What kind of storm is always in a rush?

I am taken from a mine and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost every person. What am I?

Can you write down eight eights so that they add up to one thousand?

I know a 5-digit number having a property that With a 1 after it, it is three times as large as it would be with a one before it.

Guess the number?

By what process could you make a 'Tea-Table' into food?

What is a word made up of 4 letters, yet is also made up of 3. Sometimes is written with 9 letters, and then with 4. Rarely consists of 6, and never is written with 5.

What is the probability of choosing the correct answer at random from the options below?

a) 1/4
b) 1/2
c) 1
d) 1/4

A swan sits at the center of a perfectly circular lake. At an edge of the lake stands a ravenous monster waiting to devour the swan. The monster can not enter the water, but it will run around the circumference of the lake to try to catch the swan as soon as it reaches the shore. The monster moves at 4 times the speed of the swan, and it will always move in the direction along the shore that brings it closer to the swan the quickest. Both the swan and the the monster can change directions in an instant.
The swan knows that if it can reach the lake's shore without the monster right on top of it, it can instantly escape into the surrounding forest.

How can the swan successfully escape?

Four people need to cross a rickety bridge at night. Unfortunately, they have only one torch and the bridge is too dangerous to cross without one. The bridge is only strong enough to support two people at a time. Not all people take the same time to cross the bridge. Times for each person: 1 min, 2 mins, 7 mins and 10 mins. What is the shortest time needed for all four of them to cross the bridge?

If an electric train is travelling south, then which way is the smoke going?