The first lunar base was completed last year. One company, aptly named “Out Of This World Vacations”, offers tourists a week-long visit to the Moon. The cost of such a vacation is extremely high.
“It was awesome! Wait till I show you the Moon rocks I brought back,” Alex boasted as a crowd gathered around him on the school grounds.
“What’s going on here?” Kari whispered to the person beside her.
“Alex is telling us about his experience on the Moon.”
“I felt like an Olympian; I was able to jump more than a metre straight up!” The crowd was clearly impressed so Alex continued. “There are no clouds and no light pollution from big cities, so there was an amazing view of the stars. And while you were here, possibly watching the moonrise, I watched the earthrise – right from when it was just visible on the horizon until it was overhead.”
“Why should we believe you actually went there?” one sceptic asked.
“I knew there would be doubters, so I brought back a few Moon rocks. I collected these while on a moonwalk in the Sea of Tranquility. Hey, Jack, you collect rocks, this would be a stellar addition to your rock collection! I’m willing to sell you a rock for only…”
“I’ve heard quite enough,” Kari interrupted. “Jack, save your money for your own vacation.”
What had Kari heard that indicated the story wasn’t true?
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Hint: Have you seen the far side of the Moon?
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Answer: If you are standing on the Moon, you will never see the Earth rise or set. One side of the Moon always faces the Earth, while the other side always faces away. So depending on where you are on the Moon, the Earth will either always be in the sky, or never be in the sky; it will not rise or set.
You may have seen the famous “Earthrise” picture; it was taken from a spacecraft orbiting the Moon. Since the spacecraft was moving around the Moon, it was able to see the Earth rise as it moved.
The other parts of the story could be true. Because of the lower gravity on the moon, you can jump about 6 times higher than on Earth. Even though they don’t contain water, many craters on the Moon are called seas, so you would be able to walk in the Sea of Tranquility.
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Last week, the local Primary school was visited by the Government School Inspector who was there to check that teachers were performing well in their respective classes.
He was very impressed with one particular teacher. The Inspector noticed that each time the class teacher asked a question, every child in the class put up their hands enthusiastically to answer it.
More surprisingly, whilst the teacher chose a different child to answer the questions each time, the answers were always correct.
Why would this be?
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Hint: 1. The class teacher asked many questions.
2. All the children were normal kids and all of them raised their hands.
3. The children were not prompted beforehand with the questions or answers.
4. Not all the children knew the answers, but they still put up their hands.
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Answer: The children were instructed to ALL raise their hands whenever a question was asked. It did not matter whether they knew the answer or not.
If they did not know the answer, however, they would raise their LEFT hand.
If they knew the answer, they would raise their RIGHT hand.
The class teacher would choose a different child each time, but always the ones who had their RIGHT hand raised.
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A man is trapped in a room. The room has only two possible exits: two doors. Through the first door there is a room constructed from magnifying glass. The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or anyone that enters. Through the second door there is a fire-breathing dragon. How does the man escape?
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Answer: He waits until night time and then goes through the first door.
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You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, “Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK… you will die.”
How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?
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Hint: The answer does not guarantee 100% you will chose a white marble, but you have a much better chance.
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Answer: Place 1 white marble in one bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the other bowl (49 whites, and 50 blacks).
This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble, therefore life! BUT even if you choose the other bowl, you still have ALMOST a 50/50 chance at picking one of the 49 white marbles.
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Emily was sitting at her study table, home alone, on a cold and stormy night. Her parents had taken a flight earlier in the morning to Australia as her grandmother had passed away. She had wanted to follow her parents but she had an important English examination the next day which she could not miss.
The storm was getting heavier by the minute and the wind was howling outside. All this noise made it very hard for her to concentrate. She was on the verge of dozing off when she was shaken alert by a sudden “THUD!” She dismissed it as a window which had been slammed shut by the wind.
She tried to concentrate on her books when she heard faint footsteps. Emily got out of her room and looked around when suddenly, without warning, she was grabbed by the neck. She tried to scream but it came out as a mere whimper as the intruder was pressing hard against her throat with his arm. She tried to free herself from his grip but to no avail.
“Give me all your money!” growled the man who had grabbed her from behind.
“Th-there is none h-here! Please ll-let me go!” cried Emily.
“Don’t LIE TO ME!” screamed the increasingly agitated man. She felt the man strengthen his grip around her neck. She said nothing and a few seconds passed by in silence. Suddenly the phone rang which alerted both of them.
“People will get suspicious if I don’t answer the phone,” said Emily, with a controlled voice. The intruder let her go.
“Alright, but NO funny business, or ELSE!” said the nervous intruder. Emily walked toward the phone. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She picked up the phone.
“Hey Em! How’s the revision going?” said the caller.
“Hey Anna. Thanks for the call. Hey you know those Science notes I lent you last week? Well I really need them back. It would be a great help to me. It’s an emergency, so if you could give me them tomorrow it would be great. Please hurry in finding the notes. I need to get back to my books now. Bye,” Emily said. She hung up the phone.
“It was wise of you not to say anything,” said the intruder, although he was more than a bit confused by her conversation.
“Now TELL ME WHERE THE MONEY IS KEPT!” screamed the thief.
“It…it’s…in my dad’s room. The first room on the right. Third drawer,” said Emily.
“SHOW me!” said the man, and removed his grip around her neck. She took a big gulp of air and nearly fell. She swallowed hard and said a silent prayer. She walked slowly, in silence, toward her father’s room. All of a sudden, they heard police sirens. The intruder froze in his footsteps. He ran to the nearest window and jumped out of it.
Emily ran outside in time to see the intruder being escorted into the car. She saw Anna and she ran toward her and hugged her.
“Smart kids,” said the policeman.
What had happened?
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Hint: Read the conversation carefully and think outside the box.
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Answer: Emily had used the mute button during her conversation with Anna so that all Anna heard was: “call…help…emergency…please hurry”. Anna, sensing something was wrong, called the police and told them Emily’s address. The police were able to come to Emily’s house in time to catch the perpetrator.
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