Can you solve the human cannonball riddle? - Alex Rosenthal episode artwork

EPISODE · May 31, 2026 · 8 MIN

Can you solve the human cannonball riddle? - Alex Rosenthal

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--They call you the human cannonball. Your act involves flying through rings of fire, bouncing through a trampoline course, and catching the trapezist in the grand finale. Today’s pre-flight test fails dramatically, and upon inspection, your cannon has clearly been sabotaged. Unfortunately, it’s too late to abort the launch. Can you fix it in time to catch the trapezist? Alex Rosenthal shows how.Lesson by Alex Rosenthal, directed by Igor Coric, Artrake Studio.This riddle is adapted from a puzzle that appears in Boris A. Kordemsky's The Moscow PuzzlesSupport Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-human-cannonball-riddle-alex-rosenthalDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-human-cannonball-riddle-alex-rosenthal#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.artrake.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Xuebicoco, Rare Media, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Aravind Battaje, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Arcis Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, John Hong, Annastasshia Ames, Sean, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Anthony Arcis, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey, Yelena Baykova, Harshita Jagdish Sahijwani, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Robert Patrick, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Abhishek Bansal, Akinola Emmanuel, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Sebastiaan Vleugels, JY Kang, Abhishek Goel, Heidi Stolt, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov and Kyanta Yap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--They call you the human cannonball. Your act involves flying through rings of fire, bouncing through a trampoline course, and catching the trapezist in the grand finale. Today’s pre-flight test fails dramatically, and upon inspection, your cannon has clearly been sabotaged. Unfortunately, it’s too late to abort the launch. Can you fix it in time to catch the trapezist? Alex Rosenthal shows how.Lesson by Alex Rosenthal, directed by Igor Coric, Artrake Studio.This riddle is adapted from a puzzle that appears in Boris A. Kordemsky's The Moscow PuzzlesSupport Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-human-cannonball-riddle-alex-rosenthalDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-human-cannonball-riddle-alex-rosenthal#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.artrake.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Xuebicoco, Rare Media, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Aravind Battaje, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Arcis Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, John Hong, Annastasshia Ames, Sean, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Anthony Arcis, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey, Yelena Baykova, Harshita Jagdish Sahijwani, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Robert Patrick, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Abhishek Bansal, Akinola Emmanuel, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Sebastiaan Vleugels, JY Kang, Abhishek Goel, Heidi Stolt, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov and Kyanta Yap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This episode was published on May 31, 2026.

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Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--They call you the human cannonball. Your act involves flying through rings of fire, bouncing through a trampoline course, and catching the trapezist in the grand finale. Today’s...

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