HowStuffWorks Newsletter
Kristen Hall-Geisler is a freelance writer and book editor living in Oregon. As an automotive journalist since 2006, she's honed her research and interviewing skills with HowStuffWorks, The New York Times, TechCrunch, Popular Science, US News & World Report and more. She loves falling down the rabbit hole of research and emerging with a book or article that others find useful and — she hopes — entertaining while still being based on solid sources. She is the author of the historical novel "Skull and Sidecar" as well as the nonfiction books "Take the Wheel: A Woman’s Guide to Buying a Car Her Own Damn Self" and "Lightning in a Throttle: Three Early Electric Vehicle Victories."
A cold air intake is an inexpensive modification you can add to your engine that will give it more power. But what does it actually do?
To be "on the lam" means to be on the loose or on the run, but what does "lam" mean and where does this colorful phrase come from?
NASCAR unveiled its three Next Gen cars for the 2022 Cup Series and they better represent the look and feel of their counterpart street cars. But just how close are they?
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If a device has a motor, engine or spring, it probably has gears! But what do gears do, exactly, and how do they do it?
By Karim Nice & Kristen Hall-Geisler
The U.S. and Soviet Union fought the Cold War for 45 years via proxy wars and a near-complete polarization of the rest of the world. But did either side really win?
The pronunciation of "Kyiv" goes far beyond personal preference. It actually has geopolitical significance.
Worldle is yet another online game that players love. This one is based on geography and you get six tries to guess the country based on its shape. Have you played yet?
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It used to be easy to find out how much money a NASCAR driver made after winning a race. But now it's not so simple.
The Beijing Olympics will be the first ever Winter Olympics to rely solely on fake snow. Will the athletes know the difference?
Vehicle fires account for nearly one of every eight fires reported. But cars don't just burst into flames like we see in the movies. So how do they catch fire?
Babies are born when they want to be, even on airplanes midflight over the ocean. When birth happens 30,000 feet in the air, citizenship — among other things — gets a little tricky.
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Guilty of buying books you never have time to read? We get it. And there's a name for that.
It's time to get out your art supplies and your creative juices flowing, kids. Google wants to turn your original artwork into a Google Doodle!
Palindromes are words, phrases or even dates that are spelled the same forward and backward. They don't always make tons of sense, but they're still fun.
Your dog barking at the mailman? Loud. But he's got nothing on these five. They're some of the loudest animals on the planet, and they're probably not the ones you'd expect.
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You've seen the ads and surely you've seen the "left" and "right" candy bars. But come on. Are they playing mind games with us or are these two bars really different?
Sour cream and crème fraîche have a lot in common. But these two rich toppings aren't exactly the same. We'll tell you how they differ.
Also known as the Cali Lean and the Tennessee Tilt, the Carolina Squat is a way to lift the front of a truck up and lower the rear. Fans call it cool. The North Carolina state government calls it banned.
When a little red wagon just won't do, why not have Santa bring your kid an electric ATV? Tesla has you covered.
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Tigers love to swim in the wild. So why do most housecats act like coming in contact with water will use up a several of their nine lives?
Vegetable oil as a fuel? While it certainly is an option for a few engines, we're probably a long way from using last night's grease as the fuel of the future.
Your car's serpentine belt is a single, continuous belt that drives lots of things like the car's alternator and power steering pump. So how do you replace it when it's starting to fail?
No one ever says "heveled" or "gruntled." Do these words even exist? Not every word needs an opposite to prop it up. Here's why.
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Flyting, which was essentially a verbal contest of poetic abuse, was public entertainment in the 15th and 16th centuries. Think of it as the rap battle of medieval times.
These saltwater clams are the largest on the planet, and some can live as long as 100 years. And despite their, well, looks, they're pretty darn tasty.
