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Introduction to How Things Work

With another Carnival finished, it?s once again time to hit the books. But wait! Before you inundate yourself in ?real? knowledge, why not take a moment...

How Things Work: Space Travel

You lay back in the seat, stare at thousands of switches, and pray that no tiles fall off. Two solid booster rockets generating over six million pounds...

How Things Work: Phrenology

Don?t you wish you had lived in the 19th century? So many great things were happening: The postage stamp was invented, Emily Dickinson was sitting in...

How Things Work: Submarines

As the ?How Things Work? columnist, I am obliged to ensure that my readers get the truth. When an egregious falsehood enters into mainstream thought,...

How Things Work: The Claw Game

The claw game ? you know, that game where you thought you?d grabbed a stuffed bear but now you?re mad because that worthless claw dropped it ? has ruthlessly...

How Things Work: Cells

Imagine the Empire State Building. Now fill it with lima beans. If your little finger was the size of the Empire State Building, each of those lima beans...

How Things Work: Time

I?m not quite sure how to say this, but I?ll try to break it to you easy: We have no idea how time works. The quantization of time was man?s first scientific...

How Things Work: Nuclear Power Reactor

Have you ever wondered how we get our energy? Energy today seems to dictate our lives; virtually everything we count on to live is fueled by energy in...

SciTech Briefs

Execution by lethal injection: painless? Researchers from Florida and Virginia have discovered that execution by lethal injection may not be painless,...

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