This week’s Micro Softy concerns Major League Baseball (MLB). It’s a true story that requires some knowledge of baseball history.

On June 30, 1997, the Toronto Blue Jays played the Montreal Expos. The Expos eventually moved to Washington, DC, where they are now known as the Washington Nationals.

The Micro Softy puzzle for this week: What was missing from this 1997 game that had occurred in every single Major League Baseball game for decades before?  

Hint: 1997 was the first year of inter-league play in MLB.

We’ll give the answer next Monday here at Mind Matters News.

Solution to Micro Softy 36:  Is the Glass Half Empty, Half Full, or Too Big? 

Recall that three professors in the Sahara Desert had enough water for four days, rationed to a half glass per hour during their sixteen-hour workdays. They carefully measured each portion to ensure that the water lasted the entire six-day trip. How could they be assured that the glass, shown on the left, was exactly half full?

The answer is shown in the figure. When the glass is tilted so that the water just touches the lip of the glass at the top and the upper edge of the glass’s bottom, the glass is half full.

Here are two follow-up questions to think about:

1. We have assumed the glass is cylindrical with a circular cross section. If the cross section in a rectangle, will this method still work?
2. Assume the glass has a circular cross section at every point but is shaped more like a vase. Does this technique still work?

Here’s last Monday’s puzzle, along with the answer to the previous Monday’s puzzle:

Monday Micro Softy 36: A glass half empty? Half full? Too big? The professors on a research expedition must make sure that each glass of rationed water is exactly half full. The answer to Micro Softy 35 can be deduced by asking where a house could be placed so that all directions are south.

The Micro Softy is a weekly feature of Mind Matters News.

Here are links to all the earlier Micro Softies

Monday Micro Softy 35: A house with a view. A billionaire, used to getting what he wants, demands a house where all the walls’ windows offer a view in the same direction. The solution to Monday Micro Softy 34 is quite simple if we pay attention to the exact measurements of the poles and the wires. sincere

Image Credit: New Africa - Adobe Stock

Monday Micro Softy 29: A funeral lament in four lines. The funeral director was puzzled by Dan’s description of his relationship to the deceased but there was no question that his grief was sincere Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 22 through 29 as well.

Monday Micro Softy 21: Finding More of the Deadly Fentanyl Pills. There, you will also find links to Microsofties 11 through 20.

At Monday Micro Softy 11: What Happened to That Other Dollar?, you will find links to the first ten Micro Softies. Have fun!