Apple Juice Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/five-second-rubiks-cube-1.3334204 Quote While most people have never solved a Rubik's cube at all, a Maryland teen did it in under five seconds this weekend and set a world record. At a competition in Clarksville, Md., 14-year-old Lucas Etter solved his Rubik's cube in 4.90 seconds according to a post on the World Cube Association's website. His time beat out another teenager, Collin Burns, who solved the colourful puzzle in 5.25 seconds. Burns only set that record in April, meaning that he spent about seven months as the world champ before being usurped by an up-and-comer. A video of Etter's solve – complete with a dramatic cube drop at the end – popped up online Sunday and has already been viewed by more than 700,000 people. Watch closely though; if you blink, you'll miss most of the solve. Etter broke the record Saturday as part of the River Hill Fall competition, where he beat another boy, Keaton Ellis, who also broke the previous world record at 5.09 seconds, according to Five Forty Eight. Based on the World Cube Association's website, Etter already holds the record time for the 2 by 2 cube record at 1.51 seconds The way these competitions work is that a computer shuffles each cube differently. When a competitor looks at the cube for the first time, he or she has just 15 seconds to examine their cube and form a plan of attack. The official Rubik's cube competition website recommends a few tricks to improve your cube-solving speed, like lubricating the cube, tweaking the tension of the internal springs, and precise finger movements. It also advises competitors to hold the cube with a thumb and ring finger while moving the rows with a forefinger Etter's record isn't in the books just yet, according to Time, as The World Cube Association is still verifying his results. While the teen may be the best human speedcuber, he still hasn't bested man's rival, the robot. The Verge pointed out that at 3.25 seconds, Etter's at least a second and a half away from defeating the Cubestormer 3 and being the undisputed champion of solving a Rubik's cube quickly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=vh0W8E4cNkQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift-4 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 WTH? How many turns is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocivus Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Wow! Fast! That took place not too far from me. Representing Maryland! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalky Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I thought the challenge was getting the stickers back on straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuktravella Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 thats crazy and makes me feel stupid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bookie Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Lube the Cube! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffraff Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'll admit I run out of patience every time and move on to play dough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I tried it and it took me 3 days once I found out about the matching the corners thing. It was far faster to take it apart and put it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift-4 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 48 minutes ago, riffraff said: I'll admit I run out of patience every time and move on to play dough. What's the record on that though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aladeen Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I think it was rigged.... The kid that setup the cube for him was obviously his friend. I bet they had the cube setup in a specific pattern and all the kid did was memorize the solution combination for that exact configuration. Now I know that it can be solved quite quickly using a simple algorithm, but often times when you are solving you have to seemingly backtrack on certain steps to get to your final solution. From what I saw I didn't see him have to do that at all, which either means he got lucky in the randomization of the cube to not require those steps or they prefigured out what starting configuration seemed very random (to the eye) but would ultimately be very fast to solve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortorella's Rant Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 It's memorized, not solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peaches5 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 He knew he had solved it before it was even over I was like why is he so excited then oh solved.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milk and honey Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 3 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said: I tried it and it took me 3 days once I found out about the matching the corners thing. It was far faster to take it apart and put it together. what is this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 It's been 20 plus years, but if you match up all the corners first it you solve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce31 Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 16 hours ago, Tortorella's Rant said: It's memorized, not solved. That's what I hear - but even memorizing all those moves is impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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