Just Waiting Til This Is Done to Pull the Cord ...

September 8, 2015 1:46 PM

Rubix cube solved in free fall!! [via Popular Mechanics & Dave Pell]
posted by chavenet (20 comments total)

Now you know if you swap two end cubes it's impossible to solve. :-) :-)
posted by sammyo at 1:55 PM on September 8, 2015

It's interesting to me how this spelling "Rubix" has somehow become more popular than the actual name Rubik's Cube, the possessive coming from the inventor's name: Ernő Rubik.

It actually reminds me a little bit of how people used to drive with a standard transmission, then it was a manual transmission, and now you "drive stick." Language is such a funny, fluid thing.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 2:03 PM on September 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

I was hoping to see the cube tied into the ripcord mechanism - - parachute only becomes available after the puzzle is solved.
posted by fairmettle at 2:07 PM on September 8, 2015 [6 favorites]

Nerd!
posted by growabrain at 2:12 PM on September 8, 2015

Reminds me of this guy on Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Caught it on a re-broadcast of the show yesterday.

Not sure how much it's sleight of hand vs actual solving but the when he pulls the cube out of the paperback there's a lot of rustling and the cube comes out solved but with the planes still slightly rotated like he wasn't able to fully straighten it out.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 2:14 PM on September 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

Pfft, clearly just started on the ground with a solved cube and scrambled it while floating up into a passing airplane, then reversed the video.
posted by ckape at 2:16 PM on September 8, 2015 [18 favorites]

It's interesting to me how this spelling "Rubix" has somehow become more popular than the actual name Rubik's Cube

Google fight!

Rubix: 729,000 results (most on the first page have nothing to do with Rubik's cubes)

Rubik's: 8,940,000 results
posted by Sys Rq at 2:38 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

You can buy an instantly-solvable Rubik's Cube magic prop. Bonus: Gospel Magic method.
posted by larrybob at 2:51 PM on September 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

Quite a video -- I couldn't even come close to doing that on the ground. On the other hand, when falling at 130+ MPH I do make it point to keep track of altitude by looking at altimeters and ground references. You'd be amazed how easy it is to lose altitude awareness when focused on other things. Here's an example of two low time jumpers that didn't heed that advice. They were so focused on linking up that they forgot to deploy their main parachutes. At 1,100 feet their automatic activation devices saved their lives via an explosive bolt which cut the closing loop on their reserve parachutes. (Just a thought for anyone considering trying this.)
posted by Dean358 at 2:51 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Solving the cube on the ground encompasses I would estimate to within the limits of IEEE double float precision 100% of the difficulty of solving it in free fall. So I think if you work on the solving it on the ground part, you'll be able to take the free fall step for granted as long as you can find something to fall from.

Interesting looking cube. It's not a Rubik's or an Eastsheen, I don't think.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:54 PM on September 8, 2015

I feel like this video is the answer to an unsolved mystery where a man is found dead in a field with a Rubik's cube embedded in his skull.
posted by phooky at 3:05 PM on September 8, 2015 [5 favorites]

the cube looks like a dayan stickerless. (which i'm told is illegal in competition because you can peek an opposite side color when a far slice is partially turned)
posted by bruceo at 3:11 PM on September 8, 2015

11 year old solves a rubiks cube while juggling a soccer ball.
posted by DelusionsofGrandeur at 3:58 PM on September 8, 2015

Once you learn the technique, solving the cube becomes mind numbingly easy. About the same mental effort as reciting the alphabet.
posted by humanfont at 5:05 PM on September 8, 2015

I think that's going a little too far, really. It's still mentally stimulating even when you can do it reliably. People find it enjoyable to pick up a cube and solve it in a way that people do not find it enjoyable to recreationally recite the alphabet. Nor are there optimizations to be made in your alphabet-reciting skills that would make competitive alphabet-reciting ever be a thing.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:33 PM on September 8, 2015

Yeah, this is cool because I would never dare skydive period, but the solving a Rubik's cube part is not that exciting. He solves it in 50 seconds. My personal record is 46 seconds, but I'm not very good at all. There are tons of people who can solve it in under 10 seconds.

Also, humanfont is right, it's not a huge amount of mental effort. If you use the method I use and the skydiver appears to be using (F2L, 2-look OLL, 2-look PLL) it's really just pattern recognition and muscle memory. Yeah, I enjoy it and it's fun and mentally stimulating, but it's nowhere near the mental effort of doing a challenging sudoku or crossword. I solve cubes absent-mindedly while watching TV or talking on the phone.
posted by mmoncur at 6:02 PM on September 8, 2015

This video was unnecessarily tense.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:51 PM on September 8, 2015

Last year I saw a cabaret artist solve a Rubik's cube while singing a 2.5 minute Sondheim medley (filked to be about going into an OCD spiral). She gave it to an audience member to randomise for her, solved a side to line up with a cue in the song, and made the final turn on the final note.

The audience went fucking nuts.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 9:11 PM on September 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

Would you solve them in a house?
Would you solve them with a mouse?
Would you solve them in a box?
Would you solve them with a fox?
posted by picklenickle at 12:37 PM on September 9, 2015

I think that's going a little too far, really. It's still mentally stimulating even when you can do it reliably. People find it enjoyable to pick up a cube and solve it in a way that people do not find it enjoyable to recreationally recite the alphabet. Nor are there optimizations to be made in your alphabet-reciting skills that would make competitive alphabet-reciting ever be a thing.

The sign language community has regular hot fingers competitions to see who can recite the alphabet the fastest. Vocal recitation of the alphabet is a part of many speed talking competitions.
posted by humanfont at 5:20 PM on September 9, 2015 [2 favorites]