Rubik's Cube solved in twenty moves, 35 years of CPU time
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted August 9th 2010 8:06PM
posted August 9th 2010 8:06PM
The term "God's number" refers to the minimum number of moves that it takes to solve a puzzle like the Rubik's Cube. Because, you know, if God truly is omniscient (and not a node in a vast satellite network, à la Philip K. Dick) you can bet your bubby that it would be able to solve such a puzzle in the minimum number of moves -- and it would have nothing better to do all day than solve puzzles. According to a team of engineers and some thirty-five CPU years worth of idle computer time (supplied courtesy of Google) it has been established that of any of the cube's 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 potential positions, a solution can be found in twenty moves or less -- making God's number twenty. And we're guessing that any of those solutions has to be more satisfying than our Uncle John's own Rubik's Cube solution (which he taught us in the early 1980s), removing the stickers and putting them back on in the proper sequence.
I have a free iPhone app that does it sometimes in seven moves. I'm an AC service tech. When I'm in ppl's home I keep my eyes pealed for a cube. If I find one I ask to use their restroom. The I laugh maniacally but discretely as I place it somewhere displayed.
It takes me more than twenty moves to un-hook my girlfriend's bra.
@edf
On real women it's way easier than on those sticky plastic dolls.
@edf Or it would, if she actually wore one. Or if you actually had a girlfriend.
I'm sorry to point out the obvious but, out of 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 potential positions, 1 requires 0 moves to solve. Or at least another potential position which requires 1 move.
@djpetros
That's why it's 20 *or fewer* moves.
@djpetros Guess you did not catch the twenty moves (or Less) from the article...
@AlaskanHandyman aparently not : /
@djpetros The point is there's no position you can put it in where it cannot be solved in 20 moves or less. Some may take 2 moves, some may take 19 moves, but none will take 21 moves.
Google folk sure do love the 80's.
The mechanism was genius. I wanted one for the way it turned alone.
Is this article here to just tease us? 20 moves.. Gimme a link so I can solve this damn thing. I've used some methodologies and have been able to get close but always leave a few corner blocks... GRR.
Link please!
i spent six months and only solved 3 sides then my cousin broke the cude doing god knows what so six months down the drain
@vanno94
Dude, it was six months down the drain long before your cousin broke it.
Zyzz can solve it in 19.
Wait wut?
Too bad there is no god.
i spent 5 minutes and was already bored. Then I solved it changing the stickers and forgot about the cube forever.
@rodo I bet changing the stickers was hard enough work.
I guess that it's time to start working on God's Number for the 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube.
I can solve the 3x3x3 in about 40 seconds and the 5x5x5 in about 15 minutes. It's pretty easy provided you know what you're doing.
We should start with this one...
http://www.rubiks.com/Shop/Products/Rubiks%20Mini%20Cube.aspx
What's the big deal about a Rubik's cube? I used to solve it all the time in under a minute. then again, I used to memorize an entire deck of cards--suit and value, of each card...
The cube is cool. I don't think that learning the algorithms to solve it are cheating any more than learning geometry. It takes the random out, and makes it a solvable problem. From the basic solving methods you can take it to the more extreme...
The only cheating is when you peal stickers or take apart the cube.
Do not remove stickers !
How long would it take this class project robot to solve it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD-nCU1u44c
Hey, if you gave me 35 years I could solve one too you know!
...
oh, wait, it solved all the possible sollutions in 35 year? yeah, fuggadaboutid!
I prefer Bedlam's Cube
I wonder why did they need so much power to find the answer to this.
when you've got people that can solve it in 10-15 seconds on average, who cares that a computer can spend 35 "years" solving it every way?
I never could solve the one I had when I was a kid, but finally 25 years later I've learned how. I can only get 1:30... no matter what I do I can't seem to get it any faster
Atheists say the number 20 does not exist.
Agnostics just know there is something between 19 and 21.
i have started solving my rubik's cube 2 days ago. I already managed to make a whole side the same color, but then i ruined it again :(
You don't need to take the stickers off.
Just pop it open and put it back together properly. :P
My own solution back in the day was to pry up the cap with the screw under it, disassemble the cube and reassemble it solved. Much less damaging than pulling off the labels and quicker too.
A coworker of mine was able to solve the Rubik's cube EVERY time in a minute or two.... UNBELIEVABLE! I didn't consider them to be the sharpest tool in the shed either!
http://www.styrofoamsoup.com/views/puzzled/
@kapryt
What is with people that think solving a Rubik's cube in a minute is so difficult? I use to do it ALL THE TIME. It's just a matter of understanding HOW to do it, which isn't too difficult. Executing the procedure in a minute isn't tough at all, IMO.
If you were careful you could pop them apart with a flathead screwdriver and re-assemble them solved. I did it multiple times with mine and it still works. Ooops, did I just 'date' myself?
My Snapple cap told me just the other day that it could theoretically be solved in 18 moves from any scrambled position...
Snapple doesn't lie.
Better yet, smash the cube and put all the pieces back in the correct sequence. It works, I've done it.