[userbinator]

This reminds me that I've always wanted to make a huge interactive combinatorial circuit that computes SHA-256 and shows all its internal state, then put it on a site with the claim that anyone who can make its output match a certain clearly-constructed value (e.g. 0123456...ABCD...) will win a prize. No mentions of hash algorithms or other such phrasing to deter anyone. I wonder how many people would try such a "logic puzzle", how much time they'd spend on it, and if we might even get the first successful preimage attack from that.

[jjeaff]

I think making a problem more accessible like that is the fastest path to a solution.

It reminds me of the Stephen J Gould quote:

"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops."

[manceraio]

I actually started this because my first idea was: can I implement SHA-256 with just TTL logic gates? which should be possible, but it would take months to do.

for puzzles try 12037465 for some coffee :)