If an earthquake is 1 point higher on the Richter Scale than another earthquake which is actually 10 times stronger, how much stronger would an earthquake be if it was just half a point higher on the Richter scale?
An American nightclub called 'The Coconut Grove' had a terrible fire in which over 400 people died. A simple design flaw in the building led to a high death toll. Subsequently, regulations were changed to ensure that all public buildings throughout the country eliminated this one detail, which proved deadly. What was it?
There is a brick of gold and a brick of iron in a boat (both 10-inch blocks), if they are both dropped into the water which will make the water level higher?
A rain drop fell from one leaf to another leaf and lost 1/4th of its volume. It then fell to another leaf and lost 1/5th of the volume. It again fell on another leaf and lost 1/5th of the volume.
This process kept repeating till it fell on the last leaf losing 1/75th of its volume.
Can you calculate the total percentage of loss from the initial volume when the drop has fallen to the last leaf accurate up to two decimal places?
Your job is to measure 45 minutes if you have only two cords and matches to light the cords.
1. The two cords are twisted from various materials, so their different segments can burn at different rates.
2. Each cord burns from end to end in exactly one hour.
A beggar on the street can make one cigarette out of every 6 cigarette butts he finds. After one whole day of searching and checking public ashtrays the beggar finds a total of 72 cigarette butts. How many cigarettes can he make and smoke from the butts he found?
In 2011, people playing Foldit, an online puzzle game about protein folding, resolved the structure of an enzyme that causes an Aids-like disease in monkeys. Researchers had been working on the problem for 13 years. The gamers solved it in three weeks.
