Explainers
How things work, at two reading levels. Switch between beginner and expert on any page.
ADHD apps and digital therapeutics: a sourced guide (2026)
ADHD explained: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and the 2026 picture
ADHD medication guide: stimulants, non-stimulants and the evidence
ADHD in adults: symptoms, diagnosis, the ASRS and treatment
Affordable housing explained: costs, supply and policy in 2026
ALS explained: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and research in 2026
ALS treatments guide: riluzole, edaravone, tofersen and what's next
Anxiety disorders explained: a crash course for 2026
Anxiety treatments guide: CBT, SSRIs, SNRIs and what NICE advises
Home and blood cancer screening tests: FIT vs Cologuard vs Shield
Benefit finders and food help tools: USA.gov, 211, findhelp (guide)
Burnout explained: WHO definition, causes, measurement and fixes
Cancer prevention: the evidence on smoking, alcohol, HPV and more
Cancer screening in 2026: who should be screened, for what, and when
Cancer warning signs: symptoms that should be checked by a doctor
Child protection explained: how CPS works and what the data show
Cholesterol explained: LDL, HDL, triglycerides and the 2026 guideline
Cholesterol-lowering drugs: statins, PCSK9, Lipfendra and more
Choosing a 2027 ACA plan: metal tiers, deductibles and subsidies
Creatine explained: muscle, performance, safety and the brain
Creatine buyer's guide 2026: forms, certification, lab tests, prices
Depression explained: symptoms, causes, numbers and treatment (2026)
Depression treatments guide: therapy, antidepressants, esketamine, TMS
Disability benefits explained: SSDI, SSI and UK PIP in 2026
Domestic violence explained: definitions, data and the law
How to get help for domestic violence: hotlines, safety plans, orders
Elderly care explained: long-term care costs, who pays, US and UK
Eye drop safety: how to check if your drops are recalled
F1's 2026 rules explained: power units, active aero and new teams
Food insecurity explained: US and global hunger data in 2026
Foster care explained: how US foster care works, with 2025 data
Global mental health data explained: how many people, what it costs
Global poverty data explained: the $3 line, 824 million and SDG 1
Home cholesterol tests: a sourced buyer's guide (2026)
Homelessness in the US and UK explained: numbers, causes, policy
Housing affordability data explained: the key US and UK numbers
How the College Football Playoff works (2026-27)
How cricket formats and the World Test Championship work
How grid-scale energy storage works
How the MLB postseason works: the 12-team playoff format explained
How the NBA season works: regular season, NBA Cup, Play-In, playoffs
How the NFL season and playoffs work (2026-27)
How the NHL season works: 84 games, points and the playoffs
How the Premier League works: points, relegation, Europe and SCR
How tennis rankings and the ATP and WTA Finals race work
How to apply for unemployment benefits: a step-by-step overview
How to find and pay for a therapist in the US (2026 guide)
How to watch F1 and cricket in 2026: broadcasters and prices
How to watch the MLB postseason and NHL in 2026: prices compared
How to watch the NBA in 2026-27: channels, streaming and League Pass
How to watch the NFL in 2026: TV, streaming and prices compared
How to watch the Premier League in 2026-27: UK and US guide
Intermittent fasting explained: 16:8, 5:2 and what trials show
LFP vs NMC: the battery chemistry split
Lipoprotein(a) explained: the inherited cholesterol risk
Medicaid changes from the 2025 law: work requirements and timeline
Medical alert systems 2026: Medical Guardian, Bay Alarm, Life Alert
Medicare in 2027: Part B premium, Part D cap and open enrollment
Meditation apps guide 2026: Headspace vs Calm, evidence and privacy
Meningitis explained: symptoms, types, treatment and prevention
Meningitis vaccines compared: MenACWY, MenB, MenABCWY, PCV and Hib
Mental health awareness explained: a 2026 crash course
Mental health counseling in 2026: a crash course
Online therapy explained: evidence, rules and privacy in 2026
Online therapy services compared: BetterHelp, Talkspace, Cerebral
Plague explained: how it spreads, symptoms and treatment
Poverty explained: how it is measured and what reduces it (2026)
Rental and housing assistance guide: Section 8, public housing, LIHTC
Self-care for mental health: what the evidence says
Sleep and mood trackers: buyer's guide to accuracy and privacy
SNAP changes from the 2025 law: work rules, cost sharing, timeline
Social assistance explained: means-tested benefits in 2026
SSDI vs SSI: eligibility, 2026 payments and how they differ
Stress and the body: what happens, from cortisol to chronic stress
Suicide prevention explained: what works and where to get help
Types of therapy explained: CBT, DBT, psychodynamic and EMDR
UK PIP explained: 2026/27 rates, eligibility and the Timms Review
How unemployment insurance works in the US (and the UK equivalent)
Universal Credit explained: 2026-27 rates and rule changes
US poverty rate 2025 explained: official 10.2%, supplemental 13.1%
AI for science in 2026: a crash course
AI safety and alignment in 2026: a crash course
Cancer immunotherapy in 2026: a crash course
Carbon budgets explained: how much CO2 is left for 1.5 °C
Casual and mobile gaming by the numbers (2026)
What the CLARITY Act does: SEC vs CFTC and digital commodities
CLARITY Act vs GENIUS Act: how the two crypto laws fit together
Climate science and carbon removal in 2026: a crash course
Climate tipping points: coral reefs, AMOC, ice sheets and the Amazon
Next-gen computing hardware in 2026: a crash course
Post-quantum cryptography and security in 2026: a crash course
Custom and proxy trading cards: what's allowed in 2026
Dark matter and dark energy, explained
Do 480Hz and 720Hz monitors matter? What the evidence says
Batteries and energy storage in 2026: a crash course
Frontier AI in 2026: a crash course
Fusion energy in 2026: a crash course
Fusion's engineering wall: tritium fuel and neutron-proof materials
Gaming hardware in 2026: a crash course
Gaming soundbars explained: latency, eARC, VRR passthrough
Gene editing in 2026: a crash course
GLP-1 outcome trials explained: heart, kidney, liver and beyond
The hallmarks of aging, explained
Harvest now, decrypt later: why the quantum threat is already here
How 2D materials work: graphene, stacks and twists
How anti-aging interventions are tested, from mice to people
How AI agents work
How frontier AI capabilities are measured
How AI designs new proteins, drugs and materials
How AI predicts protein structures
How AI safety testing works: evals, red teams and thresholds
How AI weather models work
How biomanufacturing works
How is bitcoin's price determined? Supply, demand and halvings
How brain-computer interfaces work
How brain mapping and connectomics work
How cancer vaccines work, from shared antigens to personalised mRNA
How CAR-T cell therapy works
How advanced chips are made
How climate models and attribution science work
How console emulation works, from the PS1 to the PS5
How CRISPR gene editing works: cutting, base and prime editing
How DNA synthesis and assembly work
How epigenetic clocks and aging biomarkers work
How exoplanets are found, and how we look for signs of life
What a Fed rate hike or cut does to markets, mortgages and loans
How fusion works
How game mechanics work: loops, progression, loot and difficulty
How gene therapies are delivered: ex vivo, viral vectors and LNPs
How genetic circuits work
How global warming is measured: temperature and key indicators
How GLP-1 drugs work
How large language models work
How lipid nanoparticles deliver RNA
How lithium-ion batteries work
How mechanistic interpretability works: looking inside AI
How mRNA vaccines work
How scientists record brain activity
How optical interconnects and silicon photonics work
How particle colliders work
How perovskite solar cells work
How post-quantum cryptography works
How quantum computers break encryption
How qubits work
How reasoning models work
How RNA silencing drugs work (siRNA and antisense)
How robots learn: demonstrations, trial and error, and data
How rockets reach orbit, and why reusability matters
How space telescopes work, and what Webb, Roman and Rubin each do
How to read the stock market: what indexes like the S&P 500 measure
How superconductivity works
How the immune system fights cancer, and how tumours escape
How the Standard Model of particle physics works
In-car gaming explained: platforms, rear seats and safety rules
LEGO PlayStation: the 72306 set, LEGO games on PS5 and buyer's guide
Aging and longevity biology in 2026: a crash course
Magnetic vs inertial fusion: the main ways to confine a plasma
Materials science in 2026: a crash course
The memory wall: why moving data limits AI hardware
GLP-1 and metabolic medicine in 2026: a crash course
Neuroscience and brain-computer interfaces in 2026: a crash course
Obesity as a chronic disease
Oil prices in 2026: a crash course
Particle physics and cosmology in 2026: a crash course
PS5 emulation in 2026: a crash course
Quantum computing in 2026: a crash course
Quantum error correction: from noisy to logical qubits
Robotics and embodied AI in 2026: a crash course
Sim-to-real: training robots in simulation for the real world
Space exploration and astronomy in 2026: a crash course
Synthetic biology in 2026: a crash course
mRNA and next-gen vaccines in 2026: a crash course
Vision-language-action models: how robot foundation models work
Voice gaming explained: voice control, voice chat and AI voices
What are Ethereum ETFs? Spot ether funds, flows and staking
What is AI alignment? Making AI do what we intend
What moves oil prices, and why pump prices lag
What quantum computers are good for (and what they are not)
Why chip scaling slowed, and what replaced it