The Mathematical Marvel Of The Rubik's Cube

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2024

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

The Rubik's Cube was created 50 years ago by Hungarian inventor Ernő Rubik. Since then, over 500 million of them have been sold. We dive into this global phenomenon that's captured the imagination of countless people around the world and inspired all kinds of competitions — even solving with your feet! But no matter the cube, the process of solving one involves math — specifically, algorithms. Roman Chavez loved Rubik's Cubes so much, he founded the Jr. Oakland Cubers in high school. Now a mathematics student at Cornell University, Roman talks to host Emily Kwong about how to solve the cube and what life lessons he's learned from the cube.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR sponsor Morgan Stanley with their podcast,
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0:12.0	from experienced financial advisors.
0:15.2	You're listening to shortwave from NPR.
0:19.6	Hey Shortwavers, Emily Kwong here.
0:21.5	Okay, so this month, it is the 50th anniversary of the
0:24.6	invention of the Rubik's Cube and that has gotten me deep into the world of
0:29.4	speed cubing solving these puzzles as quickly as possible.
0:34.0	Yes!
0:36.0	You might have messed around with a Rubik's cube at some point.
0:41.0	The standard one is six colors, one on each side, and
0:44.6	each side is made up of nine cubes. And at these competitions, these cubes are everywhere.
0:50.8	Some people solve them with their feet, some people solve them with one hand, some people
0:56.2	solve them blindfolded, and then one of the other competitions is Lisa Motta moves.
1:00.9	With their feet?
1:01.9	Yes, with their feet.
1:03.0	Have you been, have you seen this in real life?
1:05.0	I have seen this in real life, yeah.
1:07.0	That's astonishing.
1:08.0	So what's your competition?
	...

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