Max Park, a 21-year-old from California, recently obliterated the Rubik's Cube solve record to much excitement from the cubing community.
Park solved the iconic 1980s toy in 3.134 seconds, beating a record set by Yusheng Du in China over 4 years ago.
In the video, where his solving of the cube is a "look-away-and-you-miss-it" fraction of it, Park first did a warm-up cube solve, wiped the special cube lubricant off his hands and then started his record-shattering run.
First, players are given time to inspect the cube, looking for the patterns on all the sides. Cubers solve according to algorithms, where if a combination of sides has a particular color pattern, a specific pattern of twists and turns of the cube solves it faster than just looking at the colors after each twist.
Park then set the cube back down, took a breath, and picked it up to solve it which started the timer.
A hair over 3 seconds later, he finished, slamming his hand on the table while the mostly young audience around him lost their minds with joy.
You can watch the record breaking moment here:
The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.
Originally called the Magic Cube, the cube was released internationally in 1980 and became one of the most recognized icons in popular culture. With over 450 million cubes sold worldwide, it is the world's bestselling puzzle game and bestselling singular toy.
People celebrated Park's achievement.
Many were also charmed by the reaction of all the young people around him.
Others noticed one particular young man who immediately moved to preserve the cube on the table.
People said this guy would go far.
Then discussion turned, inevitably, to how slow it takes most people to solve the Rubik's Cube.
Folks owned up to their more creative solutions for solving the cubes.
Park was diagnosed with autism at a young age.
He has stated his passion for cubing has been helpful for him in learning to socialize, so his parents encouraged his passion.
Looks like it paid off!
