Richard Wiseman

Are these moving in synch?

Richard Wiseman — Wed, 30 May 2012 06:00:20 +0000

First of all, tickets for the next Edinburgh Secret Society event will go on sale at 10am today. But be quick, because we expect to sell out quickly. Details here.

Second, I haven’t seen this illusion before, and it is great. When the paper squares are on the screen the lines look like they form a square moving in a circular motion. However, remove them and a very different picture emerges.

Like it?

What word comes to mind?

Richard Wiseman — Mon, 28 May 2012 09:00:58 +0000

In Paranormality I described how we are all really good at ascribing intentions and emotions to inanimate objects. The other day I came across this great video of a slinky on a treadmill….

What word comes to mind when you watch the slinky? Post your answer as a comment and let’s see if we all come up with the same words.

Answer to the Friday Puzzle!

Richard Wiseman — Mon, 28 May 2012 06:00:37 +0000

On Friday I set this puzzle….

Last night seven of my friends went to a local restaurant. They each handed over their coat as they entered. At the end of the evening the staff returned the coats, but they were totally incompetent and randomly handed out the coats to my friends. What is the probability that exactly six of my friends received their own coat?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else the answer is after the break.

The answer is…..of course….. zero. If six of my friends have their coats back then all seven must have the right coat. Therefore it impossible for exactly six of them to have the correct coat.

Did you solve it?

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

Richard Wiseman — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:19 +0000

As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but do say if you think you have solved the puzzle and how long it took. Solution on Monday.

More impossible photos

Richard Wiseman — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:13 +0000

Matt Harris kindly brought my attention to a great site containing lots of double take photos…..here are my favourite three…..

I strongly urge you to check out the other here. Which is your favourite?

See celebs as you have never seen them before!

Richard Wiseman — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:00:26 +0000

Everyone and their dog have been kind enough to send me this wonderful video – stare at the cross, hit play, and see celebs as you have never seen them before….

Did it work for you? The illusion was created by Jason Tangen, Sean Murphy and Matthew Thompson from The University of Queensland, and was awarded 2nd place in the 2012 Illusion of the Year thingy.

Where is the missing face?

Richard Wiseman — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:00:31 +0000

Mathematician and ace puzzler Martin Gardner died two years ago today. I thought it would be good to use the occasion to celebrate his work with a little YouTube video, and this is what I came up with….

Any idea about the solution? Feel free to spread the word!

Answer to the Friday Puzzle

Richard Wiseman — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:00:24 +0000

On Friday I set this puzzle…..

I am a member of a club in which every member either always lies or always tells the truth. Yesterday I had a telephone call from a member who always tells the truth and he said ‘Some members have just had dinner around a circular table, and each member said ‘I declare that the man on my left is a liar’”. Ten minutes later I received another telephone call from another member called John, and he said “I was at the dinner and there were 11 of us there”. Ten minutes after that I received yet another telephone call from a member called Tim, and he said “I was at the dinner and there were 8 of us there”. Either John or Tim was lying. But who was the liar?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answer is after the break.

Well, the first assumption has to be that I am telling the truth. If that is not the case, then all bets are off and there is no answer. However, assuming this is the case, there must have been
(1) a mixture of liars and truth tellers around the table and
(2) an even number of people around the table.
(3) they alternate liar – truth teller around the table
Otherwise, everyone would not be able to say the sentence ‘I declare that the man on my left is a liar’.

So, John must be the liar. Did you solve it? Any other solutions?

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

It’s the Friday Puzzle…..

Richard Wiseman — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:00:06 +0000

As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but do say if you think you have solved the puzzle and how long it took. Solution on Monday.

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for theKindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

I give you the most unusual pareidolia I have ever seen…..

Richard Wiseman — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:00:53 +0000

As you have probably worked out by now, I am a fan of pareidolia. Yesterday I was sent this great photo….

It was taken by ace photographer Matthew Horwood, who very kindly gave me permission to post it here. It gets my vote as the most unusual pareidolia I have seen. What do you think?