It’s hard not to blink, so our fan Sydney B. asked us, how long was the world’s longest staring contest? A couple of years ago, “Stare Master” Stagg and “Eyesore” Fleming stared at each other to see who could last longer without blinking. Stare Master won, holding his eyes open for an unbelievable 40 minutes 59 seconds. But 15 minutes into the contest, their eyes turned red and started shedding tears, so don’t try this at home!
Wee ones: If you blink 5 blinks, what numbers do you say to count them?
Little kids: 4 judges watched the 2 starers to make sure their eyes weren’t blinking. How many judges and starers does that make altogether? Bonus: We blink about 15 times a minute. If you’ve blinked all but 1 of those blinks, how many times have you blinked?
Big kids: Before Stare Master and Eyesore, the world staring record was 17 minutes. By how much did Stare Master’s 41 minutes beat the record? Bonus: Which is faster, 15 blinks a minute or 1,000 blinks an hour?
The sky’s the limit: If one starer lasts 24 minutes longer than the other, and that shorter one lasts only 2/5 as long as the longer one, how long does each one stare?
Answers:
Wee ones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Little kids: 6 people. Bonus: 14 times.
Big kids: By 24 minutes. Bonus: 1,000 blinks an hour! 15 per minute comes to 900 in an hour.
The sky’s the limit: 16 and 40 minutes. If the shorter starer lasts just 2/5 of the other, then the gap between them (24 minutes) is 3/5 of the longer one’s time. If 24 is 3/5 of something, then a third of 24 is just 1/5 of it. 1/3 of 24 is 8, and 8 x 5 = 40. Sure enough, 2/5 of 40 is 16, and that’s 24 minutes less.
