Curious About The Rubik's Cube

PODCAST 195: CURIOUS ABOUT THE RUBIK’S CUBE

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, JUNE 26TH, 2022

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  WE DON’T GET CURIOUS ABOUT TOYS OFTEN, BUT OUR TOY EPISODES ARE SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR EPISODES WE’VE EVER RECORDED, LIKE OUR EPISODES ON LEGO AND PLAY-DOH.  WHEN WE GET CURIOUS ABOUT TOYS, YOU CAN BET THAT THE TOY WE’RE LEARNING ABOUT IS VERY POPULAR, LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN, AND EDUCATIONAL AS WELL, LIKE THE TOY WE’RE GETTING CURIOUS ABOUT THIS WEEK.

O:  MAILBAG!

D:  MAILBAG!

“HI, MY NAME IS DORSA AND I AM 8 YEARS OLD.  I LIVE IN BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA.  I LOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR PODCASTS!!! COULD YOU PLEASE GET CURIOUS ABOUT WITCHES OR RUBIK’S CUBE FOR ME???

KIND REGARDS,

FROM DORSA”

O:  DORSA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING US KNOW WHAT YOU’RE CURIOUS ABOUT ON FACEBOOK.  WE ARE GETTING CURIOUS ABOUT THE RUBIK’S CUBE FOR YOU.  I LOVE TRYING TO SOLVE A RUBIK’S CUBE.  DON’T TELL ANYONE I SAID THIS, BUT I’M BETTER AT SOLVING THE RUBIK’S CUBE THAN MY DAD.

D:  OLIVIA, I’M SITTING RIGHT HERE.  YOU LITERALLY JUST SAID THAT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.  THAT’S OKAY THOUGH, BECAUSE IT’S TOTALLY TRUE.  OLIVIA IS REALLY GOOD WITH THE RUBIK’S CUBE.  OLIVIA, LIKE MANY 8 YEAR OLDS, DOESN’T HAVE A VERY LONG ATTENTION SPAN, BUT SHE CAN SIT WITH A RUBIK’S CUBE FOR A WHILE TRYING TO SOLVE IT.

O:  IT’S A FUN CHALLENGE, AND IT’S SO SATISFYING TO SEE THE MATCHING COLORS ON THE FACE OF A RUBIK’S CUBE AS YOU ARE SOLVING IT.

D:  I’VE ONLY SOLVED A 3x3 RUBIK’S CUBE ONE TIME, AND IT WAS WITH THE HELP OF A VIDEO I FOUND ON YOUTUBE.  EVEN THOUGH I HAD TO WATCH THE VIDEO TO SOLVE THE CUBE, IT STILL FELT GREAT TO SEE THE FULLY SOLVED RUBIK’S CUBE.  OKAY OLIVIA, WHAT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK?  

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, HOW MANY POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS CAN YOU MAKE USING A 3x3 RUBIK’S CUBE?

D:  IS A LOT A GOOD ENOUGH ANSWER?  THERE MUST BE A BUNCH OF POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS, AND THE CRAZY THING IS, ONLY ONE OF THOSE COMBINATIONS IS CORRECT.  

O:  A STANDARD RUBIK’S CUBE IS A 3x3 CUBE.  BECAUSE IT’S A CUBE, IT HAS 6 FACES.  EACH FACE HAS NINE SQUARES ON IT.  EACH SQUARE IS COLORED.  MOST RUBIK’S CUBES HAVE THE FOLLOWING COLORS: BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, RED, WHITE, AND YELLOW.  

D:  AND, IN ORDER TO SOLVE A RUBIK’S CUBE, YOU NEED TO ROTATE AND TWIST THE PIECES OF THE CUBE UNTIL EACH OF THE FACES OF THE CUBE ARE MADE UP OF SQUARES OF THE SAME COLOR.      

O:  THE RUBIK’S CUBE WAS INVENTED IN 1974 BY ERNO RUBIK.  WHEN IT WAS INVENTED, IT WAS FIRST GIVEN THE NAME MAGIC CUBE.  AFTER A FEW YEARS, THE NAME WAS CHANGED AND IT WAS NAMED AFTER IT’S INVENTOR.

D:  ERNO RUBIK WAS A PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AND A SCULPTOR FROM HUNGARY.  HE INVENTED THE ORIGINAL CUBE WHILE HE WAS TRYING TO DESIGN A GOOD TASK FOR HIS STUDENTS.  

O:  WHEN TRYING TO CREATE THE FIRST CUBE, ERNO RUBIK USED BLOCKS OF WOOD AND RUBBER BANDS TO KEEP IT TOGETHER.  IT TOOK ERNO RUBIK OVER ONE MONTH TO SOLVE HIS FIRST CUBE.    

D:  AND, WHEN HE SHOWED THE CUBE TO HIS STUDENTS, THEY ENJOYED THE CHALLENGE OF SOLVING THE CUBE.  HE REALIZED THAT THE CUBE MIGHT BE POPULAR IF HE COUD FIND A WAY TO MAKE LOTS OF THEM INEXPENSIVELY.  

O:  RUBIK FOUND A COMPANY IN HUNGARY THAT USED PLASTIC TO MAKE CHESS PIECES, AND ASKED IF THEY COULD START MAKING THE CUBE USING PLASTIC.  THEY DID JUST THAT, AND THE FIRST CUBES THAT WERE MADE IN HUNGARY WERE CALLED THE MAGIC CUBE.  

D:  IN 1980, THE NAME OF THE CUBE WAS CHANGED TO RUBIK’S CUBE TO AVOID PATENT PROBLEMS.  WHEN SOMEONE INVENTS SOMETHING NEW, IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO GET SOMETHING CALLED A PATENT.  WHEN YOU TRY TO GET A PATENT, THEY MAKE SURE THAT YOUR INVENTION DOESN’T ALREADY EXIST OR THAT IT’S NOT TOO SIMILAR TO SOMETHING THAT ALREADY EXISTS.  THERE WERE TOYS THAT HAD NAMES SIMILAR TO MAGIC CUBE IN 1980, SO THE DECISION TO CHANGE THE NAME TO RUBIK’S CUBE WAS A GREAT ONE, TO AVOID ANY POSSIBLE ISSUES WITH TOYS THAT HAVE A SIMILAR NAME.

O:  LESS THAN 50 YEARS AFTER IT’S INVENTION, RUBIK’S CUBE IS THE BEST SELLING TOY OF ALL TIME.  OVER 450 MILLION RUBIK’S CUBES HAVE BEEN SOLD WORLDWIDE.  

D:  NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THE CUBES ARE NEARLY AS POPULAR TODAY AS THEY WERE WHEN THEY WERE FIRST INVENTED.  RUBIK’S CUBES WERE WILDLY POPULAR IN THE EARLY 80’S WHEN THEY WERE BRAND NEW AND EVERYONE WANTED TO CHALLENGE THEMSELVES AND TRY TO SOLVE THE CUBE.  BY THE MID-1980’S SALES OF THE CUBES HAD DROPPED, AND MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT THE RUBIK’S CUBE WAS JUST A FAD THAT CAME AND WENT.

O:  BUT THEN, SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENED ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO.  ALL OF A SUDDEN, SALES OF THE RUBIK’S CUBE EXPLODED, AND THEY HAVE BEEN SELLING VERY WELL EVER SINCE.  

D:  AND, THAT’S LARGELY BECAUSE OF VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE.  THERE ARE TONS OF VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO PROPERLY SOLVE THE RUBIK’S CUBE.  THAT’S WHEN LOTS OF PEOPLE MUST HAVE HAVE BOUGHT THE RUBIK’S CUBE, MORE CONFIDENT THAT THEY CAN SOLVE ONE WITH THE HELP OF A TUTORIAL VIDEO.       

O:  LOTS OF PEOPLE NEED ASSISTANCE IN SOLVING A RUBIK’S CUBE, BECAUSE IT IS ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 5 TO 6 PERCENT OF PEOPLE CAN SOLVE THE CUBE WITHOUT ANY HELP.

D:  AND THERE IS A SMALL NUMBER OF THOSE GIFTED CUBE SOLVERS THAT ARE ABLE TO SOLVE A RUBIK’S CUBE SUPER FAST.  THERE ARE EVEN COMPETITIONS, CALLED SPEEDCUBING, WHERE THE MOST TALENTED RUBIK’S CUBE COMPETITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD GET TOGETHER TO COMPETE IN A BUNCH OF RUBIK’S CUBE EVENTS.  

O:  THE WORLD RECORD FASTEST TIME FOR SOLVING A 3x3 RUBIK’S CUBE IS 3.47 SECONDS.  THE RECORD WAS SET BY YUSHENG DU OF CHINA IN 2018.

D:  THE WORLD RECORD FOR THE FASTEST RUBIK’S CUBE SOLVE WITH JUST ONE HAND BELONGS TO MAX PARK, OF THE UNITED STATES, WHO SOLVED THE CUBE ONE HANDED IN JUST 6.82 SECONDS.  

O:  JUST LAST YEAR, TOMMY CHERRY OF THE UNITED STATES SOLVED A RUBIK’S CUBE BLINDFOLDED IN JUST 15.27 SECONDS.  HE WAS GIVEN TIME TO MEMORIZE THE LAYOUT OF THE CUBE BEFORE BEING BLINDFOLDED.

D:  AND, IF YOU THINK THAT RECORD IS CRAZY, CHECK THIS ONE OUT.  MOHAMMED AIMAN KOLI OF INDIA HOLDS THE RECORD FOR FASTEST TIME SOLVING A RUBIK’S CUBE WITH HIS FEET.  HE WAS ABLE TO SOLVE ONE IN JUST 15.56 SECONDS.  

O:  THE MOST IMPRESSIVE RUBIK’S CUBE RECORD HOLDER MIGHT BE JEREMY SMITH.  HE WAS ABLE TO SOLVE A 17x17 RUBIK’S CUBE IN JUST UNDER 46 MINUTES.  THAT’S A HUGE CUBE!

D:  THOSE ARE UNBELIEVABLE RECORDS, AND IT MAKES ME WONDER HOW THEY ARE ABLE TO SOLVE THE CUBE SO QUICKLY.

O:  THEY ARE ABLE TO DO IT BECAUSE THEY USE ALGORITHMS TO HELP SOLVE THE RUBIK’S CUBE.  ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR METHODS FOR SOLVING THE CUBE IS SOMETHING CALLED THE FRIDRICH METHOD.

D:  LOTS OF THE FASTEST SPEEDCUBERS IN THE WORLD RELY ON THE FRIDRICH METHOD, INVENTED BY JESSICA FRIDRICH, TO SOLVE THE RUBIK’S CUBE, INCLUDING MAX PARK AND YUSHENG DU.       

O:  THE FRIDRICH METHOD, ALSO CALLED THE CFOP METHOD, HAS 4 PARTS.

D:  THE FIRST LETTER, C, STANDS FOR CROSS.  IT INVOLVES FORMING A CROSS OF A SINGLE COLOR ON ONE FACE OF THE CUBE.  

O:  THE SECOND LETTER, F, STANDS FOR FIRST TWO LAYERS.  IT INVOLVES PAIRING UP CORNER AND EDGE PIECES AND MOVING THEM TO THEIR PROPER LOCATION.  AT THE END OF THIS STAGE, TWO OF THE THREE LAYERS OF THE CUBE WILL BE SOLVED.  

D:  THE THIRD LETTER, O, STANDS FOR ORIENTATION OF THE LAST LAYER.  AT THE END OF THIS STAGE, TWO FACES OF THE CUBE WILL BE CORRECT.  

O:  THE FOURTH LETTER, P, STANDS FOR PERMUTATION OF THE LAST LAYER.  AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, AT THE END OF THIS STAGE, THE CUBE IS SOLVED.   

D:  BREAKING IT DOWN INTO FOUR STEPS LIKE THIS MAKES IT SOUND A LOT EASIER THAN IT IS.  EACH STEP REQUIRES A BUNCH OF MOVES.  LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.  USING THE FRIDRICH METHOD, ONCE YOU’VE SUCCESSFULLY CREATED A CROSS ON ONE FACE, WHICH MOST PEOPLE CAN DO WITHOUT HELP, YOU MOVE ON TO THE SECOND STEP, WHICH IS FIRST 2 LAYERS.  

O:  IF YOU ARE LUCKY, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE SECOND STEP IN ONLY 3 OR 4 MOVES USING AN ALGORITHM.  AN ALGORITHM IS JUST A SET OF INSTRUCTIONS USED TO SOLVE SOMETHING.  ONE EXAMPLE OF AN ALGORITHM IS, RIGHT - UP - RIGHT INVERTED.  

D:  THAT MEANS, FIRST, YOU WOULD TWIST THE RIGHT FACE AWAY FROM YOU, THEN YOU WOULD TWIST THE TOP FACE CLOCKWISE, AND FINALLY YOU WOULD TWIST THE RIGHT SIDE TOWARDS YOU.  

O:  OTHER ALGORITHMS ARE MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT AND INVOLVE MANY MORE MOVES.  

D: AND, SOLVING THE RUBIK’S CUBE QUICKLY IS DONE BY EXAMINING THE CUBE TO DETERMINE WHICH ALGORITHMS WILL ALLOW YOU TO SOLVE THE CUBE THE QUICKEST, AND THEN EXECUTING THOSE ALGORITHMS SUPER FAST.  

O:  BECOMING A SPEEDCUBER REQUIRES LOTS AND LOTS OF PRACTICE.  DON’T BE INTIMIDATED BY THE RUBIK’S CUBE.  SOLVING THE CUBE IS HARD, BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE.   

D:  IN FACT, MOST OF THE SPEEDCUBERS ARE KIDS.  THE RUBIK’S CUBE IS A GREAT EDUCATIONAL TOY FOR PEOPLE OF ANY AGE.

O:  NOT LONG AFTER THE RUBIK’S CUBE CAME OUT, A PERSON BY THE NAME OF PATRICK BOSSERT FIGURED OUT HOW TO SOLVE THE CUBE IN LESS THAN 90 SECONDS.  HE PUBLISHED A BOOK TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO SOLVE THE RUBIK’S CUBE.  THE BOOK IS CALLED “YOU CAN DO THE CUBE”, AND IT IS STILL BEING SOLD TODAY.  IT HAS SOLD MORE THAN ONE AND A HALF MILLION COPIES.

D:  THE BOOK “YOU CAN DO THE CUBE” WAS A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WHEN IT CAME OUT IN 1981, AND GUESS WHAT… THE AUTHOR, PATRICK BOSSERT, WAS ONLY 13 YEARS OLD WHEN HE WROTE THE BOOK, AND AT THE TIME, HE WAS THE YOUNGEST AUTHOR TO HAVE A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. 

O:  HE HELPED PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THE RUBIK’S CUBE WAS NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO SOLVE, NO MATTER HOW OLD OR YOUNG YOU ARE. 

D:  AND IN THE 41 YEARS SINCE THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED, HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE CHALLENGED THEMSELVES BY TRYING TO SOLVE THE RUBIK’S CUBE.  EVEN THOUGH THERE IS ONLY ONE CORRECT SOLUTION TO THE RUBIK’S CUBE, THERE ARE LOTS OF INCORRECT WAYS TO PUT THE CUBE TOGETHER.  OLIVIA, HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS ARE THERE TO ARRANGE A 3x3 RUBIK’S CUBE?

O:  THERE ARE MORE THAN 43 QUINTILLION POSSIBLE WAYS TO ARRANGE A RUBIK’S CUBE.  THAT’S 43 FOLLOWED BY 18 ZEROS.

D:  IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPREHEND WHAT A BIG NUMBER THAT IS.  HOW ABOUT THIS:  IF YOU HAVE 43 QUINTILLION DOLLARS, YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO SPEND A TRILLION DOLLARS A DAY, EVERY SINGLE DAY, FOR THE NEXT 118 THOUSAND YEARS.  

O:  IF YOU HAD ONE RUBIK’S CUBE FOR EVERY POSSIBLE COMBINATION THAT CAN BE MADE, YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO COVER THE ENTIRE EARTH IN 273 LAYERS OF RUBIK’S CUBES.  

D:  THAT’S UNBELIEVABLE.  THE RUBIK’S CUBE IS SUCH A FUN TOY, IT WAS INDUCTED INTO THE NATIONAL TOY HALL OF FAME IN 2014.  THAT SAME YEAR, BUBBLES AND LITTLE GREEN ARMY MEN WERE INDUCTED AS WELL.  ONLY 78 TOYS HAVE BEEN INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME, AND THE RUBIK’S CUBE DEFINITELY DESERVES TO BE AMONG THEM.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  195 - RUBIK’S CUBE

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB DORSA FOR THE PUZZLING EPISODE TOPIC SUGGESTION.  LEARNING ABOUT THE RUBIK’S CUBE WAS NEARLY AS FUN AS PLAYING WITH A RUBIK’S CUBE.  BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE, WE’VE GOT A COUPLE OF SPECIAL PEOPLE TO THANK.

O:  THANK YOU TO OUR NEWEST PATREON SUPPORTERS, LEILA C. AND LEO V.

D:  A BIG THANKS TO LEILA AND LEO FOR HELPING TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST.  YOUR SUPPORT HELPS US ENSURE WE CAN KEEP MAKING THE PODCAST FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.  YOU KNOW WHAT’S NOT GOING TO BE HAPPENING A LONG TIME FROM NOW? EPISODE 200 IS JUST 5 WEEKS AWAY.  THIS IS THE FINAL REMINDER FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO CONGRATULATE OLIVIA ON 200 EPISODES.  IF YOU WANT TO SAY CONGRATS, SEND AN AUDIO RECORDING OVER TO CURIOUSKIDPODCAST@GMAIL.COM BY JUNE 30TH, AND YOU MIGHT JUST HEAR YOUR RECORDING IN EPISODE 200.  PLEASE BE SURE YOUR RECORDING IS NO LONGER THAN 30 SECONDS LONG, AND SEND IT OVER WITH A SUBJECT THAT SAYS “EPISODE 200 RECORDING”.  NEXT WEEK, WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT LANGUAGES FOR LISTENERS IN SEVENOAKS, ENGLAND, DALYELLUP, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, LOWER MERION, PENNSYLVANIA, EUGENE, OREGON, AND SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.