE • Discover the events of history’s wintery wars, where the weather was the most lethal weapon

DID YOU KNOW?

Chuck Yeager • The man who made history by breaking the sound barrier

A life’s work • The journey to becoming the ‘Fastest Man Alive’

Breaking barriers

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT… CHUCK YEAGER

INSIDE THE TOXIC CLOUD • How does city-wide smog form, and what damage can it cause?

The Great Smog

The science of smog • How sunlight and pollution come together to create toxic photochemical smog

The beauty of MINIBEASTS • The true beauty of invertebrates is often only appreciated up close. View the majesty of the insect world

Spotted-eye hoverfly

ANIMALS OF THE ARCTIC WILDERNESS • Explore a strange frozen world and meet the wide variety of life that calls it home

Life beneath the...