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Tag: Records

  • Solving Rubik’s Cube upside down, underwater, and more: Singaporean holds highest number of Guinness World Records in speedcubing, Lifestyle News

    Solving Rubik’s Cube upside down, underwater, and more: Singaporean holds highest number of Guinness World Records in speedcubing, Lifestyle News

    SINGAPORE — Some struggle for hours to solve a Rubik’s Cube, others take minutes to do so.

    Daryl Tan is able to work out the puzzle in seconds — with one hand, no less — while being suspended upside down or submerged underwater.

    The 22-year-old Singaporean holds 11 Guinness World Records titles for his speedcubing feats, which in itself is another achievement. No other cubing aficionado globally holds as many records.

    His feats have made it to the Guinness World Records 2025 book. Released on Sept 12, the latest edition marks the 70th anniversary of the series, which has sold more than 150 million copies in more than 100 countries.

    The Singapore Institute of Technology second-year undergraduate, who is pursuing an honours degree in physiotherapy, picked up cubing when he was in Primary 6.

    “My friend brought a Rubik’s Cube to school and solved it in 50 seconds. I was impressed,” recalls the St Andrew’s Junior School alumnus.

    The puzzle toy, which has been around for 50 years, was invented by Hungarian sculptor-architect Erno Rubik. Beyond the classic 3×3 cube, it now comes in many variants.

    Tan learnt basic cubing techniques on YouTube after the PSLE, and, within a month, improved his timing from four minutes to under 30 seconds.

    As he became more adept, he started juggling balls while unscrambling the puzzle.

    In 2020, he broke the Guinness World Record set by a fellow Singaporean for “fastest time to solve a Rubik’s Cube whilst juggling”, with a timing of 17.16 seconds.

    “That was the only record that I wanted to break initially. Then I got curious about other existing speedcubing record titles,” recalls Tan, then a 19-year-old student at Republic Polytechnic’s Sports and Exercise Sciences diploma course.

    “Some were quite easy to break, such as solving a cube while hanging upside down on a monkey bar. I thought: ‘Why not give it a shot?’”

    His 56-year-old father, an engineer, and 64-year-old mother, a financial adviser, have always been supportive of their younger son’s pursuit of record-breaking feats. They have an elder son aged 25, who is also an undergraduate.

    Tan, who is also a national sprinter, claimed the title of “fastest 100m solving a 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cube” in May 2023 with a timing of 13.61 seconds.

    “But my parents were worried about some challenges, especially the underwater ones which could be quite risky. I had to hold my breath for as long as possible, so it put me at risk of passing out.”

    Six of his record titles, achieved between April 2021 and February 2024, involved him cubing while submerged underwater. Today, he can hold his breath underwater for 3½ minutes.

    “When I did the underwater training in a tub at home, I made sure my brother was at home so he could save me in case anything went wrong,” he adds with a laugh.

    Daryl Tan has six Guinness World Records titles which involved him solving the cubes underwater. PHOTO: Guinness World Records

    Since 2020, he has picked up 17 Guinness World Records titles but lays claim to only 11 now. The rest have been broken by other cubers.

    “I’m happy for them,” he says. “Obviously, I hope to hold a record for as long as I can. But I understand that I’m not the only competitive guy out there.”

    What remains on his bucket list is to complete a Rubik’s Cube while in free fall. He approached a few skydiving companies when he was on a family holiday in California in 2023.

    “They rejected my request because they were concerned that I’d accidentally drop the cube and cause safety issues,” he says.

    World Records 2025 marks the 70th anniversary of the series that has sold more than 150 million copies in over 100 countries. PHOTO: Guinness World Records

    Recently, he applied to Guinness World Records to attempt another 14 challenges and is awaiting the organisation’s go-ahead.

    Through this, he hopes to inspire children to put down their phones and pick up a Rubik’s Cube.

    “A cube, which costs from about $5, can be a fun toy and help train cognitive skills and critical thinking,” says Tan, who does cubing coaching as a side hustle on weekends. His youngest student is a seven-year-old boy.

    Contrary to popular belief, he says one does not have to be a maths genius to solve the cube.

    He adds: “There are algorithms that you have to learn, but just like any other skill, such as riding a bicycle, you just need to practise. Don’t get intimidated by it.”

    • Guinness World Records 2025 annual book is available at major bookstores for $42.01.

    Daryl Tan’s current Guinness World Records titles

    • Most rotating puzzle cubes (3x3x3) solved underwater: 16 (April 18, 2021)

    • Most rotating puzzle cubes solved one-handed underwater: 8 (April 18, 2021)

    • Most rotating puzzle tetrahedrons solved underwater: 15 (April 18, 2021)

    • Fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle cube one-handed whilst suspended upside down: 17.12 seconds (April 18, 2021)

    • Fastest time to solve a 4×4×4 rotating puzzle cube upside down: 37.25 seconds (April 18, 2021)

    • Most 2x2x2 rotating puzzle cubes solved underwater: 26 (April 18, 2021)

    • Fastest 100m solving a 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cube: 13.61 seconds (May 15, 2023)

    • Fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle cube (3x3x3) underwater: 9.29 seconds (June 19, 2023)

    • Fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle cube while controlling a table tennis ball: 15.84 seconds (June 20, 2023)

    • Fastest time to solve a 4x4x4 rotating puzzle cube whilst juggling: 1 minute 31.35 seconds (July 14, 2023)

    • Most 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cubes solved underwater (unsupported): 14 (Feb 12, 2024)

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    This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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  • Pharmacies Shared Patient Records Without a Warrant, an Inquiry Finds

    Pharmacies Shared Patient Records Without a Warrant, an Inquiry Finds

    Law enforcement agencies have obtained the prescription records of thousands of Americans from the country’s largest pharmacy chains without a warrant, a congressional inquiry found, raising concerns about how the companies handle patient privacy.

    Three of the largest pharmacy groups — CVS Health, Kroger and Rite Aid — do not require their staff members to contact a lawyer before releasing information requested by law enforcement, the inquiry found. The other five — Walgreens, Cigna, Optum Rx, Walmart and Amazon — said that they do require a legal review before honoring such requests.

    The policies were revealed on Tuesday in a letter to Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, from Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and Representatives Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Sara Jacobs of California, all Democrats.

    The inquiry began in June, a year after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion and cleared the way for Republican-controlled states to enact near-total bans on the procedure. Reproductive health advocates and some lawmakers have since raised privacy concerns regarding access to birth control and abortion medication.

    “Although pharmacies are legally permitted to tell their customers about government demands for their data, most don’t,” the lawmakers wrote. “As a result, many Americans’ prescription records have few meaningful privacy protections, and those protections vary widely depending on which pharmacy they use.”

    The inquiry found that the pharmacies receive tens of thousands of legal requests annually for their patients’ pharmacy records. However, the letter said, the companies indicated that a vast majority of the requests were submitted in connection with civil litigation.

    In July, nearly 50 Democratic members of Congress wrote to Mr. Becerra to urge the Health and Human Services Department to expand regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, that would require law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant to gain access to medical records and would require that patients be notified when their records are requested.

    Since then, lawmakers have been digging into the disclosure practices of major pharmacy chains.

    During the congressional inquiry, CVS, Kroger and Rite Aid “indicated that their pharmacy staff face extreme pressure to immediately respond to law enforcement demands and, as such, the companies instruct their staff to process those requests in the store,” Mr. Wyden, Ms. Jayapal and Ms. Jacobs wrote in their letter to Mr. Becerra.

    “Americans’ prescription records are among the most private information the government can obtain about a person,” the lawmakers wrote. “They can reveal extremely personal and sensitive details about a person’s life.”

    It went on to urge the Health and Human Services Department to strengthen the regulations under HIPAA “to more closely align them with Americans’ reasonable expectations of privacy and constitutional principles.”

    “Pharmacies can and should insist on a warrant, and invite law enforcement agencies that insist on demanding patient medical records with solely a subpoena to go to court to enforce that demand,” the letter said.

    In a statement, a CVS spokeswoman said that the company’s “processes are consistent with HIPAA” and that its pharmacy teams are trained to “appropriately respond to lawful requests.”

    “We have suggested a warrant or judge-issued subpoena requirement be considered and we look forward to working cooperatively with Congress to strengthen patient privacy protections,” the spokeswoman, Amy Thibault, said.

    The Health and Human Services Department has already taken steps to add language to HIPAA that would protect data involving reproductive health. In April, the department’s Office for Civil Rights proposed a rule that would bar health care providers and insurers from turning over information to state officials who are trying to prosecute someone for seeking or providing a legal abortion.

    Michelle Mello, a professor of law and health policy at Stanford, said that requiring a warrant instead of a subpoena for the release of pharmacy records would “not necessarily preclude concerns” about privacy. She also said that notifying patients about record disclosures, which the lawmakers said “would be a major step forward for patient transparency,” would likely occur only after the fact.

    While Professor Mello said most pharmacy records should be kept private, she said that targeting pharmacy employees, who could be found in contempt of court for not complying with a law enforcement demand for records, adds another layer of complexity.

    “It’s not fair to put the onus on them to be found in contempt of court and then fight that,” she said.

    But efforts by congressional Democrats to shore up HIPAA reveal a longstanding misconception about the health care privacy law, which was signed into law in 1996, she said.

    “People think HIPAA has broader protection than it does,” Professor Mello said. “It wasn’t designed to enable health care providers to resist very misguided, in my view, attempts to enforce laws that impact patients in a negative way.”

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