Are dreidels fair? In other words, does the average dreidel have an equal chance of turning up any one of its four sides? To explore this hypothesis, three different dreidels were each spun hundreds of times with the number of occurrences of each side recorded. It was found that all three dreidels tested -- a cheap plastic dreidel, an old wooden dreidel, and a dreidel that came embossed with a picture of Santa Claus -- were not fair. Statistically, for each dreidel, some sides came up significantly more often than others. Although an unfair dreidel does not necessarily make the game itself unfair, it is conjectured that hundreds of pounds of chocolate have been distributed during Chanukah under false pretenses.

How easy is it to lose a basketball game, assuming both sides want to lose? Now, let’s be clear: I do not advocate trying to lose in any sport. Please take this essay primarily as a source of amusement – an intellectual exercise, if you will. Actually trying to lose is not only bad sportsmanship, but it may be cause players to be suspended, coaches to be fired, and teams to be fined and even disqualified from leagues. Quite possibly, trying to lose may actually be illegal. At its worst, someone might get hurt and the perpetrator may even get jail time. However, imagining that everyone is OK with trying to lose, and that no one gets hurt, then let’s have some fun and see what can be done to lose a basketball game.

Time travel has captured the public imagination for much of the past century, but little has been done to actually search for time travelers. Here, three implementations of Internet searches for time travelers are described, all seeking a prescient mention of information not previously available. The first search covered prescient content placed on the Internet, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific terms in tweets on Twitter. The second search examined prescient inquiries submitted to a search engine, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific search terms submitted to a popular astronomy web site. The third search involved a request for a direct Internet communication, either by email or tweet, pre-dating to the time of the inquiry. Given practical verifiability concerns, only time travelers from the future were investigated. No time travelers were discovered. Although these negative results do not disprove time travel, given the great reach of the Internet, this search is perhaps the most comprehensive to date.