It’s the Friday Puzzle!

An old and fiendish puzzle this week.  Last year I went to a New Year’s party.  There were 8 children there and they all happened to be wearing black sweaters.  My uncle gathered them together, found some chalk, and wrote one number on the back of each child.  The numbers were: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9.  My uncle then asked whether it was possible to arrange the children into two groups of four, such that the numbers on the backs of the children in each group came to the same total.  After much messing around, we managed it.  Can you?

As ever, please do NOT post your answer, but feel free to say if you have solved it and how long it took.  Answer on Monday.  Oh, and happy new year.

 

 

 

Achieve your New Year’s Resolutions

My thanks to everyone who took part in the willpower experiment a few weeks ago.  I have just posted the initial results of the study, along with ten quick tips to help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions, on the 59 Seconds blog.

 

 

 

Ten Amazingly Rude Optical Illusions

Hi.  I will be away from my computer until Friday so thought that I would post a longer-than-usual piece.  Let’s see if we can find the world’s rudest illusion! After the break are ten rude illusions – take a look at them and then vote on your favourite (not work safe and not suitable for some children)….

It’s the Christmas Friday Puzzle!

One day Santa was bored and so decided to entertain himself by racing some of his reindeer.  The first 100 meter race was between Dasher and Dancer, and Dasher  won by 10m.  The next 100 meter race was between Dancer and Prancer, and Dancer won by 10m.  Finally, Dasher ran against Prancer in another 100m race.  By how many meters did Dasher win?

Oh, and the answer is not 20m.

As ever, please do NOT post your answer but feel free to say if you think you have solved it and how long it took.

Solution on Monday.  Have a good break!

Oh, and if you want to be the life and soul of the party over the next few days, you might find this video useful….

New Christmas Illusion

Here is a nice and new (kinda) Christmas illusion…

The left face appears to look directly at you while the right one looks to your right, even though the two images are (almost) identical. This phenomenon was proposed by the English scientist William Hyde Wollaston in the early 1800s.

What do you think, does it work for you?

Update: I thought it was obvious that the eyes, clothes, arms, and background are identical, but that the face and hair are mirrored. Sorry for the inaccurate wording!

Godless stuff and rude illusion

Two things today.  First, here is a short video of me backstage at the Godless shows (there are others at the New Humanist channel here), and includes a special message for all of my humanist friends….

Second, there is a rude but incredible optical illusion after the break (via Patrick Lehnen).  It is not work safe or suitable for children……

Which way turneth the wheel?

Harvey James sent me this lovely photo that he had taken of Hull Fair.  It’s great because the big wheel looks like it is oriented to the right one moment and then flips to the left (it works much better if you click on the image and enlarge it)…..

Does it work for you?

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

I have 45 socks in my drawer.  There are 14 identical blue, 24 identical red and 7 identical black.  Yesterday all of the lights went in my house, so now I live in complete darkness.  How many socks do I need to take out of the drawer to ensure that I have a pair of each colour?

As ever, please do NOT post your answer, but do say if you think you have solved it and how long it took.  Answer on Monday!

 

 

 

Bus ad

Mark Baars kindly sent me this great use of an illusion.  Basically, the back of a bus is made to look like the front of a bus, complete with inattentive driver….

I am not sure that this would get past an ethics committee if it were part of a psychology experiment.  So, you decide…. cruel, clever or both?

Wonderful, simply wonderful

This is a wonderful optical illusion from the equally wonderful Mighty Optical Illusions site… although the outer dots look like they are moving, in reality, they are simply changing colour (you might have to click on the image to get it to work)….

Impressed?

 

“Every man looks at me as if I were a dickhead”

Jay Livingston kindly brought this to my attention…. it was made in Italy in 1536 and shows a man’s head made entirely of penises….

The reversed inscription is ‘OGNI HOMO ME GUARDA COME FOSSE UNA TESTA DE CAZI’, which apparently means ‘Every man looks at me as if I were a dickhead’.

Amazing that this illusion was created almost 500 years ago.  Do you like it?  Remind you of anyone you know?

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

First, a huge thank you to everyone who has watched the new Christmas science stunts video – it has now passed over 100,000 views in just a few days. If you have missed it, you can see it here.

Ok, here is the puzzle….

Yesterday I met a zookeeper. I asked him how many birds and beasts he had in his zoo. He told me that there were 30 heads and 100 feet in his zoo. How many birds and beasts does he have, assuming that all birds have two feet and all beasts have 4 feet?

As ever, please do NOT post your answer, but do say if you think you have solved it and how long it took. Solution on Monday.

Can you find the hidden faces?

These are two great illusions.  Can you find the hidden face in the coffee beans….

And can you find Vincent Price in the leaves….

Assuming that you can – roughly how long did it take you?

Two more illusions…..

Two illusions today.  I have seen one of them many times before and the other is new to me.

First, do you see a couple here or some dolphins (via Meisam Taheri)?

And what about this image (via Clémentine Beauvais)?

 

Amazing science stunts for Christmas parties….

Last year I made a video showing ten science stunts that you could perform at Christmas parties.  It has had almost 2 million views, and so I thought that I would produce another one this year.  So, here it is….. another 10 science stunts that you can use to be the life and soul of any party…..

Oh, and if you missed the video last year, here it is…..

Which stunt is your favourite?