http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-natural-beauty-of-math-174842751.html

How to slice a cake

This is one of the easier math problems that requires either one good look or several minutes' worth of squinting at it and trying to force your mind to think out of the box.  To many mathematicians, the answer seems obvious as soon as they hear the problem, but for some people, it takes awhile.

How to cut a generic birthday cake into eight pieces in no more than three straight cuts? No special tools or anything.

The answer is at answersdiscarded.blogspot.com.

Please, please, please try to think of the answer before looking it up.

Wise People

On a distant planet, far across the galaxies, a mighty ruler decided to test her wise people to find out which one of them was the wisest. She invited them to her planet,  and offered them wine and food.  The wise people, whose talents were much unappreciated,  had not seen so much food in all of their lives, and were soon sound asleep.  When the wise people woke up, they all saw that everyone's faces were colored green, but they could not see their own faces. They all immediately started laughing, and so did the ruler, quietly laughing behind her secret spot under a table loaded with dessert.
But then one stopped, and then another.
They all gradually stopped laughing, realizing that they, too must have paint on their faces.
The ruler named the first one to stop her prime minister.

Question: how did the wise people find out that they, too had been colored green?
Hint: try deciding on a number of wise people.

The answer is at answersdiscarded.blogspot.com.

PLEASE THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE YOU LOOK IT UP.