HeyJaredAlex Bellos
- Indexed articles, last 90 days
- 25
- Latest publication
- Sep 28, 2026
- Outlet visibility, for The Guardian
- Top 1K sites
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 6, 2026
Latest articles
Did you solve it? Isaac Newtonâs tower drop puzzle (opens the original)
Read excerpt
The solution to the seventeenth century stumper Earlier today I set you a puzzle that Isaac Newton posed in 1679 in a latter to Robert Hooke. I mentioned that the answer is counter-intuitive, and also gave you the hint that it might have something to do with figure skating. Hereâs the problem again, with its solution. An object is dropped from a high tower. Bearing in mind the rotation of the Earth itself, where will the object land? Our first thought might be that the object falls slightly to
Did you solve it? Isaac Newton’s tower drop puzzle - AOL (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Earlier today I set you a puzzle that Isaac Newton posed in 1679 in a latter to Robert Hooke. I mentioned that the answer is counter-intuitive, and also gave you the hint that it might have something to do with figure skating. Here’s the problem again, with its solution. An object is dropped from a high tower. Bearing in mind the rotation of the Earth itself, where will the object land? Our first thought might be that the object falls slightly to the west, on the grounds that as the object is fa
Can you solve it? Isaac Newton’s tower drop puzzle - AOL (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Today’s puzzle played a pivotal role in the birth of classical phyics. An object is dropped from a high tower. Bearing in mind the rotation of the Earth itself, where will the object land? The answer is counter-intuitive. Or, in the words of Isaac Newton, who posed the problem in a letter he wrote to Robert Hooke in 1679, the answer is “quite contrary to ye opinion of yevulgar.” Some hints. Think about how the spin of the Earth might affect the downwards trajectory. Also think about what happens
Can you solve it? Isaac Newtonâs tower drop puzzle (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Todayâs puzzle played a pivotal role in the birth of classical phyics. An object is dropped from a high tower. Bearing in mind the rotation of the Earth itself, where will the object land? The answer is counter-intuitive. Or, in the words of Isaac Newton, who posed the problem in a letter he wrote to Robert Hooke in 1679, the answer is âquite contrary to ye opinion of ye vulgar.â Some hints. Think about how the spin of the Earth might effect the downwards trajectory. Also think about what
Did you solve it? Do you have the brain of an engineer? (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Earlier today I set four engineering puzzles. Here they are again with solutions. (Do check out the hundreds of great comments posted below the line in the original story.) In a cranberry sorting facility, thousands of cranberries are dropped every minute onto a board. Good cranberries are firm, and bounce, while bad cranberries are soft, and don’t bounce. What simple trick allows sorters to catch all of the good ones and none of the bad? The board is at an angle. Good berries bounce off onto a
Publishing over time
Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.
Recurring subjects
Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.
Audience
Top 1K sites
For The Guardian, the outlet · Measured Aug 1, 2026
Website popularity band, not a count of readers or article views.
About this data
Counts cover the work we have indexed. Tone needs enough text and a confident classification. Excerpts and episode notes are not full articles or transcripts.
Identity or attribution wrong? Suggest a correction.