Science & Space

Rockets, engines, weather and the way things work, explained for the curious and not the specialist.

GuideDean ShawNov 7, 20265 min

A magnet never wears out. It just gets scrambled

Holding weight doesn't drain a magnet. Heat, knocks and bad company do, and sometimes you can get the strength back.

Steel wants to turn back into rock, and every fix is a delay

From the Science & Space archive

Older stories

StoryDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

How the Hoover Dam Actually Holds Back Lake Mead

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

Most of the Seafloor Has Never Been Properly Mapped

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

Why Airplanes Fly and Why Turbulence Won't Break One

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20265 min

The Real Story Behind SpaceX, NASA and the Race to the Moon

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20267 min

Five Things You Can Find in the Night Sky Without a Telescope

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

How a Car Engine Actually Works, Stroke by Stroke

Science & Space on video

Worth an hour of your evening

From channels we rate. Plays on YouTube.

AnimagraffsNov 4

How Jet Engines Work

SafranJan 27

How does a jet engine work ? | Safran

Captain JoeOct 7

HOW DO JET ENGINES work and WHY do they get BIGGER Explained by CAPTAIN JOE

Science ABCOct 4

Rocket Science: How Rockets Work - A Short and Basic Explanation

Peekaboo KidzJan 31

How Does A ROCKET FLY | How Do Rockets Work | ROCKET LAUNCH | The Dr Binocs Show | Peekaboo Kidz

Arvin AshOct 10

ROCKET SCIENCE explained in 15 minutes! And How do satellites work?

National GeographicJul 12

Rockets 101 | National Geographic

KiwiCoJun 22

How Do Rockets Work? | KiwiCo

Kids AcademyMay 12

How Rockets Work? Basic Explanation for Kids. #spaceforkids Kids Academy

SciShow KidsJul 12

How Do Rockets Fly? | Let's Explore Mars! | SciShow Kids

Jared OwenOct 1

How did the Space Shuttle launch work?

Martian WolfAug 15

Rocket Engines Explained

The Space RaceAug 26

How SpaceX Reinvented The Rocket!

Digital AstronautNov 16

The Space Launch System Explained | America's New Moon Rocket

The Space RaceJun 7

How Reusable Rockets Work

Science & Space quizzes

Quiz yourself, then your friends

All quizzes

GuideDean ShawOct 18, 20265 min

What a metal detector actually hears when it beeps

It doesn't find metal. It finds anything that answers a magnetic field, which is why a pull tab can fool you and wet beach sand can too.

GuideDean ShawOct 18, 20266 min

Why an empty room echoes and a furnished one doesn't

Move the couch in and the echo disappears. The physics behind that explains gyms, bathrooms, restaurants and how to fix a room that rings.

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GuideDean ShawOct 17, 20266 min

Your GPS Is Really a Stopwatch, and Stopwatches Get Fooled

Your phone doesn't ask satellites where you are. It times their signals and does the math, and that's exactly why the blue dot sometimes wanders.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

PartnerDelicious.com

6 min read

Concrete Is Designed to Crack. Engineers Just Pick the Spot.

Those lines every few feet in your sidewalk are cracks someone put there on purpose. Here's why concrete splits, and how engineers keep it from mattering.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideDean ShawOct 17, 20266 min

Mud in, drinking water out: inside a water treatment plant

A river goes in brown and comes out clean in a few hours. The plant does it with gravity, a little chemistry, and sand. The last 50 feet are on you.

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

The Small Planes Worth Learning On and Worth Owning After

A used Cessna 172 is the safe answer, but it isn't the only one. What each trainer costs to fly, what breaks, and what to check before you buy.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

PartnerCoconut.com

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

How the Power Grid Works and Why It Goes Dark

Electricity is made the instant you use it, which explains almost everything about why the lights stay on and why they sometimes don't.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

StoryNina CastellanSep 23, 20266 min

The Women Who Changed Science and the Work That Did It

Grace Hopper handed out pieces of wire 11.8 inches long to make a point. Eight discoveries, explained well enough to repeat at your own dinner table.

GuideDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

Nuclear Power Is Just a Very Fancy Way to Boil Water

A uranium pellet the size of a pencil eraser, a steam turbine older than the automobile, and the reason utilities are restarting reactors they already closed.

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