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Rubik's Cube Now Solvable in 20 Moves

A few years ago we reported that it had been proven that Rubik's Cubes could be solved in 23 moves. Well now that number is down to just 20. Proving it required 35 years of computer time donated by Google to get it done.

28 of 309 comments (clear)

  1. Enough! by 2names · · Score: 5, Funny

    Enough with the Rubik's cube junk, someone please tell us how to unhook a bra with *1* move.

    --
    "I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
    1. Re:Enough! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Easy.

      Step 1:
      Unhook the bra

      It's all relative - what do you consider 1 move? I came across this argument during my first DnD session, and subsequently, haven't played it since.

    2. Re:Enough! by Pojut · · Score: 3, Funny

      You gotta do what I did in 8th grade...find a girl who wanted to learn how to unzip a fly with one hand, and was willing to let you practice taking her bra off with one hand.

      I haven't seen her in well over a decade, but I hope her training paid off. I know mine did!

    3. Re:Enough! by 2names · · Score: 4, Funny

      All good /.'ers seek knowledge. Whether we ever get to *use* that knowledge is another discussion.

      --
      "I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
    4. Re:Enough! by MikeBabcock · · Score: 4, Funny

      Placing the hand such that the forefinger is bent against the section of the bra closest to the back and the thumb is over the piece in the foreground with the hooks, slide in the detaching direction with the thumb.

      Alternatively, just ask her to take it off for you ... but that may be a problem if you didn't actually know the girl on the bus in the first place.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    5. Re:Enough! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Are you kidding? You expect him to talk to a girl?

      He actually only needs to know how to unhook a bra because it's currently holding a bundle of Cat6 together.

    6. Re:Enough! by Surt · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's just unhooking, not removing. Removing in one move is best accomplished through the brute force method. Grab the side opposite the clasp and yank hard.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    7. Re:Enough! by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 3, Funny

      # sudo take it off

      --
      You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
    8. Re:Enough! by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 2, Funny

      But I haven't programmed in that command just yet!

      --
      You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
    9. Re:Enough! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      "haven't played it since." - DnD or bra unhooking? you're posting on slashdot ...

    10. Re:Enough! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      and the toy, well, I guess you still play with breasts

      Yeah, and my mom isn't there to tell me not to put them in my mouth.

    11. Re:Enough! by Abstrackt · · Score: 4, Funny

      You do realize that some of them have FOUR hooks, right? Sure it is easy on the one or two hook models for the smaller chested women. But on the 4 hook models for the larger chested - I defy you to do it with one hand in one "move"...

      Bring me a large-breasted woman and I'll show you how it's done!

      --
      They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
    12. Re:Enough! by IAmGarethAdams · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why are you running sudo at a root prompt?

    13. Re:Enough! by guyminuslife · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm imagining this game session.

      You: "Alright, I'll unhook the wood nymph's bra."
      DM: "Okay, how do you do that?"
      [rest of gaming group listens intently]
      You: "Umm...I just, you know, unhook it?"
      DM: "Okay, we'll say it takes three rounds."
      You: "It doesn't take three rounds to unhook a bra!"
      DM: "Well, it takes your character three rounds."
      You: "That's bullshit. Have you ever done it?"
      DM: "SILENCE! YOU ARE BANISHED FROM DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS FOREVER!"

      --
      I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
    14. Re:Enough! by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Funny

      I never said it wasn’t easy. What isn’t easy is doing a “mirror symmetric problem” with no practice.

      Saying the alphabet backward is easy too, but that’s because I practiced it.

      zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba

      No, the alphabet backwards is of course:

      tebahpla eht.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    15. Re:Enough! by ArsonSmith · · Score: 3, Funny

      shouldn't that be

      1) unhook bra
      2) ???
      3) loss (child support, alimony, daycare, etc...)

      but step 2 was fun.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    16. Re:Enough! by BlueParrot · · Score: 2, Funny

      You know we also tend to really dislike? Having people assume they know what we want as if we were all the same.

  2. The exact sequences by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 4, Funny

    Moves 1 through 19: repeatedly hit cube with hammer

    Move 20: reassemble the smashed bits into a solved cube.

    Warning: Your cube may or may not remain functional through use of this solution.

    1. Re:The exact sequences by MozeeToby · · Score: 4, Funny

      1) Turn one face 45 degrees
      2) Pry upward on one middle edge piece until it pops out
      3) Remove all edge and corner pieces
      4) Put the cube back together, but flip exactly 1 edge piece
      5) Give it to someone who knows how to solve it
      6) Laugh maniacally when they just can't seem to get that last piece where it belongs.

    2. Re:The exact sequences by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 4, Funny

      Your method, while functional, shows a decided lack of hitting the cube with a hammer. Where's the fun in that?

  3. Re:The REAL story here: by Jurily · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh, they had that for centuries.

  4. Re:Thank God! by Jurily · · Score: 3, Funny

    Step 2 would be "Not die until step 3", I think.

  5. Re:Thank God! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thank God!

    And cancer? Still unsolved. I'll bet computer time could be used for that too.

    It can be shown that a cure for cancer can easily be derived from a method of solving any Rubik's cube in 19 moves.

  6. 35 years by redmond · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've also been working on solving the Rubik's cube for 35 years. It's taken me 63,412,452,120 moves and I have one side solved and a line on another side.

    --
    :wq
  7. Re:Thank God! by clone53421 · · Score: 2, Funny

    making our lives more interesting and enjoyable

    It appears that you have never watched me attempt to solve a Rubik’s cube.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  8. Re:Thank God! by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 2, Funny

    When I was about six years old, my cousin challenged me to solve a scrambled Rubik's Cube. The family figured it would keep me busy for hours.

    I solved it in the fastest possible way: I pulled off every sticker and put them on the right sides.

    Problem solved; it wasn't MY fault they didn't define the problem properly.

    --

    ---
    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  9. Obligatory XKCD by ryzvonusef · · Score: 2, Funny

    Get out of 2names' head, Randall!
    http://xkcd.com/457/

    --
    I am an ACCA student. Got a query on Accountancy/Finance? Maybe I can help!
  10. Re:Thank God! by chronosan · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's REAL science! Hemp also cures cancer and water fluoridation is really dumping toxic waste in our water supply. The moon landings were faked too because they took too many nice pictures, and the smallpox vaccine is actually made from cowpox, so there's no chance it could possibly create the same antibodies needed to kill smallpox. Also, joint pain can be cured remotely by any well-trained chiropractor.