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Blucora continues to expand through acquisitions. The Bellevue company today announced that it’s buying HowStuffWorks from Discovery Communications, paying $45 million for the Internet’s how-to guide for everything from automobile maintenance to gardening tips to job interview advice.

Among the questions that people can get answered on HowStuffWorks: How do they make hollow chocolate Easter rabbits? and “How does death by hanging work?

The site also answers basic science questions, like how magnets work and how Venus Flytraps capture prey.

blucoraHowStuff Works has a big audience, attracting 38 million visitors per month who drive 200 million page views. As part of the deal, Discovery Communications will partner with Blucora on native advertising efforts.

The site has been named to Time Magazine’s “25 Web Sites We Can’t Live Without” and has won Webby Awards. It was started by North Carolina State University professor Marshall Brain, and after a series of acquisitions was sold to Discovery Communications for $250 million in 2007.

“HowStuffWorks is a leading and trusted online source for high-quality content that informs, educates, and nourishes the curiosity of millions of people of all ages,” said Blucora CEO Bill Ruckelshaus in a statement. “We look forward to working with the talented HowStuffWorks team and are excited about their future potential.”

Blucora operates the InfoSpace search engines, but in recent years it has expanded into online tax preparation software (buying TaxAct for $287 million in 2012) and e-commerce (buying electronics retailer Monoprice for $180 million).

The company’s stock is up 32 percent in the past 12 months, and it now boasts a market value of $812 million.

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