Who hasn’t gone through the Monte Hall problem? So, why not confront Enders and Hennes with it? — Recently, they got a vivid description of the famous probability puzzle: you are in a game show, and the host shows you three doors. Behind one of them is a beautiful new car, behind the other two are sacks of potatoes (in the original version they are goats). The host…

Finding the three mistakes in a sentence; and how to identify a poisoned cask of wine — Today was Enders-and-Hennes day. We spent it at the local lake, where an unusual number of families had gathered, drawn there by the sun and the easing of Covid restrictions. After a few weeks of abstinence, the boys were glad to exuberantly run around the water-side playground, full of boundless…

During early childhood, in the hill station jungle resort, it became necessary to actually attend school — in the Megacity of Bombay. — Much of my early childhood was spent in Lonavala, on the slopes of the Western Ghats, India. The town was a favourite of the erstwhile British colonialists, and we, a German-Portugese-Indian family, had a very nice house there. I spent a lot of time at the jungle farm of my…

Childhood adventures with stone-age tribals — As a child and a young boy, I spent a lot of time in the jungles of the Western Ghats of India, staying at an agricultural research facility run by my uncle Paul and aunt Trudy Stein, in the middle of the moist deciduous forest of that area. My father…

I have always been fascinated by optical illusions. Today I want to show you one that tricks your ears (and brain). — I have written about incredible optical illusions — links can be found at the bottom of this article. They trick your brain into seeing things that are not what you see. A quick example: Which square, on the above chessboard, is darker, the one marked A or the one marked…

How to help school children understand one of the central findings of science. — I have written about evolution (which was part of my university studies of evolutionary epistomology). So now, bringing up two wonderful grandkids, the subject keeps coming up — as you can see in some previous articles: How evolution works and On Evolution and Acorns. These interactions with Enders and Hennes…

Having fun with one of the smartest people I know — 35 years ago a 22-year-old Russian lad came to Hamburg, at the invitation of Der SPIEGEL, Europe’s biggest and most influential news magazine. He was the challenger for the Chess World Championship and was here to play a preparation match against a top German grandmaster — and to give the…

A few months ago, I made an unusual contact in Lunchclub, a social platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to connect members with common interests and objectives. My discussion partner was a dark man sitting in a dark corner of a dark room — slightly intimidating. But in…

On elevators and dishonest couriers — With the pandemic flaring up again, in Europe, interaction with the beloved grandkids might soon be restricted. Once again. Of course we are fully vaccinated, but they are too young, and vulnerable. I predict that schools will be soon shut down. Once again. Thank heavens for adventure playgrounds, which they…