A Japanese ship was en route to a mission on foreign seas. The captain of the ship felt tired and thought of taking a bath. He went for taking the shower and removed his diamond ring and Rolex and kept them on the table. When he returned after taking the bath, he found that the ring and watch were stolen.
He called the five members of the crew whom he suspected and asked them what they were doing for the last 15 minutes.
The Italian cook (with a butcher knife in hand): I was in the fridge room getting meat for cooking.
The British Engineer (with a high beam torch in hand): I was working on a generator engine.
The Pakistani seaman: I was on the mast correcting the flag which was upside down by mistake.
The Indian Radio officer: I was trying to make a contact with the company to inform them about our position.
The American navigation officer: I am on night watch, so I was sleeping in my cabin.
Upon listening to them, the captain caught the lying member. Who do you think stole the valuables?
You stand in front of two doors. A guard stands next to each door. You know the following things: one path leads to paradise, the other leads to death. You cannot distinguish between the two doors. You also know that one of the two guards always tells the truth and the other always lies. You have permission to ask one guard one question to discover which door leads to paradise. What one question would you ask to guarantee you enter the door to paradise?
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.
