Can you solve the unstoppable blob riddle? - Dan Finkel

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Bruce Sung

A shooting star crashes on Earth,

一顆流星撞上了地球，

and a hideous blob emerges.

出現了一隻可怕的黏液怪物。

It creeps and leaps, it glides and slides.

它會爬行、會跳躍、 會滑動、會滑行。

It’s also unstoppable:

它也所向無敵：

weapons, fire, extreme temperatures…

武器、火、極端溫度…… 不論你用什麼方式攻擊它，

no matter what you throw at it,

it just regrows and continues its rampage.

它總會再生並繼續製造暴亂。

Its expansion is breathtaking;

它的擴展能力十分驚人；

it doubles in size every hour.

每小時，它的大小就會變成兩倍。

But there’s one opportunity:

但，有一個機會：

after each hour, it goes to sleep,

每小時之後，它就會進入睡眠，

forming itself into a flat triangle

讓它自己的形狀變成扁平三角形，

and resting for a few minutes

休息幾分鐘，

before it begins eating and growing again.

接著又會開始再吃、再成長。

Your only chance to save the planet

你只有一個機會能拯救地球，

involves a satellite-mounted nano-fission ray that can cut through the blob.

要用到裝在衛星上的 奈米分裂光束來將它切成兩半。

When the blog is active

當怪物在活動時，只要 幾秒鐘時間它就會癒合。

it heals itself within seconds.

However, when you break the sleeping blob into two triangles,

然而，當你把在睡覺中的 怪物切成兩個三角形時，

you make a critical discovery.

有了重大的發現。

The acute triangle portion,

銳角三角形的部分，

with all angles less than 90 degrees, is inert.

也就是所有的角都小於 90 度的 三角形，不再有生命力。

It never “wakes up.”

它不再「醒來」。

The obtuse triangle,

至於鈍角三角形，也就是 有一個角大於 90 度的三角形，

which has an angle greater than 90 degrees,

wakes up as usual and keeps growing.

還是一樣會醒來並繼續成長。

Similar experiments show that all shapes other than acute triangles,

類似的實驗結果顯示， 除了銳角三角形之外的所有形狀，

including right triangles, will also wake up.

包括直角三角形，都還是會醒來。

For the next few minutes,

接下來的幾分鐘，

the blob is sleeping in its obtuse triangle form.

怪物會以扁平三角形的 形式進入睡眠。

You can make clean, straight-line cuts

你可以針對三角形上 或三角形內選定的任兩個點，

between any two points on or inside the triangle.

做到精準的直線切割。

But you’ll only have time to make 7 cuts while the satellite is above you.

但當衛星在你上方可以 進行切割的時間只夠你切七次。

By the time it completes its orbit and returns,

當衛星完成繞行再回來時，

the blob will have consumed the entire world,

就已經來不及阻止怪物 把整個世界吞噬了，

if even a single portion that will wake up remains.

所以你萬萬不可以 讓任何一個部分醒過來。

How can you cut the blob entirely into acute triangles

你要如何把怪物 完全切割成銳角三角形，

and stop it from destroying the planet?

阻止它摧毀地球？

Pause the video now to figure out for yourself

［如果你希望自己 嘗試解題，請在此暫停。］

Answer in 3

［答案即將公佈：3］

Answer in 2

［答案即將公佈：2］

Answer in 1

［答案即將公佈：1］

While this seems doable at first,

雖然一開始會覺得這個方法可行，

there’s a hidden difficulty when it comes to avoiding obtuse and right angles.

其實若想避免鈍角和直角， 會碰到一個隱藏的困難處。

Every time you make a cut that reaches an edge,

每當你做的切割有接觸到邊緣，

it either makes an acute and an obtuse angle, or two right angles.

就會製造出一個銳角和一個鈍角，

不然就是兩個直角。

That makes it seems like you’re doomed to keep creating obtuse angles.

看起來似乎你注定會 一直製造出銳角。

But as with so many of life’s problems,

但，就像許多人生難題一樣，

we can look to pizza for inspiration.

我們都能從比薩上找到靈感。

Imagine squaring off the outside of a pizza,

想像一下，把比薩的外緣切平，

so that instead of a circle, it’s an octagon.

它現在變成八角形，不再是個圓。

When we cut it into slices,

當我們把它切片，

each of the eight triangles is acute.

這八個三角形都是銳角三角形。

This works with larger polygons too.

對於邊數更多的多邊形， 這招也一樣可行。

Importantly, it also works for some polygons with fewer sides,

重要的是，對於邊數 更少的多邊形仍然可行，

including heptagons, hexagons, and pentagons.

包括七角形、六角形、五角形。

That’s good news,

那是好消息，

because if you cut off the sharp corners of the blob triangle,

因為如果你把怪物 三角形的尖角切除，

a pentagon is exactly what you’ll be left with.

你就會得到一個五角形。

And just like a pizza,

就像比薩一樣，

you can cut the blob pentagon into five acute triangles.

你可以把怪物五角形 切成五個銳角三角形。

That’s 7 cuts, and it renders the blob completely inert.

一共要切七次，結果是 怪物完全不再有生命。

You’ve saved the day!

你拯救了世界！

Now you just need to figure out what to do

現在，你只需要想辦法處理

with all of these giant, practically indestructible triangles.

這些巨大又無法破壞的三角形了。