25 Rubik’s Cube Puzzlements
40,411 hours ago the world turned upside down when Jon Finch curated a list of fun facts about the world’s favorite puzzle.
You know what the Rubik’s Cube is, you know its colors, and you likely have spent countless minutes trying to figure out how to solve the daunting puzzle. Apart from that, what else do you know about it?
Nondescript person with strange hands holding a Rubik’s Cube.
The General Court of the European Union on Thursday upheld the decision to remove the multi-colored cube’s trademark protection. The court said: “Given that the essential characteristics of that shape are necessary to obtain the technical result consisting of the rotating capability of that product, that shape could not be registered as an EU trademark.” Rubik’s Brand Ltd can appeal against the decision one last time.
Teen solves 3 Rubik’s Cubes simultaneously, sets world record
A teenager who first impressed the world by solving three Rubik’s cubes while juggling them returned with another extraordinary feat. Que Jianyu from Xiamen, China, created a Guinness World Record by solving three Rubik’s cubes simultaneously, using his hands and feet.
A video that shows his solving three Rubik’s cubes simultaneously has garnered over 246,000 views since late 2018 when it had been shared online, along with a ton of amazed commenters.
In 2016, Tony had previously achieved this record with a cube measuring 1.57 m (5 ft 1.8 in) on each side. When he discovered that someone had broken his record in 2018, the white heat of fury compelled him to dominate his rival.
In 1980 at the age of 14, Tony had received his first Rubik’s Cube. He soon became obsessed with it and began to collect and solve similar puzzles. Since 2010, he has been making puzzles and puzzle videos as a full-time job.
The collosal cube took Tony 330 hours to build. All the layers move like a regular-sized Rubik’s cube; however, to turn a vertical side/face you have to flip the whole cube over so the side you want to turn is on the top.
The most challenging part was getting the tensions correct – the puzzle needs to be loose enough to rotate, but if too loose, it would come apart; so, Tony used large springs and bolts to get it just right.
He estimates the project cost around $3,000 overall. Tony was unsupported throughout, completing the entire project alone. Tony remains a huge nerd to this day.
Changes to the World Cube Association Regulations
Recently, the World Cube Association Regulations Committee made changes to the regulations governing competitive speedcubing. These regulations have gone into effect as of January 1st, 2018.
Some of the most notable changes include puzzles with any sort of logo, now illegal for blind events, competitors are now allowed to use their hands to inspect the puzzle before solving with their feet. competitors now are allowed to use any “pillowed” puzzle, when previously only pillowed 7x7x7 were legal.
Firstly, puzzles with any sticker logo are no longer permitted in blindfolded events. This restriction means that if a competitor had a sticker logo of any sort on his/her puzzle, the solve would be counted as DNF (Did Not Finish).
This constraint includes cube stickers with the logo as part of the sticker itself. In response, Mofangge, the company that produces the Valk 3 and the Valk 3 Power, replied in a statement offering people who purchased or have purchased a cube to receive an extra cap and an extra white sticker, so the cube is legal in blind 3×3 solves. Stickerless cubes where the logo is on the actual puzzle may prove to be a problem.
1974, One of The Earliest Photographs of The Rubik’s Cube
A child’s toy set on the arm rest of a park bench
If you mix a Rubik’s cube with at least 10 turns, the probability of your ending up with a never-before-seen, unique pattern that has never occurred…ever…is roughly 100% (99%+).
The number of possible configurations of a Rubik’s Cube is over 43 quintillion.
That’s 43,252,003,274,489,856,000.
If you were to turn a Rubik’s Cube randomly ten times, matching it to the one below on the arm rest of a park bench would be virtually impossible.
Rubik’s Cube on Park Bench
According to wikipedia, if you had enough wealth, ambition, and wisdom to give every living person on Earth a Rubik’s cube, the 7 billion citizens of Earth would mix their cubes in such a way that each cube would be different one from another.
