From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Fri Jan 21 21:21:35 2000 Return-Path: Received: from sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil (sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil [132.250.84.38]) by mc.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.1-mod) with SMTP id VAA00498 for ; Fri, 21 Jan 2000 21:21:35 -0500 (EST) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Message-Id: <001001bf4a30$463f4360$7d6bead4@maison> From: "VALLEY" To: Subject: rubiks hat or rabbit Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 15:49:09 +0100 Hello, Two days ago I bought a rubiks rabbit. It is really amazing, and is more complicated than it looks. Here is the description found in the archives: "Rubik's Hat is in the form of a hat with six rings on it. You can look through it (and through the rings by implication). By turning rings you see more or less rabbits. The purpose is to see a rabbit in every position. I think the puzzle is based on light polarization, with different polarizations coming through the segments of the rings." I'm not entirely satisfied with the explanation. Light polarisation doesn't have this effect on colours, and polarisation lens are too much expensive to be used. I think this effect is due to simple light filters (green, red, yellow or a mix of two of these colours). If the filter is red (=retain all other wave lenghths), then you will only see red rabbits. But there is something I can't explain: in one segment I saw a green rabbit. then I turn a ring and this rabbit disappears. I concluded that the segment of the ring retains green light. Then I tried all other colours to see what light could pass through. When i turn this same ring on another green segment, then I was able to see the rabbit through it! This was of course not the same rabbit, and in one case the green rabbit was there and in the other, not, all that with the same filter! Could somebody explain that? Do you have any other explanation of this puzzle? I've tried my best to explain that in english, but feel free to ask me for more details, Bye, Paul