01 / Research
Start with sources.
Original patents, papers, standards, and makers’ documents support the explanation. Every number has a source.
The Workshop / About the channel
Made with care.
And the lid off.
Hidden Workings makes illustrated videos about everyday machines. Here is how an observation becomes an explanation you can check.
Primary sources. Flat technical drawings. Kokoro text-to-speech narration. And a clear account of what the drawings leave out.
See a checked example ↓
Plate 000 — Workshop Mascot
Felis Catus
01 / From question to video
What goes into
an explanation.
The drawings are simple on purpose. The sources let you look closer.
02 / Teaching
Build one idea at a time.
Start with something you have noticed. Make a guess. Then follow the parts until you can predict what happens next.
03 / Illustration
Draw the mechanism.
Flat technical illustrations show the parts that matter. Each video lists what has been simplified on purpose.
04 / Narration
Give it a voice.
The narration uses Kokoro, a text-to-speech model. It is a synthetic voice, paired with the drawings.
02 / An example you can check
A clear drawing.
An honest limit.
From the microwave explainer. These are the notes behind the explanation.
The observation
Leftovers come out scalding at the edge and cold in the middle.
The waves do not get far into your soup. So what carries the heat the rest of the way?
Watch the microwave explanation →Simplified on purpose
What the drawing leaves out.
- Molecules are drawn turning part of the way, not spinning fully round.
- "A centimetre or two" is the depth where most of the power is gone, and it changes with the food.
- Hot and cold spots are a three-dimensional pattern that is drawn simply.
Follow the sources
Read beyond the diagram.
Every video description lists its sources. The microwave notes include:
03 / Keep asking
Where to go next.
Want to check another machine?
Each full explanation has its own sources and notes on what was simplified.
Browse the explainers →Have a question about a machine?
Leave a comment on a video. Tell us what you have noticed and what you would like explained.
Find Hidden Workings on YouTube ↗More things to look closer at
The next machine.
The same care.
One everyday machine at a time, with sources you can follow and drawings you can learn from. Subscribe on YouTube for new explanations.
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