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The How Things Work site didn't have enough activity during the beta, and has been closed. You can download the data dump of all questions here.

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It's an excellent idea for a Stackexchange site. I just wonder what Discovery, Inc. will think about us stomping on their trademark site, HowStuffWorks.com. Suggest changing the name to "How does that work?" or "What Makes it Go?" – Robert Harvey Jul 26 '10 at 3:47

Good point. I like your suggestion "What Makes it Go?". I would like to add some names to the suggestion list "How Things Work?", "What makes it tick?" and "How Everyday Things Work?". Lets see if the site gets some significant following, then we can give it a new name. – ianjorgensen Jul 26 '10 at 6:48

Could this happen to be similar to Popular Natural Sciences? IMHO all current questions would be on topic there, too. – Tobias Kienzler Jul 26 '10 at 8:46

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94 Example Questions (16 closed)

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up vote -2 down vote

added by Christian Oct 16 '10 at 10:25

The order in which this question is asked makes it confusing when skimread. (I had to doubletake then revise my original comment.) This question also has the potential to be answered with a glib "regular exercise", so perhaps it would benefit from an increased specificity of language. – Christopher Woods Dec 20 '10 at 23:28

up vote -2 down vote

added by gkrogers Oct 28 '10 at 13:02

closed as off topic by The Josenator, Nathan Osman, woodchips, Dean, firedfly Dec 9 '10 at 15:00

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Belongs on Apple SE. – Nathan Osman Nov 16 '10 at 1:17

Well, definitely belongs somewhere else... – gkrogers Nov 16 '10 at 6:45

up vote -2 down vote

added by gkrogers Oct 28 '10 at 13:22

	Thats not really a how does it work question. – NinjaSquirrel117 Nov 17 '10 at 0:58
	@NinjaSquirrel: Yes, I know. – gkrogers Nov 17 '10 at 5:28

up vote -2 down vote

added by NinjaSquirrel117 Nov 17 '10 at 1:01

Kind of a broad question. "How does an ink-jet printer work?" or "How does a dot-matrix printer work?" would narrow it down significantly. – Greg Nov 22 '10 at 1:23

up vote -2 down vote

added by PearsonArtPhoto Dec 16 '10 at 13:13

up vote -3 down vote

added by ianjorgensen Jul 25 '10 at 22:20

Which type? CF (compact fluorescence)? LED? How about "Why do CF bulbs use less electricity than incandescent bulbs?" – Larry Smithmier Jul 26 '10 at 3:24

up vote -3 down vote

added by NinjaSquirrel117 Nov 17 '10 at 0:57

What type of alarm clock? – Greg Nov 22 '10 at 1:24

up vote -3 down vote

added by Dean Dec 4 '10 at 20:49

vague: how to ride it or how it's built? – Tshepang Dec 11 '10 at 9:07

up vote -3 down vote

added by kchau Dec 8 '10 at 22:10

up vote -4 down vote

added by Conroy Whitney Aug 24 '10 at 5:36

too broad a question – Greg Nov 22 '10 at 1:33

up vote -4 down vote

added by Stewbob Oct 22 '10 at 19:27

up vote -4 down vote

added by Mnementh Nov 13 '10 at 20:06

Doesn't it is a good example for off-topic? Seems not for the most. – Mnementh Nov 17 '10 at 10:29

What type of dragon? – Greg Nov 22 '10 at 1:26

up vote -6 down vote

added by Conroy Whitney Aug 24 '10 at 5:35

closed as off topic by Refael Ackermann, deceze, Christian, HoLyVieR, Brad Mace Oct 15 '10 at 21:30

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

I've voted this question as "not a good example" because the premise that it does help save the environment is so strong in the question. That's not to say that I think it doesn't help, but... somehow, it just doesn't strike me as a good example question for how things work. Perhaps something like "What really happens to things that get recycled" would be better? – lindes Dec 11 '10 at 20:51

up vote -6 down vote

added by Pavel Radzivilovsky, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Nov 19 '10 at 20:57

	Please elaborate – Refael Ackermann Aug 31 '10 at 12:59
	Clarke's cable: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator – WikiSpeedia hang-around Nov 19 '10 at 20:58