Beware of rapid Rubik’s Cube-solving robots

Image of the wrong polar ice cap, suggested by Zemata, via Wikipedia

Greetings.

Jewish date:  9 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Teṣawweh).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  National Dog Biscuit Day, Curling Is Cool Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Demerit Walmart”, “We'd rather have a good bill than a bipartisan one.”, “DemocracyForAmerica.com » Good Policy not Bipartisan Junk”, and “Americans want a good bill -- not just bipartisanship | Progressive Change Campaign Committee”.  (Do you get the impression that multiple organizations are mad about the exact same thing?)

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Can You Learn Physics from a Comic Book?”:  Interesting tactic to get people to learn.
  
• “Two hospital-acquired infections estimated to have killed 48,000, cost $8.1B in 2006”:  If you must go to the hospital, feel free to annoy all staff into holding to higher hygiene standards.
  
• “When Sea Levels Attack”:  Behind this awesome title is the very real concern of what happens if the polar ice caps melt.  The results are anything but cool.
  
• “New travel agency offers the bear necessities”:  Yes, now your teddy bear can be pampered.  Somehow I am now expecting a service to pamper one’s imaginary friend…
  
• “Discovery Dates Seafaring 100,000-Plus Years Ago”
  
• “Does the U.S. Produce Too Many Scientists?”:  Welcome to my life, folks.
  
• “Same Species, Polar Opposites: The Mystery of Identical Creatures Found in both Arctic and Antarctic Waters”

Today’s weird thing is “LEGO Robot Solves Any Rubik’s Cube In Less Than 12 Seconds (Video)”.  Intuition suggests that the reason such a robot even exists is the major reason people try to solve Rubik’s Cube:  it is a problem to be solved.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron