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How Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura Overcame Astronomical Odds

Readers rescued a Star Trek crew from a probabilistic predicament armed only with the power of mathematical reasoning.

Help Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura Overcome Astronomical Odds

August 18, 2022

In honor of the actor and activist Nichelle Nichols, this month’s puzzle imagines a Star Trek adventure in which her character, Lieutenant Uhura, faces a life-and-death conundrum.

Seeking Mathematical Truth in Counterfeit Coin Puzzles

July 29, 2022

Readers balanced logical reasoning and mathematical insights to find phony coins with a double-pan balance scale.

How to Weigh Truth With a Balance Scale

June 27, 2022

In recreational mathematics, the balance scale is an endless source of puzzles that require precise and elaborate logic and teach the fundamentals of generalization.

The Secret Math Behind Mind-Reading Magic Tricks

May 27, 2022

Four puzzle solutions reveal different ways to divine someone’s hidden number with impossibly little information.

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