Articles by Kabir Firaque
The physics and psychology of stampedes
In many stampedes, possibly including the one at the New Delhi railway station, deaths occur due to a phenomenon described as the “black hole effect”

Updated on Feb 16, 2025 08:36 AM IST
Problematics | Walking with a dinosaur
A brachiosaurus and a human walk the entire circumference of the planet together. Their feet obviously travel the same distance, but what about their heads?

Published on Jul 01, 2024 09:00 AM IST
Problematics | The perfect capital M
A child writes the capital letter M with two verticals that are perfectly straight but of unequal length. At what point do the two slanting lines meet?

Published on Jun 24, 2024 11:32 AM IST
Problematics | Double or nothing
Your neighbour offers you ₹5 lakh daily while you repay him every day with 1p, 2p, 4p and so on. Should you accept the offer for a month?

Published on Jun 17, 2024 11:13 AM IST
Problematics | To eat ice cream or not to...
Three colleagues dine together at a canteen, but not all of them order ice cream. Who does so, and who does not?

Updated on Jun 11, 2024 05:25 PM IST
Problematics | A boy and his kite
Here is a new version of an old puzzle from Bhaskara’s Lilavati, adapted for Problematics solvers, plus a word puzzle as a bonus

Published on Jun 03, 2024 07:46 AM IST
Problematics | The mathemagic of dice
Here’s a magic trick that involves rapid addition of numbers on a set of dice. Can you work out the short cut involved?

Published on May 27, 2024 01:31 PM IST
Problematics | Who owns the badger?
Crack this one loosely modelled on the original Einstein puzzle: 4 persons of different nationalities in houses of different colours, each with a different pet

Published on May 20, 2024 10:59 AM IST
Problematics | An accountant’s missing figures
You know the price of one item and a few extra digits, nothing more. Can you work out how many items were sold and the total collected from the sales?

Published on May 13, 2024 09:39 AM IST
Problematics | I hold the four aces
A card trick that is ideally played on an unsuspecting audience at a party. Can you work out how it works?

Updated on May 07, 2024 03:14 PM IST
Problematics | The length of a cricket run
What distance does a batter need to run to complete one run before turning back for a second? Meet two batters who run at different speeds

Published on Apr 29, 2024 09:29 AM IST
Problematics | Watch those hands
Here’s an old-school puzzle involving the hour and minute hands of a watch. How frequently do they overlap or stretch out diametrically in a straight line?

Updated on Apr 22, 2024 06:43 PM IST
Problematics | The IPL equation
One batter saves the day for his team with a fighting innings. How much does he score, and how many runs does his teammate contribute to a key partnership?

Published on Apr 15, 2024 03:14 PM IST
Problematics | Five parties, five defections
Meet five politicians who switch parties ahead of the elections. Which member came from which party, and who went where?

Published on Apr 08, 2024 05:07 PM IST
Problematics | How to win at Scrabble
A couple plays Scrabble for money, doubling the stakes in each successive round. If the husband loses ₹501 in the end, which games has the wife won?

Published on Apr 01, 2024 07:25 AM IST
Some dogs are aggressive, but don’t blame it on breed alone
Earlier this month, the government banned the sale and breeding of 23 dog breeds, describing them as “ferocious”

Published on Mar 27, 2024 04:41 PM IST
Problematics | The colours of mathemagic
Meet a magician deducing which member of the audience has which packet of Holi colours in his pocket. What is the mathematics that makes the trick work?

Published on Mar 25, 2024 07:51 AM IST
Problematics | As the crow flies
Centuries ago, one dropped pebbles into a jar to be able to drink water. This week, another smart crow is looking for an optimum flight path

Published on Mar 18, 2024 11:32 AM IST
Problematics | The long and the short of growing flowers
This week, an ancient puzzle in a new setting that involves two rectangular flowerbeds, followed by a flower sale

Published on Mar 11, 2024 06:46 AM IST
Reconstructing Indians’ evolutionary history
Most Indians trace their ancestry to three groups, and all of them carry genes from Neanderthals and Denisovans, a new study finds

Updated on Mar 06, 2024 09:40 PM IST
Problematics | Walk, don’t run
A speed-and-distance puzzle set in a forest where wild animals may be lurking, plus a sitter about the numbers on the face of a clock.

Published on Mar 04, 2024 12:09 PM IST
Scientists make key progress in developing antibody against most snake venoms
Scientists have developed an antibody that can neutralize toxins from a variety of snake species, but a universal antivenom is still a long way off.

Updated on Feb 27, 2024 04:58 AM IST
Kabir Firaque, New Delhi
Problematics | Five Oscar nominees, five viewers
Ahead of the Oscars, an Einstein puzzle involving 5 Best Picture nominees, followed by a probability puzzle

Published on Feb 26, 2024 09:47 AM IST
This scientist has led the way in tapping into the quantum world for new tech
Aditi Sen De received the GD Birla Award for Scientific Excellence for her contribution to the field of quantum technologies. Simply put, here's what she does

Updated on Feb 23, 2024 04:20 PM IST
Problematics | Reluctant recruits go to war
This week, a mathematical puzzle in which you work out the number of men and women who enlisted for battle, plus a set of cricket anagrams.

Published on Feb 19, 2024 08:00 AM IST
Problematics | Who wins this race?
Five athletes in their lanes, each from a different country and dressed in her favourite colour. Who is wearing what, and who wins?

Published on Feb 12, 2024 08:00 AM IST
Problematics | The fast and the furious
We give you three runners, the differences in their speeds and in the time they clocked. What is the length of the race, and how long did each runner clock?

Updated on Feb 05, 2024 11:26 AM IST
Science or pseudo-science? A debate rekindled
Indian-American doctor Deepak Chopra presented his latest book, Quantum Body, proposing the idea of a "quantum body" distinct from our physical body. Chopra asserts that understanding the quantum body can revolutionize disease eradication. The theory of consciousness, which suggests consciousness arises from quantum activity in the brain's neurons, is distinct but related. While some scientists have dismissed Chopra's ideas, others have taken the theory of consciousness seriously. Recent experiments have shown indications of quantum phenomena in the brain, but the Orch OR theory that connects these phenomena to consciousness remains unproven.

Updated on Jan 30, 2024 06:08 AM IST
Kabir Firaque, New Delhi
Weird Science | The theory of everything, quantum body and mind edition
This is not the first time that someone has connected the mysteries of everyday life with the quantum world. The end effect is a whole lot of unknowns

Published on Jan 29, 2024 02:23 PM IST
Problematics | Lewis Carroll transported to Haryana
The creator of Alice in Wonderland was also a mathematician and master puzzler. To mark his birth anniversary, here is an adaptation of one of his puzzles

Published on Jan 29, 2024 08:00 AM IST