David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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  • Wreckrob8

    No random member of the audience selected to truly scramble the cube before beginning?

    • http://twitter.com/magicpeacelove PeaceLove

      Agreed, skepticism is definitely warranted. I believe this is possible but until I see the cube scrambled beforehand I’m going to assume this is just a fake scrambled cube in a “nearly solved” known order. 

      We don’t see how long it took to do the whole cube. I think he can only manage a quarter turn on each grab, so at that pace it would take quite a while to actually solve a mixed cube. Perhaps the whole solving process actually took many minutes of juggle-solving, in which case kudos to him.

  • http://artdonovan.typepad.com Art

    I could live for 1000 years and never be able to do either- let alone both at the same time!

    • http://www.metlin.org Metlin

      I think you underestimate the human mind — once you understand how to solve a Rubik’s cube and internalize the method in your head, it’s all muscle memory. There is very little “solving” that happens once you have the method down. Solved my first cube in middle school, and while it was fun for a while, now I don’t even think about it. And it’s a double edged sword because I essentially “brute force” the solution, and every time I try to do a more “optimal” approach, my muscle memory kicks in and I just go back to the basics. And juggling, while requiring hand-eye coordination, is something that’s vastly improved with practice.

      That said, what this kid does is amazing — not only that, he’s also a Putnam scholar and a Stanford math geek, so he’s clearly exceptional. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do *some* of what he’s doing — go ahead, try!

      • Wreckrob8

        Yes. There is a knack to both skills. The trickiest part would actually be to manipulate the pesky cube. Unless the sides are lined up exactly on each turn you will not be able to make subsequent turns.

    • StCredZero

      > I could live for 1000 years and never be able to do either- let alone both at the same time!

      Coincidentally, I am currently working on both my Rubik’s cube solving and my juggling, and I feel exactly the same way. 

    • echolocate chocolate

      Juggling is EASY. Even the most uncoordinated person can learn a basic 3-ball cascade in a week, if someone just explains it to them properly.

  • Eric0142

    do it while riding on a unicycle and I’ll be impressed. just sayin’.

    • beepbeep

       This is gonna happen now. You must know that. It will be all your fault.

      • Eric0142

        Excelllllllent.

  • jimkirk

    Only one cube at a time?  How about three cubes?  But seriously, even if it’s not truly scrambled, that is quite amazing…

  • 10xor01

    This man is my new God.

  • Glen Able

    It’s a trick video – he just starts with a solved cube and makes random moves to it, then they play the video backwards so he seems to solving it.  Dead easy, he just had practise to speak those few lines backwards.  And also get a bunch of friends to walk past backwards behind him.  And some other friends to cycle past backwards.

    • Logolepsy

      Maybe you are being sarcastic, but there are some kids out there who actually film themselves juggling/scrambling to later seem like they are juggling/solving by reversing the video.
      For instance: http://youtu.be/d-lnfnrpvtY
      In this video, it is actually easy to see the trick, because of the recoil action just before “throwing” the cubes, among other things. Here’s the same video in normal un-reversed motion: http://youtu.be/c-BFqYcR1mY

  • http://www.facebook.com/woodruff David Woodruff

    How do they ride the bicycles backwards? Video editing?

  • Kenmrph

    The Google technical interview is really getting out of hand at this point.

  • https://launchpad.net/~zak-mckracken Zak McKracken

    One more video that clearly demonstrates the usefulness of higher frame rates for videos.
    The hand with the cube is always movnig so fast it’s blurred so much that you cannot see the motion, because it’s not really in the video.

  • sdmikev

    damn, that’s pretty impressive.  but out come the BB pedants.  jesus.

    • beepbeep

      I have as yet to get used to the word pedants. It was always ‘pendants’ to me and the actual word still is awkward…. Then again, until that James Cameron movie came out, I always pronounced ‘abyss’ as though it were something of a nunnery. Language is such silly fun.

  • mickcollins

    Ronald Graham is a world class mathematician, gymnast and juggler (past president of International Jugglers’ Association).  He used to (still does?) perform juggling (count ‘em) THREE Rubik’s cubes and solving them at the same time.