Understand it
Explainers
Clear answers about the tech you already use, without leftover jargon.
By How It Works · Sep 14, 2026
When you delete a file from a traditional hard drive, the operating system usually removes the pointer to it
- Sep 14, 2026 The Gulf Offshore Research Institute has been awarded $20 million to turn idle Gulf oil platforms into hubs for energy… By How It Works
- Sep 10, 2026 How did a metal box first secured to a converted tanker in April 1956 cut ocean freight loading costs by more than 90… By How It Works
- Sep 9, 2026 In December 2014, Google introduced a reCAPTCHA checkbox that let many users skip distorted letters while the system… By How It Works
- Sep 8, 2026 Microsoft didn't just stop shipping Flash with Windows 10 By Make Tech Easier Editorial Team
- Sep 7, 2026 A phone knows which way is up because a silicon chip smaller than a grain of rice contains tiny cantilever beams that… By How It Works
- Sep 7, 2026 The first GIF ever made was a picture of an airplane By Make Tech Easier Editorial Team
- Sep 4, 2026 Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture was destaffed in April 2006 to cut costs, then handed over the following year to a… By How It Works
- Sep 3, 2026 The ROICE program at the University of Houston started in 2022 as a thought experiment about what to do with thousands… By How It Works
- Sep 2, 2026 Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space in August 2012 and still transmits from more than 24 billion kilometres away… By Make Tech Easier Editorial Team
- Sep 1, 2026 How did a phone game released in July 2016 briefly double foot traffic to small businesses near landmarks, and why did… By How It Works
- Aug 31, 2026 End-to-end encryption hides what you said, but metadata the app or carrier may still hold By How It Works
- Aug 21, 2026 How does a fibre-optic strand thinner than a spaghetti noodle carry a signal across 13,000 kilometres of ocean without… By How It Works
- Aug 20, 2026 Wi-Fi signals struggle through walls not because concrete is thick, but because water in the plaster absorbs 2.4 GHz… By How It Works
- Aug 20, 2026 Voyager 1 is now more than 25 billion kilometres from Earth, and its transmitter runs on about 22 watts By Make Tech Easier Editorial Team
- Aug 18, 2026 How did a rubber gasket the size of a dinner plate, stiffened overnight in a Florida cold snap, rewrite the way NASA… By How It Works