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Cubes_Art

@cubesart.bsky.social

Hi, I’m David Plaxco. On this account, I share aesthetic solution states of n-layer Rubik's cubes. Otherwise, I teach math at UGA, research undergraduate mathematics education, and try to make my experiences here on earth more meaningful.

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Cubes_Art@cubesart.bsky.social · last wk.

This is the FTO (face-turning octahedron) twisty puzzle. It’s now an official WCA event And I think it’s lovely. Here, I’ve solved it to a pattern that is striped when viewed from 4 vertices, and concentric squares from 2 vertices.

I imagine other folks have done this pattern, but I just had to try it. I don't know what to call it... Stripes? I don't think it's octahedron-in-an-octahedron. One thing I really like about this pattern is that (I think) there's a sort of parity to the colors. l've learned that this puzzle has two classes of colors - blue/red/ purple/yellow and white/gray/orange/green. If you notice here, the blue & red pieces are swapped and so are the yellow and purple pieces (as a permutation, this is two disjoint 2-cycles). These colors form a tetrahedron on the octahedron (no two are adjacent). There is a dual tetrahedron formed by the other four colors! But those colors are not swapped in pairs; the three white triangles moved to the gray face, the gray triangles to the orange face, the orange triangles to the green face, and the green triangles to the white face (as a permutation, this a 4-cycle!).
Jessica Rosenkrantz@nervousjessica.bsky.social · 3w ago

I cut flowers from my garden today and put them in three Growth Vases. We created them in 2009, using a branching growth algorithm to generate the form. 17 years later, I’m still fascinated by the same question: what can we make when we use nature’s algorithms for growth to create art and design?

holding up a dahlia from my garden in a growth vasethree unique growth vases on a picnic table
Peter Sagal@petersagal.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is from the new WH report on the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, calling for what the museum *should* say about slavery and human rights. One question: those 750,000 people who died in the Civil War to end slavery… who killed them? And why?

It should tell the story of how the colonies inherited slavery from both global and European slaving practices, but also how the words, actions, and ideas of America's Founders helped spark a worldwide movement that ultimately ended slavery. It should tell the story of how at least eight American colonies passed or attempted to pass laws to either tax or severely limit the importation of slaves before the Revolutionary War, only to be forced by the British Crown to continue it. It should tell the story of how 750,000 Americans died in the Civil War. It should tell the story of how Americans came to reject Jim Crow and segregation, backing a colorblind standard derived from America's founding documents. In short, it should tell the story of the birth of America and how the United States, because of the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and upheld in the Constitution, has done more to advance and secure fundamental rights than any other nation in the world.
Brian P Katz (BK)@thewordninjabk.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This paper has been a REALLY long time coming. It's about a course I taught for many years called Tools of Inquiry, in which I try to teach students to ask and explore their own mathematical questions, including with technology. It's a little like an introduction to research experience at scale!

PRIMUS@readprimus.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"Tools of Inquiry: Reimagining Student Research" by Brian P Katz (BK) @thewordninjabk.bsky.social about a course focused on students learning to ask and explore their own mathematical questions and to use technology to support mathematical inquiry. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Cubes_Art@cubesart.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Well that was awesome! Got to meet members of Wilco last night and gave Glenn a 9-layer cube with the band’s name a sun on top. ☀️ I didn’t take a photo of the back, but it also says “Wilco”.

Dave hands Glenn Kotche a 9-later Rubik’s cube solved to say “Wilco”A 9-layer Rubik’s cube solved to say Wilco with a band on stage in the background.