Maths tricks: multiply up to 20x20 in your head

 In just FIVE minutes you should learn to quickly multiply up to 20x20 in your head.  With this trick, you will be able to multiply any two numbers from 11 to 19 in your head quickly, without the use of a calculator.
I will assume that you know your multiplication table reasonably well up to 10x10.
Try this:

• Take 15 x 13 for an example.
• Always place the larger number of the two on top in your mind.
• Then draw the shape of Africa mentally so it covers the 15 and the 3 from the 13 below. Those covered numbers are all you need.
• First add 15 + 3 = 18
• Add a zero behind it (multiply by 10) to get 180.
• Multiply the covered lower 3 x the single digit above it the "5" (3x5= 15)
• Add 180 + 15 = 195.

That is It! Wasn't that easy? Practice it on paper first!

Goodbye :)

The hardest part of any friendship is when it's time to say goodbye. As much as we might like things to stay the same, change is an inevitable part of life. The universe may seem huge and the rift between friends on opposite side of the world may seem a great distance. There are many tools available with which we can communicate, but even without these tools there is a secret that only real friends know, and it is this. All the mountains and valleys in the world cannot separate friends whose hearts are as one.

I just want you to know and never forget, that I will surely miss you. So follow your heart and never give up, as dreams and wishes do come true, for I know that someday we'll meet again, so never forget, I will be praying for you.

Guinness World Records 2011 in pictures

The world's longest documented hair belongs to Xie Qiuping (China) at 5.627 m (18 ft 5.54 in) when measured on May 8, 2004. She has been growing her hair since 1973 from the age of 13
Picture: John Wright/Guinness World Records

 

 

The most balloons inflated by the nose in 3 minutes are 23 and were achieved by Andrew Dahl (USA) on the set of Lo Show dei Record in Rome, Italy, on 18 March 2010
Picture: Paul Michael Hughes/Guinness World Records

 

Dr David R. Adamovich (The Great Throwdini, USA) threw 102 14'' throwing knives around his partner, Target Girl Tina Nagy (USA) in 1 minute, in Freeport, New York, USA, on 26 December 2007

 

The longest cucumber measured 104.78 cm (41.25 in) and was grown by Frank Dimmock (UK). It was measured at his home in Thame, Oxon, UK, on 18 September 2008
Picture: Guinness World Records

 

The week in pictures: 17 September 2010

A team led by researchers at Brown University in the US used a laser altimeter on board Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to identify and map a total of 5,185 asteroid craters on the Moon's surface. On the left side of the Moon seen in this view is part of the familiar part of the Moon observed from Earth. In the middle left-most part of the globe is Mare Tranquillitatis (light blue) the site of the Apollo 11 landing, and above this an oval-appearing region (Mare Serenitatis; dark blue) the site of the Apollo 17 landing. Most of the dark blue areas are lunar maria, low lying regions composed of volcanic lava flows that formed after the heavily cratered lunar highlands (and are thus much less cratered). The large near-circular basins show the effects of the early impacts on early planetary crusts in the inner solar system, including the Earth.
Picture: NASA

 

Today's lead image comes from a reader. Keisha Williams writes: "This is a picture i took of the Northern Lights appearing over AB Mountain in Skagway, Alaska. This was taken at approximately 11.30pm last night. The display was amazing. The foreground of the picture is the tiny Skagway Airstrip (only accessible by small aircraft), the background is the majestic AB Mountain and the valley looking out onto the White Pass which connects Alaska to Canada. I am originally from Nottingham, England, although I now live in Skagway, Alaska" Thank you, Keisha, for your amazing picture. You can send photos to us by emailing them to mypic@telegraph.co.uk or by including @TelegraphPics in a tweet
Picture: KEISHA WILLIAMS

 

Fish carcasses from a massive fish kill in the Bayou Chaland area of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, are pictured...
Picture: REUTERS

 

An Indian girl performs a tight rope walk by the side of a road in Chennai, India
Picture: EPA

 

This is the moment when a stunt glider slammed into a runway in front of 15,000 horrified fans at an airshow. Amazingly pilot Mike Newman, 35, crawled out of the wreckage of the high performance Swift S-1 gilder after the cockpit broke up on impact. The former racing driver suffered three broken vertebrae in the accident, but doctors expect him to make a full recovery. Mr Newman crashed while performing for the Swift Aerobatic Display Team at the Royal Air Forces Association airshow at Shoreham, West Sussex

 

Kenwyne Jones of Stoke City celebrates scoring his team's first goal during their Barclays Premier League match against Aston Villa at The Britannia Stadium in Stoke on Trent
Picture: GETTY

 

Belief in Witchcraft Widespread in Africa

A new Gallup poll found that belief in magic is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with over half of respondents saying they personally believe in witchcraft. Studies in 18 countries show belief varies widely (ranging from 15 percent in Uganda to 95 percent in the Ivory Coast), but on average 55 percent of people polled believe in witchcraft.

As might be expected, the older and less educated respondents reported higher belief in witchcraft, but interestingly such belief was inversely linked to happiness. Those who believe in witchcraft rated their lives significantly less satisfying than those who did not.

One likely explanation is that those who believe in witchcraft feel they have less control over their own lives. People who believe in witchcraft often feel victimized by supernatural forces, for example, attributing accidents or disease to evil sorcery instead of randomness or naturalistic causes. 

A cultural belief in witchcraft has wider implications for Africans as well, from law enforcement to aid donations to public health. In Africa, witch doctors are consulted not only for healing diseases, but also for placing curses on rivals. Magic (or at least the belief in magic) is commonly used for personal, political, and financial gain.

African belief in witchcraft has also led to horrific murders and mutilations in recent years. In 2008, a mob of hundreds of young men killed eight women and three men in two villages in rural western Kenya. The victims were accused of witchcraft — having cast spells that lowered the intelligence of the village's children. Some of the suspected witches and wizards were hacked to death with machetes, or had their throats slit before their bodies were burned.

In East Africa, at least 50 albinos (people with a rare genetic disorder that leaves the skin, hair and eyes without pigment) were murdered for their body parts in 2009, according to the Red Cross. An albino's arms, fingers, genitals, ears, and blood are highly prized on the black market, believed to contain magical powers and are used in witchcraft.

In a continent of dark-skinned Africans, albinos are often the subject of fear, hatred, and ridicule. The practice of using body parts for magical ritual or benefit is called muti. Such attacks are particularly brutal, with knives and machetes used to cut and hack off limbs, breasts and other body parts from their screaming victims — including children.

While personal belief in magic and witchcraft may seem harmless, the actions some people take based on those beliefs clearly are not. 

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