BRAIN GYM

WELCOME

The magazine that feeds minds!

INSIDE THE POLLEN STORE

This is a thale cress plant’s reproductive organ,

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Imagine glancing down and seeing the whole world

Newfound collision may be the biggest in Milky Way history

A globular cluster glows in the Large Magellanic

Primeval Greenland lake found under mile of ice

Ice seems to go on forever at Humboldt

Birth of a magnetic star seen for the first time

Two neutron stars slammed together far away from

Megalodon nurseries reveal the monster shark’s soft side

The megalodon, the biggest predatory shark of all

Coral tower taller than the Empire State Building discovered

An underwater research vessel has stumbled upon a

Stratolaunch starts building hypersonic plane

Stratolaunch has begun construction on a prototype hypersonic

Triassic Period ended with a ‘lost’ mass extinction

The Triassic Period ended with a millionyear rain

Hidden bacteria and fungi discovered on da Vinci’s drawings

Leonardo da Vinci is famous for his elaborate,

100 mummies found at Egyptian burial site

The number of mummy-filled coffins found in a

WISH LIST

The latest next-gen gadgets

Why are all Moon craters circular?

It’s not just Moon craters that are round

How can Pyrex be put in the oven and the freezer?

Pyrex glassware is made from heat-resistant borosilicate glass

How do noise-cancelling headphones work?

Noise-cancelling headphones help to block out surrounding distractions

How does WiFi work?

DID YOU KNOW? The world’s biggest gearbox weighs

Why do we yawn?

DID YOU KNOW? The average person will yawn

When were magnets first discovered and used?

English physicist William Gilbert was the first person

How does a car gearbox work?

The pistons in a car’s engine have to

Do you think it might be possible to change the environment of Venus or Mars to make it habitable?

The environments of Mars and Venus are relatively

How far into space have humans travelled?

The record for the greatest distance from

Why do objects have different terminal velocities?

DID YOU KNOW? Noise-cancelling headphones were first invented for

What cause s anxiety?

Shortness of breath is one common symptom of

BOOK REVIEWS

The latest releases for curious minds

BRAIN GYM

How to make fake glass

With this realistic prop, you can safely perform breakaway stunts for home movies

Turbine trouble

These impacts come into play after long-term large-scale

Exercise your eyes

Letter of the month

Mirror mirror

Mirrors were invented almost 200 years ago Dear

Allergic to the Sun?

Dear HIW, Can you tell me why

PC components

Dear HIW, I read How It Works magazine

FAST FACTS

2021's HOTTEST SCI & TECH TO WATCH OUT FOR

WHAT DISCOVERIES, INNOVATIONS AND SCIENTIFIC EVENTS CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE?

GREEN HYDROGEN REVOLUTION

Scientists are continuously looking for alternative fuel sources

BROOD X HATCHES

Billions of cicadas are due to emerge from

ROBOTIC ASSISTANCE

FIELD SUPPOR T ROBOT (FSR) These autonomous robots

HIGH-TECH OLYMPICS

WHAT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS CAN WE EXPECT FROM NEXT YEAR’S ATHLETIC GAMES?

FLYING CARS

In 2017, Japanese car manufacturer Toyota invested hundreds

NEXT-GEN RESEARCH SHIP WILL SET SAIL

It’s been one of the most talkedabout research

SELF-DRIVING CARS GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT

The S-Class is the latest car from Mercedes

SEEING THROUGH BIONIC EYES

Monash University in Melbou rne, Australia, is paving

ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY TRIALS END

The Kidney Project at the University of California,

NEW EYES IN THE SKY

The James Webb Space Telescope will be NASA’s

THE FIRST LAUNCH FOR ARTEMIS 1

Another important launch will occur in November 2021

BATTLING COVID-19

One of the most crucial scientific advancements likely

KEY DATES

WHAT SCIENCE EVENTS SHOULD YOU KEEP IN YOUR CALENDAR?

5G GIVES VIRTUAL REALITY AN UPGRADE

Panasonic is developing VR glasses such as these

THE DEEPEST HOLES IN THE WORLD

How deep have we ventured into Earth towards the core?

WORLD’S DEEPEST

Kola Superdeep Borehole RUSSIA Depth 12,262 METRES

Inside a 5G smartphone

How It Works deconstructs Apple’s iPhone 12

Record players

How sound is recorded and replayed from vinyl

A-Z OF THE ANCIENT GREEK OLYMPICS

The modern Olympic Games may look very different, but the underlying ethos hasn’t changed in millennia

How the slave trade ended

Why the British Empire stopped these harrowing transatlantic shipments and their human cargo

Wilhelm Röntgen

This man’s accidental discovery provided medicine with a vital tool for diagnosing disease

SEA MONSTERS

What makes these animals some of the world’s deadliest underwater hunters?

TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN

Killer whales vs great whites 

VICIOUS VENOM

Toxic attackers

TACTICAL TEAMWORK

  How animals hunt in teams

Rocky shores explored

There’s marine wildlife in every nook and cranny of the coast, just waiting to be discovered

The mystery of ball lightning

What’s the most plausible explanation for this rare atmospheric phenomenon?

AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES

Discover vehicles that can jump between land, water and air as a result of some innovative engineering

Dornier Seastar

Land, sea and air: this flying boat has got it all covered

Rinspeed sQuba

A James Bond fantasy car brought to life

Amphibious Assault Vehicle

The first to land and the first to fight

Hot-air balloons

How do these gasbags get off the ground

Airport fire engines

Not all fire engines are created equal: airport tenders are the heavyweights of the fire-fighting world

Inside a clean-air plane

Could this strangely shaped private jet be the future of environmentally-friendly flying?

HOW WE HEAL

Discover the critical biological systems that  regenerate our bodies and restore us to health

SKIN DEEP REPAIRS

From bloodshed to scarring, here's how broken skin is restored

THE BRUISE SPECTRUM

What can the colour of your bruise tell you about its healing stage?

REPAIRING BONES

How does the skeleton fuse together beneath a cast?

OVERCOMING INFECTION

Our bodies constantly monitor themselves and are prepared for a fight against invaders

THE POWER OF SOAP

WHEN HUMANITY INVENTED SOAP, IT CHANGED THE WORLD

HOW SOAP KILLS CORONAVIRUS

SIMPLE SOAP IS ONE OF THE BEST DEFENCES WE HAVE AGAINST COVID-19

How the coronavirus vaccine works

Could a tiny strip of genetic code end the global pandemic?

What is an mRNA vaccine?

Priming the body with viral genetics teaches the immune system how to fight back

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES

Once thought impossible by scientists, supermassive black holes are now believed to be the heart and soul of every galaxy, powering trillions of stars while spanning an area no bigger than our Solar System

WEIRD MOONS

Meet some of the strangest natural  satellites in the Solar System

Two faced

Name Iapetus Planet Saturn Size 8.7x smaller than

Slingshot satellite

Name Nereid Planet Neptune Size 37.5x smaller than

Life cycle of the Sun

From birth to its death in the far future, our Sun’s evolution is driven by fundamental forces

How many teeth doe s a snail have ?

The average garden snail has around 14,000 microscopic