Tetris Creator Wants To Launch A Rubik’s Cube Into Space To Impress Aliens
Would they be completely unimpressed or unable to put it down?
Mankind has made many attempts to contact alien civilizations, and so far, all of them have been unsuccessful.
But people are throwing out ideas, and we've got an interesting one from Alexey Pajitnov, the man who invented everyone's favorite shape-stacking game, Tetris.
His idea? Launch a Rubik's Cube into space.
…he's super into shapes, isn't he?
According to PC Gamer, Pajitnov recently talked about a meeting with Ernő Rubik, the architect who invented the puzzle bearing his name, which has gone on to frustrate more people than calculus and the DMV combined.
"Basically, I am so excited about meeting Mr. Rubik today," says Pajitnov. "I would think that this cube is what people don't appreciate in full, because I think that's the symbol of modern civilization.
"If I (were to) put something as evidence of human civilization on the outside...on the interstellar space object, that would be one of the ten objects I would definitely put on it as evidence of human civilization."
…Really? That's what you'd send to let aliens know just how much we've been cooking for thousands of years?
I'd put a picture of the Great Pyramid in there.
Although the aliens would probably be like, "Yeah, we know; we helped you guys out with that."
Who knows? Maybe aliens would be impressed by Rubik's cubes. (Getty Images)
Of course, launching stuff into orbit and hoping aliens find it isn't new. We've been doing it for as long as we've been launching things into space.
Plus, the more I thought about it, Pajitnov might be on to something. I've never solved a Rubik's Cube in my entire life. But any time I see one in someone's house or in a store, I am compelled to give it a few twists in hopes that maybe this time I'll finally crack the code.
I never do, but it is fun to twist.
So, I think aliens might get a kick out of one. Sure, they've mastered interstellar travel and figured out how to travel at the speed of light and not turn into goo, but maybe they'll still like spinning some colored block with their thumbs.
If they have thumbs, they may not.