Trotsky’s Killer

August 20, 1940

Leon Trotsky, an enemy of Josef Stalin, had been in exile for 11 years. On this day, a Soviet assassin entered Trotsky’s house in Mexico City and hit him in the head with an ice axe. He died the next day.

Here is a group of suspects who were rounded up. Each wrong suspect has one different feature from the correct suspect. Who killed Trotsky?

The killer of Leon Trotsky was Ramón Mercader.

Canaries in Space

NASA was considering sending canaries into space to study them under zero gravity. The project was scrapped when someone realized that in spite of having sufficient water supplies, they could die of dehydration within a few hours. Why?

Unlike humans, birds need gravity in order to swallow. Thus, in space they wouldn’t be able to drink and will die of dehydration.

Raise Me None

Raise me none and I am unbeaten.
Raise me once and I am excessive.
Raise me twice and I am forward.
Raise me thrice and I am eaten.
All said right, but wrongly spelled.

Who am I?

The answer is the NUMBER 2:

2⁰ = 1 (“one”), which is unbeaten;
2¹ = 2 (“too”), which is excessive;
2² = 4 (“fore”), which is forward;
2³ = 8 (“ate”), which is eaten.