Skip to content

A miniature world of everyday wonders: giant headphones sending out sound waves, a plane in the sky, a cutaway ear, a glowing microwave and a see-through refrigerator by the sea

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.Play the answer → 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.Play the answer → BodyHow does your sense of balance work?Deep inside each ear, three fluid-filled loops sense when your head turns, and two small organs sense gravity and movement. Your brain combines their signals with what your eyes and body feel to keep you steady.Play the answer → 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.Play the answer → HomeHow does a refrigerator work?A refrigerator doesn’t make cold. It pumps heat out of the inside and releases it into your kitchen, using a liquid that absorbs heat as it turns into gas.Play the answer →

Everyday questions,
explained in pictures.

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

Or explore the world: tap anything that glows.

Explore all questions

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.

TechnologyHow does wireless charging work?A coil in the charging pad creates a changing magnetic field. A second coil inside your phone picks up that field and turns it back into electricity for the battery.

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.

HomeHow does a refrigerator work?A refrigerator doesn’t make cold. It pumps heat out of the inside and releases it into your kitchen, using a liquid that absorbs heat as it turns into gas.

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.

BodyHow does the human eye work?The cornea and lens bend incoming light into a sharp image on the retina at the back of your eye. Cells there turn the light into signals, and your brain turns those signals into what you see.

BodyHow does your sense of balance work?Deep inside each ear, three fluid-filled loops sense when your head turns, and two small organs sense gravity and movement. Your brain combines their signals with what your eyes and body feel to keep you steady.

Nature

Weather, oceans and the natural world.

NatureHow does lightning happen?Inside a storm cloud, colliding ice separates electric charge: positive at the top, negative at the bottom. When the difference gets big enough, it discharges in a giant spark, and that’s lightning.