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....

Check out this video showing 'Rock Star' physicist Professor Brian Cox talking about his work on the Large Hadron Collider, the current scientific theory on the origin of the universe and what they are hoping to achieve in Geneva, Switzerland. While in the video Professor Cox is talking prior to the LHC's breakdown in September 2008, repairs to the system have now been completed and the scientists at CERN ...

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 ...

Man captures rare close-up footage of an iceberg collapsing Capturing an iceberg collapsing or calving is a rare sight, and this couple filming off Labrador, Canada, picked up their camcorder just in time to catch the dramatic event. The pair and their dog are clearly excited about what they've just witnessed, but are soon chased away by a rush of smashed up ice that starts floating towards them. For ...

Check out this video from National Geographic in which a liger supercat has been engineered by mating a male lion with a female tiger. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6vpheUoPE[/youtube] At 900 lbs, supercat Sinbad dwarfs the mighty Bengal Tiger's average weight of 520 lbs, a full 380 lbs heavier. In fact, at 900 lbs, Sinbad weighs roughly the same as both his father and mother combined! Despite a liger's obvious physical dominance, they only exist in captivity as tigers and lions would never voluntarily mate in the wild, and further, live in different regions and environments. ...

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 ...

Ever gone Ten-Pin bowling? Well if you have, you may have wondered how the shiny, heavy, and often flying into the gutter bowling balls are made. If so, then check out this handy video that charts the multiple steps needed for modern ball production. Bowling has been a popular past-time of humans for thousands of years, something demonstrated in 1930 by anthropologist Sir Flinders Petrie, who with his team of archaeologists, unearthed bowling balls and pins in ...

Check out this video demonstrating a new iPhone controlled quadricopter from tech wizards Parrot. For more information about the Parrot AR.Drone, including an interview with one of its designers, look out for issue five of How It Works.

This video acts as a basic introduction to how NASA's Ares 1 launch system will carry Orion crew exploration vehicles into space. The Ares 1 and Orion are part of NASA's Constellation program, which upon the termination of its outgoing Space Shuttle fleet (currently scheduled for September 2010), will take over as the main spacecraft for human spaceflight. The Ares 1-X, which can be seen modeled in this video, was the prototype for the project and ...