A rich earl has become the owner of a piece of land, which to his dissatisfaction turned out to be nothing more than a big swamp. The earl wants to get rid of the swamp. A salesman advises him to use his fast-growing plants which can cover the swamp very quickly. "This plant doubles every day, tomorrow you will have two, the day after tomorrow four, etc. In 80 days, your swamp will be completely covered." The earl reacts: "80 days? This takes far too much time. Then just give me eight of these plants."

Question 1: What did the earl think?
Question 2: And what do you think?

If you multiply me by 2, subtract 1, and read the reverse the result you'll find me. Which numbers can I be?

A wire with a length of 60 meter is hanging between two high voltage pylons. The wire is connected to the pylons at a height of 50 meters. The middle part of the wire is 20 meters above ground level. How far are the high voltage pylons standing apart?