WELCOME

“Father Christmas needs to travel around the globe at

BRAIN GYM

Give your brain a puzzle workout

Pine cone close up

© Getty This microscopic view shows a crosssection

ANIMALS Caterpillars evolved chubby little ‘prolegs’ from crustaceans

GLOBAL EYE Showcasing the incredible world we live

ARCHAEOLOGY GIRL DISCOVERS 100,000-YEAR-OLD MAMMOTH BONES IN ARIVER

Woolly mammoths were living on the Russian mainland

PLANET EARTH Scientists finally discover a ‘lost continent’

The mystery of what happened to a lost

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

Icicles hang from a melting iceberg on Petermann

SCIENTISTS DETECT THE FASTEST EVER FAST RADIO BURSTS

Artist’s impression of the discovery of microsecond bursts

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

The supercontinent Gondwana was located around Earth’s South

ANIMALS

ANCIENT SKELETONS OF THE LARGEST EVER MARSUPIAL ARE UNEARTHED

The Moon is 40 million years older than we thought

The Moon is at least 40 million years

Scientists unveil an ‘atlas’ of the gut microbiome

Scientists can now predict how individual bacteria in

HEALTH

Mammal cells may use some viruses like vitamins

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

Artist’s impression of a pair of supermassive black

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

A stunning scene painted by ancient Egyptians has

WISH LIST

Thelatesttechfor CHRISTMAS

QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS

Q1 What is the Milky Way said to

Spot the difference

See if you can find all six changes between the images below

INBOX

Speak your mind

FAST FACTS

Amazing trivia that will blow your mind

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

RIDING THE WAVES

Take a tour of the world’s largest cruise ship and discover how it sails

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

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 chemicals that can cure our ills

HOW TO GROW PLANTS WITHOUT SOIL

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a water-based nutrient solution

MAKING CEMENT AND CONCRETE

Discover how these strong building materials are produced, and the price the planet pays for it

FIVE UNEXPLAINED THINGS ABOUT YOUR BODY

Our knowledge of this collection of skin and bone that we call home has some surprising gaps in it

What is plasma?

BRAINDUMP Amazing answers to your curious questions SEND

WHY DO IRONS WORK SO MUCH BETTER WHEN HOT?

Cloth fibres are bound together by chemical bonds,

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADOLPHIN AND APORPOISE?

Of the two marine mammals, porpoises are shorter

ARE ASTRONAUTS ABLE TO BURP?

Burps, or belches, are caused by a vibration

WHY ARE SOME ANIMALS ALBINO?

Although albinism is rare, many animals are at

What causes the ‘butterflies in my stomach’ feeling?

Did you know? Butterflies can taste things using

COULD SCIENTISTS EVER DEVELOP AWAY FOR HUMANS TO EXTRACT THE OXYGEN FROM WATER?

Oxygen can be extracted from water in a

How would you put out a fire on the ISS?

Although there have been no fires on the

DO WE CONTROL OUR BRAINS OR DO OUR BRAINS CONTROL US?

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO: HOW IT WORKS MAGAZINE

DOES THE SOUND OF RUNNING WATER MAKE US WANT TO PEE?

It certainly can, although this is most likely

IF ILET A BALLOON GO, HOW HIGH CAN IT GET BEFORE IT POPS?

At sea level there’s about one tonne of

What would Saturn’s rings look like from the surface of the planet?

Since Saturn is a gaseous planet, it’s not

Why do the upper arm and upper leg have only one bone, while the lower arm and lower leg have two bones?

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO: HOW IT WORKS MAGAZINE

CAN WE SEE BOTH THE SUN AND THE MOON OUTSIDE OF AN ECLIPSE?

Yes! The Moon is actually the second-brightest object

WHERE DO MAGGOTS COME FROM WHEN FOOD GOES BAD?

For hundreds of years, many scientists used the

IF WE’RE CONSTANTLY SHEDDING SKIN, HOW MUCH DO WE LOSE OVER ALIFETIME?

Skin is our body’s largest organ – on

I’m often delayed by signal failures – what exactly does this mean?

Did you know? The first train journey took

WHY DO DOGS LIKE CHASING THINGS YOU HAVE THROWN?

Dog are descended from wolves that chased after

THE LIBRARY

The latest book releases for curious minds