A team of 41 international experts have confirmed that they strongly endorse the theory that the dinosaurs were made extinct largely due to a 15km wide asteroid crashing into Earth. The panel reviewed over 20 years of research to determine their conclusion and writing in the Science Journal, the team rule out many other alternative theories such as mass-volcanism. The asteroid in question is believed to have hit Earth on the northwestern edge of the Yucatan Penisula, centering around Chicxulub, Mexico. The huge crater that the impact caused ...

The quest to uncover the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy has been fraught with difficulties, with scientists and astronomers forced to utilise the cutting edge of technology to observe and record the Sagittarius A* region. As demononstrated in this excellent video, it has been a lenghty and consistently evolving process, which has taken multiple generations to realise, and one which is still far from complete....

Your early sample of the next jam-packed issue of How It Works is here From an interview with the inimitable Johnny Ball to a fascinating introduction to your immune system, issue five is jam-packed with knowledge for you to soak up. And to kick off the issue and the Formula One season, we have put together a bumper feature dedicated to all things F1. From the cars to the drivers and from the pit lane to the circuits, this feature offers everything ...

Second only to the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall was a triumph of engineering, man-power and military might. However, from its ruinous state today it is difficult to appreciate what an ingenious and ordered system it was, how in many respects it was far from just a large defensive wall. Instead, as demonstrated in this short video from the History Channel, it was a living and breathing hybrid of structures, which over a period of years changed the environment and culture of the areas it ran through....

The world's first vertical takeoff passenger liner. Although regular readers will remember the incredibly hi-tech V-22 Osprey military helicopter we featured in issue three, this historic video reveals that VTOL technology in its infancy. Like the Osprey, Fairey Aviation's Rotodyne was an aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing while carrying a large payload. Whereas the Osprey admittedly has state-of-the-art tilt rotors, the Rotodyne featured a combination of static ...

We all know how Guy Fawkes’ plot to blow up the House of Lords in 1605 was foiled at the last minute, sentencing him to a brutal death, and the creation of the annual event of Bonfire Night. However, the actual practicality and possibility of his gunpowder to destroy the building and kill the assembled King and Lords has been much debated since as, when inspected post discovery, the gunpowder was found to be of poor quality and the wooden barrels were damp. Luckily, we now have are own demolition ...

For life to prosper water is a fundamental necessity, but if so, how did the the ancient Maya build such a massive empire without a river to draw water from? This, the first of five videos from the BBC documentary Secrets of the Mayan Underworld, demonstrates how through a series of underground, water-filled caves that run under the majority of the Yucatan, the Mayan Underworld – contrary to their belief that it was a realm of spirits – was actually the life-source of the entire area....

Take a look at this handy video detailing the multiple stages the Egyptians undertook when mummifying their deceased. While made famous by the ancient Egyptians, mummification is a process not just confined to their afterlife culture, as any corpse which has had its skin or organs preserved thanks to external chemicals, substances or extreme temperatures is classed as a mummy. Indeed, mummified corpses have been found all over the Earth, from Russia to the Americas, often preserved ...

Check out this video from English Heritage demonstrating the multiple stages necessary to fire a Brown Bess musket. The Brown Bess musket was the weapon of choice for riflemen during the rise of the British Empire and was used in numerous incarnations for over a hundred years. The musket, which is a .75 caliber flintlock, weighs over 10 pounds and is almost a meter and a half in length. Due to the many stages required to fire, as well as its unwieldily proportions in comparison to modern firearms, firing the musket ...

Take a look at this reconstruction of an early automobile designed by the great inventor and polymath Leonardo da Vinci. Arguably the embodiment of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci was celebrated for his in-depth knowledge and innovatory prowess. A master scientist, mathematician, artist, inventor, botanist, architect, sculptor and anatomist, da Vinci left literally thousands of designs and inventions, including conceptions for a tank, helicopter and calculator. However, upon his death, his great accumulated knowledge (over 33,000 pages ...