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How to Figure Out the Day of the Week For Any Day Ever

AdultsHistoryMathCreativity...
You might think that computers are the only things that run algorithms, but you're wrong. Here's a neat mental trick for calculating the day of the week for any day ever, developed by famous mathematician John H. Conway

The Napkin Ring Problem

AdultsMathScience
Do you ever come across a math problem that you know is right but no matter how hard you try, you can't wrap your mind around it?

Can you find the next number in this sequence? - Alex Gendler

AdultsCreativityMathScience...
1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221. These are the first five elements of a number sequence. Can you figure out what comes next? Alex Gendler reveals the answer and explains how beyond just being a neat puzzle, this type of sequence has practical applications as well.

Why underdogs do better in hockey than basketball

AdultsMathSports
A statistical analysis of luck vs skill in sports.

Check your intuition: The birthday problem - David Knuffke

AdultsMathSocietyEducation
Imagine a group of people. How big do you think the group would have to be before there's more than a 50% chance that two people in the group have the same birthday? The answer is ... probably lower than you think. David Knuffke explains how the birthday problem exposes our often-poor intuition when it comes to probability.

Can you solve the pirate riddle? - Alex Gendler

AdultsMathPsychologyProblem-Solving...
It's a good day to be a pirate. Amaro and his four mateys - Bart, Charlotte, Daniel, and Eliza have struck gold - a chest with 100 coins. But now, they must divvy up the booty according to the pirate code - and pirate code is notoriously complicated. Can you help come up with the distribution that Amaro should propose to make sure he lives to tell the tale? Alex Gendler shows how.

Can you solve the three gods riddle? - Alex Gendler

AdultsCreativityMathProblem-Solving
You and your team have crash-landed on an ancient planet. Can you appease the three alien overlords who rule it and get your team safely home? Created by logician Raymond Smullyan, and popularized by his colleague George Boolos, this riddle has been called the hardest logic puzzle ever. Alex Gendler shows how to solve it.

How a 15-year-old solved a Rubik's Cube in 5.25 seconds

AdultsMathSportsGaming...
Rubik's Cube world record-holder Collin Burns tells us how he did it.

Why do people get so anxious about math? - Orly Rubinsten

AdultsMathPsychologyEducation...
Have you ever sat down to take a math test and immediately felt your heart beat faster and your palms start to sweat? This is called math anxiety, and if it happens to you, you're not alone: Researchers think about 20 percent of the population suffers from it. So what's going on? And can it be fixed? Orly Rubinsten explores the current research and suggests ways to increase math performance.

How the Meter Became the Meter

AdultsHistoryMathScience
The meter is the world's ultimate measure, but how did it become "the" meter? What is this measurement based on? The story of this revolution in measurement traces its roots to the French Revolution. Scientists decided that an equal and united people should have equal and united measures. So they sent a pair of young astronomers out to measure the world, and invent the meter. Little did they know they'd find nothing but war, deception, and strife along the way. As a result of this ill-fated mission, the meter carries an error that still persists today. Still think the metric system is so perfect?

A brief history of numerical systems

AdultsHistoryMath
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... and 0. With just these ten symbols, we can write any rational number imaginable. But why these particular symbols? Why ten of them?

Why do airlines sell too many tickets?

AdultsEconomyMathTransportation...
Have you ever sat in a doctor's office for hours, despite having an appointment?

Should You Trust Your Gut Instinct?

AdultsMathPsychologyMental Health
Can you trust your gut feelings?

Rubik's Cube World Record

AdultsMathSportsGaming
20 year old Mats Valk from the Netherlands has set a new record for completing Rubik's Cube.

The Pizza Equation

AdultsFoodMath
Get the most out of pizza with some simple math!

Can you solve the passcode riddle? - Ganesh Pai

AdultsCreativityMathGaming...
In a dystopian world, your resistance group is humanity's last hope. Unfortunately, you've all been captured by the tyrannical rulers and brought to the ancient coliseum for their deadly entertainment.

The origin of countless conspiracy theories

AdultsMathSociety
Why can we find geometric shapes in the night sky? How can we know that at least two people in London have exactly the same number of hairs on their head?