Everyday things, cut open.
Shorts under a minute and in-depth teardowns that show what's inside the machines you use every day, and the science that makes them work.
Cut of the weekGadgets & ElectronicsHow Wireless Earbuds Play Music Without Wires
Your phone turns a song into 2.4 GHz radio. A chip, a coil and a magnet in each bud turn it back into moving air. How wireless earbuds work.
Read the teardownLatest Shorts
48 secHow Do Wireless Earbuds Work?
45 secHow Does a Clock Know the Time?
24 secFire in One Click
24 secLight Through Your Fingertip
25 secSpinning Magnets Into Electricity
23 secWhy Scooters Have No Gear Lever
23 secThe Magnet That Knows Your Rice Is Done
22 secThe Wedge Machine in Your Jacket
24 secInside a Phone Charger
21 secWhy Your Fridge Is Hot at the Back
Explore by topic
Body & Medical
Medical devices and how the body works. Every article is reviewed by a qualified professional.
Everyday Objects
Zippers, locks, lighters, pens, umbrellas: the small things nobody explains.
Gadgets & Electronics
Phones, batteries, chargers, earbuds and screens.
Home Appliances
Refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, water heaters and irons.
Kitchen
Rice cookers, gas stoves, blenders, microwaves and pressure cookers.
Machines & Tools
Generators, water pumps, drills and welders.
Vehicles
Motorcycles, CVTs, brakes, spark plugs and electric cars.
Latest teardowns
How a Quartz Wall Clock Keeps Time
A quartz tuning fork shakes 32,768 times a second, a chip counts it down, and a tiny magnet flips once a second. How a battery wall clock keeps time.
How a Push-Button Lighter Makes Fire
One press opens a butane valve and fires a tiny hammer into a crystal that makes a spark. How a lighter makes fire with no match and no battery.
How a Pulse Oximeter Reads Your Blood Oxygen
A pulse oximeter shines red and infrared light through your finger and watches how it changes with each heartbeat. Here’s how it estimates blood oxygen.
How a Portable Generator Makes Electricity
A portable generator is an engine spinning a magnet inside coils of wire. See how it makes AC, why inverter models are quieter, and how to run one safely.
How a Scooter’s CVT Changes Speed Without Gears
A scooter has no gear lever because its CVT changes ratio by itself: rollers, a V-belt and two pulleys that change size as the engine speeds up. Here’s how.
What’s Inside a Rice Cooker
A basic rice cooker has no timer. Water holds the pot at boiling point, then a magnetic switch lets go. Here’s what’s inside and how it knows rice is done.
Same parts, different machines
The capacitor in your phone charger and the one in an air conditioner do the same job. Learn a part once and you will start spotting it everywhere.
Follow the electricity
From a spinning magnet to the cold inside your fridge, in four teardowns. Read them in order and each one makes the next click.
How a Phone Charger Shrinks Wall Power
A phone charger doesn’t just step down the mains. It rectifies it, chops it thousands of times a second and rebuilds it as safe, low-voltage DC. Here’s how.
What’s Inside a Rice Cooker
A basic rice cooker has no timer. Water holds the pot at boiling point, then a magnetic switch lets go. Here’s what’s inside and how it knows rice is done.
How a Portable Generator Makes Electricity
A portable generator is an engine spinning a magnet inside coils of wire. See how it makes AC, why inverter models are quieter, and how to run one safely.
The same few ideas, everywhere
Chemistry & Combustion
Reactions that release or store energy.
Electromagnetism
How electric currents create magnetic forces, and back again.
Electronics & Circuits
How components shape and switch electric current.
Fluids & Pressure
How liquids and gases push, flow and seal.
Light & Optics
How light is made, bent and detected.
Materials
Why things are made of what they are made of.
Mechanics & Leverage
Forces, levers, gears and springs.
Thermodynamics
How heat moves and turns into work.
What should we cut open next?
Tell us the object you have always wondered about. The best questions become the next Short and teardown.