How Stuff Works
HowStuffWorks is about the stuff that makes the world go 'round. It's truly incredible to see the ingenious lengths people go to in order to extract rubber and iron, corn and wheat, and water and salt from the earth. Equally amazing is the number of different and varied products that can be derived from something so fundamental. Follow the incredible journey of these goods from the ground to your dinner table, car, closet, medicine cabinet and places you may have never imagined.
Episodes
Corn
Let’s get right to the point: Corn is much more than a backyard barbecue side dish. In fact, there are more than 3,500 different uses for corn products: Chewing gum, peanut butter, vitamins, paint, antibiotics and ethanol fuel are just few examples.
Turkey
According to the University of Illinois Extension, 97 percent of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving, and 87 percent of people in the U.K. eat turkey at Christmas. Roasting up a big bird is a treat -- it's probably fair to say that many of these noshers look forward to their meaty meals long before the holidays.
Timber
Log cabins may be a historical footnote and fossil fuels may reign supreme, but forests remain critical natural resources. What does the future hold for Paul Bunyan's favorite industry?
Beer
Barley, water, hops and yeast might not sound like a recipe for success, but to the beer connoisseur, the fine balance of those four ingredients is the stuff of legend.
Aluminum
If you need a handy metal, you can't get much better than aluminum.
Wheat
Nutritional and versatile, wheat isn't just for food anymore. Explore its surprising uses in everything from brewing beverages to building houses.
Coffee
From Columbia to coffeehouses we talk to farmers, baristas, and everyone in between about the incredible beverage that fuels the World.
Salt
We delve into the science of salt, the prehistoric, life-sustaining mineral that has 14,000 known uses from seasoning food to so much more.
Rubber
Durable, flexible, waterproof, and of course, bouncy, rubber is versatile enough for things as different as basketballs and Hollywood special effects.
Lead
Lead has gone from a dangerous to indispensable product that is evolving past its former stigma to become an integral part of our daily lives.
Steel
Examining steel from its influence in Industrial Age innovations to its role in building bridges and battleships.
