The highest-order Rubik's Cubes

Matt Bahner's 34x34x34 cube is an incredible piece of machinery. 16.5 inches on a side and comprising 6,939 unique parts, it took him more than 1000 hours spread over a year to construct. It weighs 98 pounds.

"It's my homage to the intersection of art and logic. It's the fractal child of the circus in my head," he writes. "It's a magical accident of the cosmos, cubified and reduced to a 6 minute 9 second montage for your viewing pleasure. It's the one, the only, 34×34."

But here's a 49x49x49 cube, completed not long after by Preston Alden:

This video marks the conclusion of many years of work and dedication to a truly crazy passion project. I was inspired to try designing the 49x49x49 after hearing a quote from a mathematician saying that whenever they come across a new problem they always give it a shot, regardless of how many others have tried it before them. I wish the best of luck to anyone attempting to break this record. If you're giving it a try, please don't hesitate to reach out—I'd love to meet you, share my expertise, or just chat if you'd like.

Here's the layered core of Bahner's cube:

Ruwix.com, the "twisty puzzle wiki," posted a retrospective on fifty years of cube growth. After methodical progress through the millennial era, things get officially out of hand in the 2000s, with Oskar Van Deventer's 17x17x17 design. [via Hacker News]