In the TED-Ed lesson “How Do the Lungs Work?,” beautifully animated by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club and scored by Dave Feddock, educator Emma Bryce explains how the body uses a complex system to transport oxygen triggered solely through the simple act of breathing.

Breathing, in other words, keeps the body alive. So, how do we accomplish this crucial and complex task without even thinking about it? The answer lies in our body’s respiratory system. Like any machinery, it consists of specialized components, and requires a trigger to start functioning. Here, the components are the structures and tissues making up the lungs, as well as the various other respiratory organs connected to them. And to get this machine moving, we need the autonomic nervous system, our brain’s unconscious control center for the vital functions.