- published: 05 Dec 2009
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Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against his or her head, and pulls the trigger. "Russian" refers to the supposed country of origin, and roulette to the element of risk-taking and the spinning of the revolver's cylinder being reminiscent of spinning a roulette wheel.
The term "Russian Roulette" dates back to a 1937 short story of the same title:
Variation 1: Player(s) take turns spinning and firing the revolver so that each successive turn has an equal probability of failure. Assuming a common six-round cylinder, the probability of getting shot after spinning is approximately 1/6. (This is affected by weight of the bullet, direction spin and angle the gun is held at while spinning the cylinder.) The game could continue indefinitely and gamblers could presumably only wager on which players will survive and how many turns the game will last.
Variation 2: If playing without respinning, the initial probability of the first player being shot is 1/6 (16.6%), but the probability of being shot increases every time the trigger is pulled. The second player has a 1/5 (20%) probability of being shot, and the probability of the player on the third attempt is 1/4 (25%). If the gun has not fired after five turns, the probability of being shot on the sixth turn with a 6 chambered gun is 1/1 (100%) (assuming the cartridge works). However, when the probability that each player will actually have to take a turn is factored in (100% for the first player, a 5/6 chance for the second, a 2/3 chance for the third and so on), the odds of losing actually end up the same for every player - 1/6 (assuming that there are six players).
Derren Victor Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English illusionist, mentalist, painter, writer and sceptic. He is known for his appearances in television specials, stage productions, photographic memory, and British television series such as Trick of the Mind and Trick or Treat. Since the first broadcast of his show Derren Brown: Mind Control in 2000, Brown has become increasingly well known for his "mind-reading" act. He has written books for magicians as well as the general public. His caricature artwork has received gallery exhibition and is available in a single volume documenting his portrait collection.
Though his performances of mind-reading and other feats of mentalism may appear to be the result of psychic or paranormal practices, he claims no such abilities and frequently denounces those who do. Brown states at the beginning of his Trick of the Mind programmes that he achieves his results using a combination of "magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship". Using his knowledge and skill, he appears to be able to predict and influence people's thoughts with subtle suggestion, manipulate the decision-making process and read the subtle physical and psychological signs or body language that indicate what a person is thinking.
Ice cubes are small, roughly cube-shaped pieces of ice, conventionally used to cool beverages. Ice cubes are sometimes preferred over crushed ice because they melt more slowly; they are standard in mixed drinks that call for ice, in which case the drink is said to be "on the rocks."
Ice cubes that are crushed or sheared into irregularly-shaped flakes may add an interesting aesthetic effect to some cocktails. Crushed ice is also used when faster cooling is desired, since the rate of cooling is governed by the number and average radius of the ice particles.
Melting ice cubes sometimes precipitate white flakes, commonly known as "floaties". This is calcium carbonate which is present in many water supplies and is completely harmless.[citation needed]
American physician and humanitarian John Gorrie built a refrigerator in 1844 with the purpose of cooling air. His refrigerator produced ice which he hung from the ceiling in a basin. Gorrie can be considered the creator of ice cubes, but his aim was not to cool drinks: he used the ice to lower the ambient room temperature. During his time, a dominant idea was that bad air quality caused disease. Therefore, in order to help treat sickness, he pushed for the draining of swamps and the cooling of sickrooms.