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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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added by Hoàng Long, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 9:44

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added by Hoàng Long, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 9:56

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added by Hoàng Long Dec 23 '10 at 8:21

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added by Hoàng Long Dec 23 '10 at 8:00

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added by Hoàng Long Dec 23 '10 at 7:54

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added by KronoS, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 9:57

Would be too vague in my opinion too many processes going on at the same time to be able to define correctly – KronoS Dec 23 '10 at 6:31

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added by KronoS Dec 23 '10 at 6:30

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added by KronoS, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 11:27

This was actually a Super User question found here thought it might be good here. – KronoS Dec 23 '10 at 6:28

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added by DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:04

assumes the asker already know about how the cellular radio network works: if he does, it's unlikely he does not know how cell phone pick up signals. – cbrandolino Dec 22 '10 at 21:37

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added by DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:03

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added by DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:03

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added by Ahmad Kayyali Dec 22 '10 at 7:13

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added by Christopher Woods Dec 20 '10 at 23:23

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added by John Dec 19 '10 at 20:21

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added by Fergus Dec 19 '10 at 7:17

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added by Linuxmint Dec 18 '10 at 16:37

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added by PearsonArtPhoto Dec 16 '10 at 13:13

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added by NatFan9 Dec 14 '10 at 2:24

This would be best suited to the Cooking SE. (How to flip pancakes (with spatulas)) – Christopher Woods Dec 20 '10 at 23:33

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added by Jumhyn Dec 13 '10 at 9:16

This would be more suited in a physics site. – DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:04

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added by Jumhyn Dec 13 '10 at 9:12

closed as off topic by Lukas, PearsonArtPhoto, Doc Walker, nocley, cbrandolino Dec 22 '10 at 21:39

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.

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added by johnc, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 15:25

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added by johnc Dec 12 '10 at 22:35

	should maybe be "how does the brain work"? – Tshepang Dec 13 '10 at 0:38
	possibly, but I was pitching for an off topic, and felt the 'mind' was a tenuous concept to be sure to be off topic – johnc Dec 21 '10 at 1:10

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added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:02

care to leave a Comment why this is offtopic? – Tshepang Dec 14 '10 at 1:38

This question is way too broad - what exactly in Linux? Kernel? Device drivers? Software in general? Computer in general? GUI? Specific tools and applications? – StasM Dec 14 '10 at 17:43

I'd say that this is more suited at programmers.stackexchange.com – DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:20

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added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:02

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added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:21

I don't think any one knows the answer to that. ;) – Dan Dec 12 '10 at 6:02

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added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:23

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added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:26

I was curious of someone was going to refer to Stack Overflow for this one :-) – Tshepang Dec 14 '10 at 1:37

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added by John Dec 10 '10 at 20:23

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added by Denis Otkidach, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:26

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added by Denis Otkidach, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 15:27

There is wrong statement in the question (Coriolis effect is not dominant here), but it's quite common anyway. – Denis Otkidach Dec 10 '10 at 13:24

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added by Denis Otkidach Dec 10 '10 at 11:14

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added by kchau Dec 8 '10 at 22:10

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added by kchau Dec 8 '10 at 21:59

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added by Jonas Dec 7 '10 at 4:57

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added by Jonas Dec 7 '10 at 4:56

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added by Dean Dec 4 '10 at 20:50

Oh, you mean the electricity ones! – Jonas Dec 7 '10 at 4:58

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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

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added by NatFan9 Nov 27 '10 at 22:58

Sound waves hit a medium which can generate or modulate an electric current. This modulated current is converted to radio waves which are transmitted.. It takes mechanical energy and converts it to electrical energy, in the case of sound the mechanical energy modulates, varies, the electrical energy. In some devices, a crystal is used which is distorted and when distorted it will generate an electrical signal which is used to modulate another electrical current. – Sam Portillo Dec 10 '10 at 16:39

I never asked for an answer but, ok. – NatFan9 Dec 10 '10 at 21:23

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added by gkrogers Nov 27 '10 at 12:51

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They are located near the middle of the back, just below the rib cage, one on each side of the spine. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines. Every day, a person’s kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to sift out about 2 quarts of waste products and extra water. The wastes and extra water become urine, which flows to the bladder through tubes called ureters. The bladder stores urine until releasing it through urination. – Sam Portillo Dec 10 '10 at 16:38

@Sam: that's very interesting, but do you think is a good example question? – gkrogers Dec 10 '10 at 23:07