At 10 a.m. today the tickets for the next event being run by the Edinburgh Secret Society (‘An evening of wonder’) will go on sale. Details here.
On Friday I posted this puzzle…
John lives in a house that has the reverse numbering to Jane’s house (so, for example, if John lived at number 56, Jane would be at 65). The difference between their house numbers ends in 2. What are their house numbers?
If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answer is after the break.
First, here is a clip of my good self on BBC Breakfast speaking about Paranormality….
OK, enough of me. Here is the Friday puzzle….
John lives in a house that has the reverse numbering to Jane’s house (so, for example, if John lived at number 56, Jane would be at 65). The difference between their house numbers ends in 2. What are their house numbers?
UPDATE: Neither John or Jane live in a house numbered between 1 and 10, nor in a house numbered over 99!
As ever, please do not post your answers, but feel free to say if you have solved it and how long it took. Solution on Monday.
The other day I was on the train to the Newcastle Science Festival. I was in the Quiet Coach (a coach which is supposed to be for those wanting to travel without being disturbed by annoying mobile phones, etc.), and a woman with a baby came in and sat down. The baby started crying and a man in the coach asked her to leave. Was he right or wrong?
I put this on Twitter and it evoked quite a reaction, with lots of people suggesting that men and women had quite different opinions. But is that really the case? Vote now and justify your opinion!
Here is a little video of an ESP stunt that we created on the London Underground….
Which symbol did you choose?
Want to perform some amazing Jedi mind-tricks? Download a free ‘Instant Superhero Kit’ on the Paranormality site today.
OK, to the Friday puzzle….
I don’t like to boast, but I wear a clean shirt every day. I drop off my week’s laundry, and pick up the previous week’s load, every Tuesday night. What is the minimum number of shirts I need to keep me going?
As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but feel free to say if you solved it and how long it took. Answer on Monday.
Thanks for all of the punchlines yesterday. I think the worthy winner was…..
An egg walks into a bar and starts smashing the place up. The French chef storms out of the kitchen and shouts “hey, that’s une euf”. (congrats SuperDave).
I did a short debate about the paranormal on the Today programme yesterday. Listen to it here. Obviously I don’t agree with Robert McLuhan’s position, but he is a lovely chap and has a blog here.
Last week I posted a creepy ghost photo. When getting ready for an event next week, I came across another one from http://www.scienceofghosts.com. Here it is….
and the close-up is here….
Any thoughts?
Erica and John are standing in the same cattle field at the same time. Erica can see the same number of bulls and cows in the field. However, John can see twice as many cows as bulls. How can this be and how many cows and bulls are there in the field?
As ever, please do NOT post your answer but feel free to say if you have solved it and how long it took. Solution on Monday!
Oh, and here is a photo of my good self helping to launch the Edinburgh International Science Festival yesterday, with Festival Director Simon Gage.
The Psychologist (the magazine of the British Psychological Society) have kindly produced this skeptical parody of the X-Files poster to help mark the launch of Paranormality. You can download a full size version of it by clicking here.
Also, I am speaking at the BPS event, Psychology for All, on the 26th March in London. Hope you can make it.
Exciting news – the Guardian have just run the first extract from Paranormality here. There is now quite a debate brewing there, so feel free to go over and join in!
OK, back to the blog……everyone and their dog have been kind enough to send me this lovely video….
Any thoughts on how it was achieved?
You have been captured by small cute puppy. He has two identical opaque vases, and 100 white beads and 100 black beads. The puppy will allow you to arrange all of the beads in whatever way you like between the two vases, but neither of the vases can be empty. The puppy will then close his eyes, put his little paw into one of the vases, rummage around, and remove just one bead. You have no idea which vase he will choose.
If the puppy chooses a black bead, you will be allowed to stroke his head. But if he chooses a white bead he will bite you. How do you arrange the beads to give yourself the best chance of getting a stroke?
As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but feel free to say if you solved it and how long it took. Solution (and credit for the puzzle) on Monday.
…and I will show you 12 amazing things. I am guest director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival this year, and have made this little video at Edinburgh’s World of Illusions to help promote the festival…. hope that you like it…
Favourite bit?
Tickets for the next Edinburgh Secret Society event go on sale at 10 a.m. today. Details here.
The other day I made this little video showing the rubber band illusion……
Can you figure it out? Please do not post your solution but feel free to say if you have solved it!
and I will make you go ‘oh….very clever’….
Did I succeed?
You are trapped in a prison cell, and the evil guards have set a challenge. They have written one letter of the alphabet on each of nine pieces of card, and placed the cards in the following order on the floor of your cell:
S P A R K L I N G
You have to take away one of the pieces of card, ensuring that the remaining pieces spell a word (and you are not allowed to change the order of the remaining pieces of cardboard), and post it under the door of the cell. And then you have to repeat the process again and again until there is just one letter left. In what order should you remove the letters?
As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but feel free to say if you have solved it and how long it took. Solution on Monday.
Richard Wiseman 
