An infinite number of mathematicians are standing behind a bar. The first asks the barman for half a pint of beer, the second for a quarter pint, the third an eighth, and so on. How many pints of beer will the barman need to fulfill all mathematicians' wishes?
A famous swimmer can swim downstream in a lake in exactly 40 minutes with the lake current.
He can swim upstream in that lake in exactly 60 minutes against the lake current.
The length of the lake is 2 km.
How long he can cover the distance of one side at a still lake with no current?
Before the start of the car race, John and Jacob have the same amount of fuel in their car. With this fuel, John can drive for 4 hours while Jacob can drive five hours.
After a time they realize that the amount of fuel left in John's car is 1/4th of the fuel in Jacob's.
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.