The Infamous Rigged Episode of "Twenty-One"

Have you seen the movie Quiz Show? It tells the (somewhat fictionalized) story of an American quiz show scandal in which a series of 1956 episodes of the TV game show Twenty-One were rigged such that (spoiler alert) Herb Stempel would take a fall and Charles Van Doren would win. This was part of a pattern of rigged game shows at the time, and eventually led to strict regulations of the game show industry.

I've seen Quiz Show several times, and we've even run our own quiz on the movie. But I'd never seen the actual episode of Twenty-One that caused the trouble in the first place. Thanks to YouTube, here it is -- this is the final Van Doren/Stempel match. As you watch this, keep in mind that both men are aware that the show is rigged...and this is the fourth episode in which they went head-to-head. The game progresses differently from what the movie showed; pay careful attention to how this ends.

For more on Twenty-One, check out Wikipedia's run-down.

On the heels of International Colorblind Awareness Day, Mattel, which owns Uno, announced it would be unveiling a colorblind-friendly edition of the 46-year-old card game.

The updated deck is a collaboration with ColorADD, a global organization for colorblind accessibility and education. In place of its original color-dependent design, this new Uno will feature a small symbol next to each card's number that corresponds with its intended primary color.

As The Verge points out, Mattel is not actually the first to invent a card game for those with colorblindness. But this inclusive move is still pivotal: According to Fast Co. Design, Uno is currently the most popular noncollectible card game in the world. And with access being extended to the 350 million people globally and 13 million Americans who are colorblind, the game's popularity is sure to grow.

Mattel

[h/t: The Verge] 

In less time than it takes some people to open a pickle jar, 15-year-old Patrick Ponce can solve a Rubik’s Cube. His total time of 4.69 seconds makes him the new holder of the world record for fastest 3-by-3 Rubik’s Cube completion, as highlighted by Compete (and seen in the video below).

Ponce achieved the impressive feat of dexterity at a tournament in Middletown, Virginia, on September 2. He takes the title from the previous Rubik’s Cube speed record holder, Feliks Zemdegs, who solved the puzzle in 4.73 seconds at a competition in Australia in December 2016.

But the teenager may not hold his new position at the top for very long: Expert Rubik's Cubers have been steadily lowering the speed record beneath the 5-second mark since 2015. And human competitors still have a long way to go before solving a cube in 0.887 seconds—that’s the record that was set by a robot in March of 2017.

[h/t Compete]