How many points are there on the globe where, by walking one mile south, then one mile east and then one mile north, you would reach the place where you started?
You are presented with three boxes. One of them has a red ball inside and the other two have a black ball inside each of them. You are asked to pick up the one with red ball and you pick one. Now, one of the other boxes is opened and it is found to have a black ball.
You are presented with a chance to change your box with the one that is left closed. Will you change your box? Why or why not?
This is a famous paradox which has caused a great deal of argument and disbelief from many who cannot accept the correct answer. Four balls are placed in a hat. One is white, one is blue and the other two are red. The bag is shaken and someone draws two balls from the hat. He looks at the two balls and announces that at least one of them is red. What are the chances that the other ball he has drawn out is also red?
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.