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 218

Global eye

GLOBAL EYE • Showcasing the incredible world we live in

WISH LIST • The latest tech for GAMING

THIS QUANTUM TECH WILL CHANGE THE WORLD • From unhackable internet to far-future weather forecasting, these technologies are moving out of the laboratory and into the real world of tomorrow

HOW DRONE SWARMS ARE CONTROLLED • Fleets of autonomous drones can be used for entertainment, military or safety purposes

INSIDE A VENDING MACHINE • With a few button taps, these convenient dispensaries will drop your favourite snacks, drinks and more

WORLD’S MOST MYSTERIOUS MANUSCRIPT • A book no one can read may hold a mystery from the past, if its language can be deciphered… or could the Voynich Manuscript just be a big hoax?

HOW IRON AGE TRIBES MADE BRITAIN • The borders of Britain looked very different in 800 BCE. How did early Celtic culture and infrastructure shape the country?

WHO INVENTED BREAD? • For millennia, bread has been a staple in human diets, and life would be different without it today

WHY YOUR LIVER REGENERATES • Incredibly, you can lose most of your liver and it can still regrow to its full size

HOW A GUITAR MAKES SOUND • An acoustic guitar is essentially just strings vibrating over a box with a hole in it, though there’s an elegant science behind the sound

HOW A BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR WORKS • This simple compression device can diagnose an overworked heart

FIVE WAYS TO USE SCIENCE TO GET AHEAD • Research shows there are some subtle and rather surprising techniques you can use to increase your chances of getting a date or landing a new job…

INSIDE THE PENTAGON’S UAP FILES • Secret documents and videos containing footage of mysterious flying objects have recently been declassified by the US government. What can you expect to see in them?

NASA’S DEADLY SOUND CHAMBER • The Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility contains an acoustic chamber so loud it would tear you apart if you stood inside it. What’s it for?

HOW TO BE A MOUNTAIN CLIMBER • What training and kit does it take to reach the highest peaks in the world?

WHAT IF… ALL INSECTS DISAPPEARED? • Could Earth survive a sudden loss of these six-legged creepy crawlies, or would it be the end of life as we know it?

HOW TO FLY A PLANE • Sit in the cockpit and discover the tools pilots need to safely take off, fly and land a plane

HOW JETS LAND ON AIRCRAFT CARRIERS • These floating fortresses launch jets at up to 150 miles per hour on a deck runway in the middle of the ocean and allow precision landings on their return

BRAINDUMP • Amazing answers to your curious questions

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