  We develop a new simple approach to prove upper bounds for generalizations of
the Heilbronn's triangle problem in higher dimensions. Among other things, we
show the following: for fixed $d \ge 1$, any subset of $[0, 1]^d$ of size $n$
contains
  - $d+1$ points which span a simplex of volume at most $C_d n^{-\log d+ 6}$,
  - $1.1 d$ points whose convex hull has volume at most $C_d n^{-1.1}$,
  - $k\ge 4\sqrt{d}$ points which span a $(k-1)$-dimensional simplex of volume
at most $C_d n^{-\frac{k-1}{d} - \frac{k^2}{8d^2}}$.
