Rubik's Cube solved by computer

Nerds at Northeastern University in Boston have used a a supercomputer to prove that a Rubik's cube can be returned to its original state in no more than 26 moves. The computer spent 63 hours crunching numbers before coming up with this underwhelming result. In contrast a human can solve the Rubik's Cube in 16.53 seconds.

Who pays these nerds to do experiments like that anyway?