How DOES your cellphone work? A new exhibition dials into the science

Through more than 300 objects from around the world, Cellphone: Unseen Connections explores cultural and technological connections created through cellphones. (Smithsonian Institution)

Most of us do not think too much about how our cellphones work. That is, as long as they work.

But a bustling, beeping exhibition that opened in June at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History teaches visitors all about the earth science that helps power our smartphones.