All questions

Everyday questions,
explained in pictures.

Short, visual answers to everyday questions. Scroll and the answer plays out.

Technology

How the gadgets around us actually work.

TechnologyHow do noise-cancelling headphones work?Microphones pick up the noise around you, a chip creates a mirror-image sound wave, and the speaker plays it so the two waves cancel each other out. TechnologyHow do planes fly?A wing is shaped and tilted so it pushes air downward. That leaves lower pressure above the wing and higher pressure below, and the plane is lifted up as long as it keeps its speed.

Home

The everyday appliances and science in your kitchen and home.

HomeHow does a microwave heat food?Microwaves make the water molecules in your food twist back and forth billions of times a second. All that motion turns into heat.

Body

How your body and the medicines you take work.

BodyHow do antibiotics work?Antibiotics attack parts that only bacteria have, such as their cell wall and their protein factories. The bacteria stop multiplying and your immune system clears the rest. They don’t work on viruses.