Speedcubing
Speedcubers are solving Rubik’s Cubes at ever-faster speeds
Muscle memory, rote learning and luck are key to world-record times
IT WAS hailed as the world’s first “sub-4”. On November 24th 2018, Yusheng Du, a Chinese Rubik’s Cube enthusiast, solved a standard 3x3x3 cube in an astonishing 3.47 seconds. The feat, now an official Guinness World Record, smashed the previous record by 0.75 seconds. Today, at the World Cube Association’s (WCA) World Championship in Melbourne, Australia, hundreds of eager “speedcubers” will try—and probably fail—to twist their way to a new record.
Speedcubing is a relatively new phenomenon. Erno Rubik, a Hungarian scientist, patented the original cube in 1974 (his first attempt at cracking it took several weeks). Made up of nine coloured squares on each of its six faces, the cube rotates around a central axis. By twisting the sides, the cube’s colours can be scrambled and unscrambled. When solved, each side of the cube is a solid colour.
它被誉为世界上第一个“分4”。2018年11月24日，中国魔方立方爱好者Yusheng Du以惊人的3.47秒解决了一个标准的3x3x3立方体。这项壮举，现在是官方的吉尼斯世界纪录，打破了之前的纪录0.75秒。今天，在澳大利亚墨尔本举行的世界立方协会（WCA）世界锦标赛上，数百个热切的“速度球员”将尝试 - 并且可能无法扭转他们的方式创造新纪录。
Speedcubing是一个相对较新的现象。匈牙利科学家Erno Rubik在1974年为原始立方体申请了专利（他第一次尝试破解它需要数周时间）。在其六个面中的每一个上由九个彩色正方形组成，立方体围绕中心轴旋转。通过扭转两侧，立方体的颜色可以被扰乱和解读。解决后，立方体的每一面都是纯色。
