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Art inspires the magic Rubik's Cube

<p>The joy puzzle lovers derive from solving a good puzzle is matched only by the frustration felt by those of us who are not good solvers. 2015 marked the 40th anniversary of the patenting of perhaps the greatest – and most difficult – puzzle of the 20th century, the Rubik’s Cube.</p> <p>In 1974, Ernő Rubik was living in Budapest and teaching design courses at the Academy of Applied Arts and Crafts. The cube’s beginnings are unclear, but some reports state a project given to his students inspired Rubik’s prototype which was then refined over about six weeks. He created a plastic cube with six different colours, one for each face, with each face divided into a 3×3 grid. The beauty of it was that each face could turn independently thanks to an internal mechanism of 21 parts moving on curved tracks.</p> <p>He had considered the cube to be primarily a work of art, until he scrambled the colours. Realising how difficult it was to restore each face to a single colour, Rubik discovered he’d created a puzzle. It took him more than a month to work out how to solve it. Initially, Rubik wasn’t even sure a solution was possible. Eventually he hit upon the idea all modern solutions are based upon – certain moves exist that will exchange pairs or triplets of edge or corner pieces without disturbing the remainder of the cube. This convinced him to go ahead with his marketing plans. In 1977 production began within Hungary.</p> <p>Puzzle crazes have periodically captivated the world since the early 1800s. The “Chinese Tangram” puzzle was wildly popular from about 1815 until the 1820s, with plastic sets still available. In 1880 the “15 Puzzle” was all the rage in Boston and eventually spread to Europe before fizzling out after about six months. Rubik played with the 15 puzzle as a child and says he was possibly inspired by it. More recently, Sudoku went from an obscure game to a multi-million dollar industry. But none of these puzzles captured the world’s attention like the Rubik’s Cube.</p> <p>Rubik’s original cube is at once elegant and fiendish.</p> <p>Rubik called it the “Magic Cube”. The first run of 5000 sold out in a few months. In 1978 the cube was a hit at the International Congress of Mathematicians and over the next several years won awards at European toy fairs. By 1980, the Ideal Toy company in the US was marketing the puzzle as “Rubik’s Cube”. It sold about 4.5 million by the year’s end. In 1981 numbers were approaching 80 million units worldwide.</p> <p>By the mid-1980s the craze had passed. The cube inspired follow-up puzzles such as the 4×4 “Rubik’s Revenge” and the 5×5 “Professor’s Cube”. These days, models of 6×6, 7×7 and even higher-order cubes can be found in puzzle stores. Computer simulations of cubes up to 100×100 are available online.</p> <p>Rubik’s original cube is at once elegant and fiendish. Puzzle expert Jerry Slocum says rotational cube puzzles are among the most difficult of all manipulative puzzles. On the standard 3×3 cube there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible arrangements.</p> <p>In 1978, while the cube was still an underground success, physicist Roger Penrose and mathematician John Conway were demonstrating solutions. Conway was said to be able to solve the cube in around four minutes without consulting notes. In 1979 David Singmaster offered a guide to the perplexed with his Notes on the Magic Cube. It led to a popular standardised notation for solving the cube which survives today. Up, Down, Front, Back, Left and Right faces are represented by U, D, F, B, L and R. A sequence to manoeuvre a corner piece into position might be written out as: R U R`. This corresponds to a clockwise twist of the right face, followed by a clockwise twist of the up face, and finally a counter-clockwise twist of the right face. The accent mark denotes a counter-clockwise twist. Although these solutions appear daunting, with a cube and instructions in hand most readers will be able to solve the puzzle in half an hour or so. Practice will soon get your times down to five to 10 minutes.</p> <p>Using such algorithms, competitors have reduced the solution time to under a minute. The world record is 5.55 seconds held by Mats Valk of the Netherlands. There are also blindfold and one-hand categories. Blindfold solving has the competitor examine the cube and memorise the solution before putting on the blindfold. The final time includes the examination period and the hands-on time. If you’re feeling like a challenge, the record is just over 23 seconds.</p> <p>Good luck.</p> <p>This article originally appears in <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/mathematics/art-inspires-the-magic-rubiks-cube/">Cosmos Magazine</a>. </p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="font-family: halyard-text, sans-serif;max-width: 100%;background-color: #ffffff;height: 1px !important;width: 1px !important;border: 0px !important" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=6211&title=Art+inspires+the+magic+Rubik%26%238217%3Bs+cube" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></p> <p> </p> <div id="cosmos-link-back" style="font-family: halyard-text, sans-serif;background-color: #ffffff"></div>

Art

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Art inspires the magic Rubik’s cube

<div> <div class="copy"> <p>The joy puzzle lovers derive from solving a good puzzle is matched only by the frustration felt by those of us who are not good solvers.</p> <p>2015 marked the 40th anniversary of the patenting of perhaps the greatest – and most difficult – puzzle of the 20th century, the Rubik’s Cube.</p> <p>In 1974, Ernő Rubik was living in Budapest and teaching design courses at the Academy of Applied Arts and Crafts.</p> <p>The cube’s beginnings are unclear, but some reports state a project given to his students inspired Rubik’s prototype which was then refined over about six weeks.</p> <p>He created a plastic cube with six different colours, one for each face, with each face divided into a 3×3 grid.</p> <p>The beauty of it was that each face could turn independently thanks to an internal mechanism of 21 parts moving on curved tracks.</p> <p>He had considered the cube to be primarily a work of art, until he scrambled the colours.</p> <p>Realising how difficult it was to restore each face to a single colour, Rubik discovered he’d created a puzzle.</p> <p>It took him more than a month to work out how to solve it.</p> <p>Initially, Rubik wasn’t even sure a solution was possible.</p> <p>Eventually he hit upon the idea all modern solutions are based upon – certain moves exist that will exchange pairs or triplets of edge or corner pieces without disturbing the remainder of the cube.</p> <p>This convinced him to go ahead with his marketing plans. In 1977 production began within Hungary.</p> <p>Puzzle crazes have periodically captivated the world since the early 1800s. The “Chinese Tangram” puzzle was wildly popular from about 1815 until the 1820s, with plastic sets still available.</p> <p>In 1880 the “15 Puzzle” was all the rage in Boston and eventually spread to Europe before fizzling out after about six months.</p> <p>Rubik played with the 15 puzzle as a child and says he was possibly inspired by it.</p> <p>More recently, Sudoku went from an obscure game to a multi-million dollar industry.</p> <p>But none of these puzzles captured the world’s attention like the Rubik’s Cube.</p> <p>Rubik’s original cube is at once elegant and fiendish.</p> <p>Rubik called it the “Magic Cube”.</p> <p>The first run of 5000 sold out in a few months.</p> <p>In 1978 the cube was a hit at the International Congress of Mathematicians and over the next several years won awards at European toy fairs.</p> <p>By 1980, the Ideal Toy company in the US was marketing the puzzle as “Rubik’s Cube”.</p> <p>It sold about 4.5 million by the year’s end.</p> <p>In 1981 numbers were approaching 80 million units worldwide.</p> <p>By the mid-1980s the craze had passed.</p> <p>The cube inspired follow-up puzzles such as the 4×4 “Rubik’s Revenge” and the 5×5 “Professor’s Cube”.</p> <p>These days, models of 6×6, 7×7 and even higher-order cubes can be found in puzzle stores.</p> <p>Computer simulations of cubes up to 100×100 are available online.</p> <p>Rubik’s original cube is at once elegant and fiendish.</p> <p>Puzzle expert Jerry Slocum says rotational cube puzzles are among the most difficult of all manipulative puzzles.</p> <p>On the standard 3×3 cube there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible arrangements.</p> <p>In 1978, while the cube was still an underground success, physicist Roger Penrose and mathematician John Conway were demonstrating solutions.</p> <p>Conway was said to be able to solve the cube in around four minutes without consulting notes.</p> <p>In 1979 David Singmaster offered a guide to the perplexed with his <em>Notes on the Magic Cube</em>.</p> <p>It led to a popular standardised notation for solving the cube which survives today.</p> <p>Up, Down, Front, Back, Left and Right faces are represented by U, D, F, B, L and R.</p> <p>A sequence to manoeuvre a corner piece into position might be written out as: R U R`.</p> <p>This corresponds to a clockwise twist of the right face, followed by a clockwise twist of the up face, and finally a counter-clockwise twist of the right face.</p> <p>The accent mark denotes a counter-clockwise twist.</p> <p>Although these solutions appear daunting, with a cube and instructions in hand most readers will be able to solve the puzzle in half an hour or so.</p> <p>Practice will soon get your times down to five to 10 minutes.</p> <p>Using such algorithms, competitors have reduced the solution time to under a minute.</p> <p>The world record is 5.55 seconds held by Mats Valk of the Netherlands.</p> <p>There are also blindfold and one-hand categories.</p> <p>Blindfold solving has the competitor examine the cube and memorise the solution before putting on the blindfold.</p> <p>The final time includes the examination period and the hands-on time.</p> <p>If you’re feeling like a challenge, the record is just over 23 seconds.</p> <p>Good luck.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/mathematics/art-inspires-the-magic-rubiks-cube/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Jason England. </em></p> </div> </div>

Art

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This will blow your mind: You've been unwrapping stock cubes wrong

<p>It's one of the easiest ways to add flavour to your dishes – and it's about to get even easier.</p> <p>A handy hack on how to open stock cubes is causing a stir online, as it seems many of us have been doing it all wrong.</p> <p>Forget crumbling up the cube after opening the silver foil packaging – it seems that the packaging was actually designed to be flattened.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AKI40q38LUw" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>Simply open up the flaps on the side, flatten them out and then crumble the cube inside the package, turning it into a powder that's a heck of a lot easier to add to your dish.</p> <p>The tip first made the rounds online in 2016, but it seems a whole new group of stock cube fans have recently stumbled across it, and they've had plenty to say about it on social media.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> <p dir="ltr">OMG in all my cooking years I’ve only just discovered how to open an oxo cube! Anyone else know that it squashed into a sachet which you tear open?? Doh! <a href="https://t.co/2opyqBb9rg">pic.twitter.com/2opyqBb9rg</a></p> — w7emporium (@w7emporium) <a href="https://twitter.com/w7emporium/status/1041967627525140481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">18 September 2018</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> <p dir="ltr">I’m 54 yrs on this planet and never knew until today that you should squish an Oxo cube into a sachet type shape and simply tear off a corner and pour away - no bits of foil and no messy fingers. One gets wise with age one does. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/oxosecrets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#oxosecrets</a> <a href="https://t.co/YynlQ7KLYy">pic.twitter.com/YynlQ7KLYy</a></p> — Ex Fed Paul Herdman (@DyfedPowysFed) <a href="https://twitter.com/DyfedPowysFed/status/1037455045934149632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">5 September 2018</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> <p dir="ltr">I have spent years unwrapping Oxo cubes gettin beefy fingers and it’s been a goddamn packet all along. Mind.blown. 🤯 <a href="https://t.co/ehkBoqR6GQ">pic.twitter.com/ehkBoqR6GQ</a></p> — 💃🏼Glen Scott💃🏼 (@glenrules) <a href="https://twitter.com/glenrules/status/1042390871159844865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">19 September 2018</a></blockquote> <p>Will you be trying this genius hack? Let us know in the comments below. </p> <p><em> Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/food-news/107230047/have-you-been-opening-oxo-cubes-the-wrong-way" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz.</a></em></p>

Food & Wine

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Walnut and date cubes

<p>You don't need to fire up the oven to create delicious sweet treats, as these squares straight from the fridge prove.</p> <p>For this recipe I'd recommend using the freshest, stickiest dates you can find, to hold the brownie together. You can use any kind of nuts but I love the earthiness of walnuts.</p> <p>These brownies make perfect lunchbox snacks and will cure any sweet cravings in adults.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients:</span></strong></p> <ul> <li>4 cups fresh medjool dates, pitted</li> <li>8 tablespoons coconut oil, melted</li> <li>4 tablespoons maple syrup</li> <li>12 tablespoons good-quality cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting</li> <li>2 pinches sea salt</li> <li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract</li> <li>1 cup roasted walnuts, roughly chopped</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method:</span></strong></p> <ol> <li>Line a square 22cm tin with plastic wrap. Put all ingredients, except the walnuts, in a food processor and blitz until a dough forms.</li> <li>Add chopped walnuts and work into the dough by hand. Press dough firmly into tin.</li> <li>Place tin in fridge and let dough set for about an hour.</li> <li>Slice into squares and dust with cocoa powder.</li> <li>Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.</li> </ol> <p>Think you’ll try this one?</p> <p><em>Written by Jordan Rondel. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Stuff.co.nz</strong></span></a>. Image credit: Stuff.co.nz / Emma Boyd.</em></p>

Food & Wine

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Genius ice cube trick will save your houseplants

<p>Ever wondered why your beloved houseplants seem to wilt after a good watering? There’s a good chance you might have actually drowned them with kindness. Overwatering is one of the leading causes of houseplant death. When you over saturate your blooms, the soil becomes heavy and soggy, making it impossible for oxygen to reach the roots of the plant. The roots end up dying and begins to rot and as we all know, dead roots does not a happy plant make. To avoid over watering, you can read up on the types of plants you have in your home, carefully watch them for signs of wilting or you can try this nifty ice cube trick.</p> <p>The humble ice cube is actually the perfect way to gradually top up the moisture level of your plants. As the ice melts, it slowly waters the plant giving enough time for the roots and soil to absorb the water fully and not become soggy and over damp. It also prevents water pooling in the bottom of your pot which can cause root rot. Try one large ice cube or a couple of small ones for best results.</p> <p>Do you have any gardening tricks to share? Share with us in the comments below.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/09/cheap-and-trendy-recycling-tips/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>7 cheap and trendy recycling tips</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/09/5-ways-to-bring-the-outdoors-in/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>5 ways to bring the outdoors in</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/08/the-trick-to-growing-herbs-in-a-pot/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The trick to growing herbs in a pot</span></em></strong></a></p>

Home & Garden

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Ice cubes are the secret to shiny hair

<p>We've long been told about the benefits of a cold rinse when you're washing your hair, but it could go even further than that, according to a new home-grown innovation.</p> <p>Treating your hair with sub-zero temperatures can improve its strength, condition and shine, said Timothy Allan of New Zealand's Locus Research. </p> <p>Allan's company has developed a hair conditioning system you keep in your freezer, and they say it can reverse the damage of heat styling and chemical processing. </p> <p>It looks like hair straighteners, and you use it in the same way, but it's exactly the opposite. Once the Inverse system is cold it can stay below zero degrees for up to an hour. </p> <p>"Heat does style your hair, but the problem is it's destructive to keratin", Allan said. </p> <p><img width="497" height="280" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/25251/ice-straightener_497x280.jpg" alt="Ice Straightener" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>Cooling the hair right down "effectively locks in moisture", he says, which means "in the real world your hair is more manageable and has more definition". </p> <p>Inverse was developed after founder and Kiwi hair stylist David Roe started experimenting with ice as a treatment, when his wife experienced surprising results after washing her hair with ice-cold water.</p> <p>Inverse's manufacturers say it changes the fibre of the hair itself, making it smoother and helping curls fall in groups. </p> <p>"I wouldn't call it an instantaneous effect", said Allan, but the "science matches up with the results". </p> <p>As Allan points out, the beauty of this is that everyone has a freezer. Colour us intrigued. </p> <p>Will you be washing your hair in cold water after reading this? Let us know in the comments below.</p> <p><em>First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz.</span></strong></a></em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/07/how-to-curl-your-hair-with-balloons/"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">How to curl your hair with balloons</span></strong></em></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/07/why-women-are-ditching-the-hair-dye/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>60-plus women are ditching the hair dye</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/06/the-trick-to-washing-hair-more-effectively/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The trick to washing hair more effectively</span></em></strong></a></p>

Beauty & Style

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Creative ice cube ideas for your next party

<p>Everyone will be talking about these amazing ice cubes at your next get together.</p> <p><strong>1. Melon balls –</strong> Using a melon baller, scoop melon balls. Lay in your ice cube tray and freeze for a delicious fruit infusion option.</p> <p><strong>2. Irish coffee cubes</strong> – Mix half a cup of coffee with a cup of Baileys. Pour into tray and freeze to use in your next iced-coffee.</p> <p><strong>3. Pina Colada cubes –</strong> Mix one part coconut milk with one part coconut rum. Fill your ice cube tray with the mixture a third of the way up. Freeze. Cover with a small layer of pineapple juice. Freeze. Finish with the milk/rum mix and freeze a final time.</p> <p><strong>4. Watermelon cubes –</strong> Like the melon balls, dice up a watermelon into cubes and freeze. You can also try this with grapes!</p> <p><strong>5. Lemon disks</strong> – This option is ideal for water pitchers. Slice a lemon into round disks. Add a slice or two to a muffin tray and fill with water for large, citrusy ice cubes.</p> <p><strong>6. Glitter cubes –</strong> Freeze ice cubes as normal. Once frozen, sprinkle a good layer of edible glitter (this can be found online or in the baking section) over top. Refreeze. When the ice cubes melt, they’ll turn your drink into a disco beverage.</p> <p><strong>7. Glow in the dark ice cubes</strong> – When placed under black light, tonic water glows. Freeze tonic water for glowing gin and tonics. If you don’t like the tonic flavour, water them down before freezing.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/07/iced-vovo-slice/">Iced VoVo-inspired coconut and jam slice</a></strong></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/diy/2015/07/diy-nature-place-cards/">3 easy-to-make place cards</a></strong></span></em></p> <p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/diy/2015/06/dyed-napkins/">Beautiful DIY dyed napkins</a></strong></span></em></p>

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