Raise your hand if you’re still amazed by watching someone unpuzzle a Rubik’s Cube in a minute (or however fast the latest 10-year old is doing it).
I remember trying it all when I was a kid and failing every time.
Read what Wikipedia has to say about it:
The original (3×3×3) Rubik’s Cube has eight corners and twelve edges. There are 8! (40,320) ways to arrange the corner cubes. Seven can be oriented independently, and the orientation of the eighth depends on the preceding seven, giving 37 (2,187) possibilities. There are 12!/2 (239,500,800) ways to arrange the edges, since an even permutation of the corners implies an even permutation of the edges as well. (When arrangements of centres are also permitted, as described below, the rule is that the combined arrangement of corners, edges, and centres must be an even permutation.) Eleven edges can be flipped independently, with the flip of the twelfth depending on the preceding ones, giving 211 (2,048) possibilities.
43 quintillion ways! Yo! That’s a lot.
So now watch this video of a Stanford student nicknamed “Sir Ravi” solve a Rubik’s cube one click at a time while juggling! I’m also impressed at his juggling skills as he never drops anything!
[tentblogger-youtube zAIPL5O9Uwk]
😀
Bryan Logan says
Here’s a first-person view of Ravi juggling three Rubik’s cubes and solving them.
And for those of you wondering if this is fake: No. I’ve personally met Ravi before and he’s a very fast cuber.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_gHa2x2OQA
Anyone can learn to cube too. When my oldest was in Kindergarten, I taught her to solve.
Eric Dye says
AWESOME! Thank you, Bryan!