HOW THINGS WORK IT S DANGEROUS IT MIGHT MAKE YOU THINK YOU CAN DO IMPOSSIBLE THINGS HOW IT WORKS If you need a quick answer about how something works you'll find it on the Just the Facts page If you want to dive in deeper check out the Tell Me More section Along the way you'll meet the real life scientists engineers inventors and innovators who push limits to make the next breakthrough They're people willing to risk everything and who refuse to believe it can't be done Still reading You must be one of those The kind of kid who thinks just because isn't a real answer The kid who says Why not when you're told not to do something You want to explore You want to know why something works You want to know how OK dive in But don't say we didn't warn you This book is full of why and how You'll discover science fiction inventions that have become science fact You'll unravel the mysteries behind the gadgets in your home that cook and clean for you No not your parents You'll learn about things in your school that are much cooler than homework sheets You'll find out why simulators feel so real and why you don't pop a bounce house when you jump in it You'll be transported into a world of machines that zoom fly and dive They find mistakes fascinating They solve the unsolvable You'll also find out the weird and inspiring stories the accidental discoveries the Eureka moments the repeated failures behind some inventions in Tales from the Lab Oh and you'll get your turn too Become a scientist or engineer and tackle the Try This chal lenges Experiment invent create and explore You just may find you can do something impossible YOU MUST BE ONE OF THOSE THE KIND OF KID WHO THINKS JUST BECAUSE ISN T A REAL ANSWER
CHAPTER 1 Beam ME UP
9 fact COOL GADGETS AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES don't just come from laboratories Many are dreamed up in the minds of storytellers Science fiction looks to the future and for hundreds of years it's asked What if Like What if we could fly or What if we could build robots or make things disappear Sci fi does more than just ask ques tions though It sparks imaginations It inspires people to act Some inventors read sci fi Then they ask Why not build a robot or they make a bionic arm They figure out how to make something disappear They invent engineer and discover They turn science fiction into science
