Weird News

6-y-o breaks Rubik’s Cube world record

A six-year-old girl has stunned the speedcubing world after solving a Rubik’s Cube in an average of just 4.27 seconds.

Chinese youngster Lian Yunzhi, nicknamed ‘Zhizhi’, broke the women’s 3x3 average world record twice this month at World Cube Association-certified competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV. She first posted an average time of 4.52 seconds before lowering the mark to 4.27 seconds. The averages were calculated from five solves, making Zhizhi the first female speedcuber to record an average below 4.5 seconds, CCTV reported.

Footage showed the youngster wearing a red gingham bow as she rapidly twisted and turned the colourful cube before placing it on the table and celebrating with a clap and fist pump. Zhizhi was introduced to the puzzle after her mother enrolled her in a cubing class alongside activities including dance and music. Her mother, Lin Yangxi, said she gradually realised that solving cubes was an “excellent activity for fostering a child’s comprehensive abilities” and decided to focus more heavily on it. The youngster has now learnt more than 1,300 Rubik’s Cube solving algorithms and reportedly practises for two to three hours every day.

Speedcubing involves solving a scrambled cube as quickly as possible, with official competitions using strict rules and timed attempts.

Eating with loved one may help regulate blood sugar

Eating with someone you love could do more than make mealtimes more enjoyable.

New research suggests companionship may help the body control blood sugar. Scientists found that people who ate a standardised carbohydrate meal alongside their partners experienced smaller blood sugar spikes and returned to normal levels faster than those who ate alone. The study, led by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and published in Science Advances, suggests the effect could be explained by “social physiology”.

The theory proposes that the human body regulates itself more efficiently when people are close to those they care about.

Professor Shir Atzil, the study’s lead author, said: “We used to think of the body as an isolated system that regulates itself.

“Our findings show that human physiology is inherently social. Being close to someone you love lowers the physical energy your body spends on regulating itself.”

The effects appeared to extend beyond blood sugar. Researchers found that social proximity also improved participants’ ability to regulate body temperature during exposure to cold and reduced stress responses in both adults and infants. Importantly, the benefits were seen even when people did not touch each other, and the researchers said reduced stress alone could not explain the findings.

The results add to previous research linking companionship with better blood sugar regulation. A 2023 study published in the British Medical Journal found adults age 50 and over who lived with partners had lower average glucose levels than those living alone, regardless of whether their relationships were harmonious or strained.

Diet-loss drug makers could tackle baldness next

Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk could turn its attention from shrinking waistlines to tackling baldness, after a senior executive suggested hair loss may be a future area of interest.

The Danish pharmaceutical giant has made billions from semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, which works by mimicking the hormone GLP-1 to reduce hunger and food intake. Now the company believes its expertise in hormones could potentially be applied to alopecia, the medical term for hair loss.

Martin Lange, Novo Nordisk’s chief scientific officer, told Bloomberg: “We could leverage our scientific knowledge, potentially moving into that space. It’s not necessarily what we’ll pursue first, but that would be a clear possibility.”

However, a source stressed that Lange was using hair loss as an example rather than referring to a specific project currently being developed by the company. Existing treatments, including minoxidil and finasteride, have been available since the 1990s and have become major sellers through online pharmacies.

Professor Lynn Petukhova, from New York University’s Langone Health, said the huge success of weight-loss drugs had demonstrated the commercial potential of treatments targeting hormones.

She told The Sun: “Novo Nordisk demonstrated enormous success with the GLP-1 hormone, and we know that hormones drive hair loss – testosterone has been implicated for a long time.

“Historically, it has been very difficult to get funding to study hair loss because it has not been considered medically important.

“This could be an enormous opportunity.”

But there is an awkward wrinkle. Professor Petukhova recently published research suggesting semaglutide may increase the risk of male pattern baldness, meaning the same drug is unlikely to simply be repackaged as a hair-loss treatment.