Hey, believe whatever you want. However, "optimal solution" does not necessarily mean the "shortest" solution and I caution against reading too much into such things.
Algorithms are merely convenient shortcuts you can use that may or may not be shorter than something else depending on the specific circumstances. Some days highway traffic is light, while other days the back roads are faster and exactly how the cube is scrambled decides what is the fastest...
A quick check with Google didn't turn up anything, however, I must point out these website are talking about algorithms which are by definition rules for how to solve something rather than specific solutions and there is nothing that insists an algorithm must provide the most parsimonious...
No, I'm suggesting that what quantum mechanics implies is existence itself is ultimately absurd. Since then we've had plenty of hints the sciences need to study humor and absurdities more, but in 2008 the evolutionary biologist Alastair Clarke discovered that the foundations of all cognition may...
It is a closed system! Closed, as in no alternatives whatsoever are possible. If you can't understand what that means then I suggest reading up on group theory permutations because that website is only confusing you in my opinion.
I haven't bothered to read the website, but I'm sure they are talking about THEIR solution and not the ideal solution. Evidently they used a computer to devise an algorithm which provides the best possible solution short of actually calculating how to solve it in 13 moves. However, even with...
Yes, they scramble the cube from the solved position, however, the thing to remember is the cube is NEVER, EVER, EVER more than 13 steps from being solved. If it takes longer that means you don't have the ideal solution and doesn't necessarily reflect how scrambled the cube is.
Again, they use 13 moves to scramble the cube and if you do them exactly backwards that solves it. Therefore, 13 is the minimum number of moves that will work, 17 is the average the new computer program can manage, and 20 is the maximum the computer requires. The computer program is complex and...
I'm not sure what is confusing you. Computer programs exist which can solve the cube from the most scrambled state in 13 moves every time. The computer merely looks at all the pieces and figures out what orientation it was scrambled in. However, the program these links refers to actually solves...
According to world record holder Tony Snyder, the cubes used in championships are scrambled using 13 moves and simply reversing them would solve the cube. His record in a competition is 19, but 13 to 17 is what a computer can do and his goal is to replicate the feat.
I prefer to think of the cube as a closed system myself and, it is my toy after all. Once you understand the power of context over content the cartoons become obvious and it explains why children under five can have a better chance of success solving the cube.
That's a odd video. The cube is usually about 13 to 17 at most moves from being solved and to make that video they must have programmed a more complicated solution. World record holders sometimes just happen to recognize the pattern the cube is scrambled in and solve it in maybe 17 moves. The...
One in ten Americans is on anti-depressants alone and you might as well spit into the wind on this one. If they find a relatively safe and effective method for boosting memory in today's cut-throat job market you can bet it will sell like hotcakes. The US is the wealthiest country in the world...