How many people must be gathered together in a room, before you can be certain that there is a greater than 50/50 chance that at least two of them have the same birthday?
A spy was in Canada trying to steal insider information on how to set up new Maple Syrup factories in their country. He was introduced to the operations manager of the biggest factory in Canada. However, the manager was suspicious and decided to test him with a question before he trusted him. So he asked, “What would you be sure to find in the middle of Toronto?†The spy thought fast and came up with an answer for the manager. What was his answer?
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.
