Tutorials/Catalyses

A catalyst is a stable object (usually a still life) which can interact with an active region and later return to its original state. Here is an example of a stable catalyst:

x=11, y = 10, rule = LifeHistory 2.C$2.C$.2C6.2A$4.2A.A2.A$3.A.A.3A$A2.A.A$4A.3A$4.A3.A$2.A.A2.2A$2.2A ! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

The green still life interacts with the white object, and recovers to its original state by generation 15. In this tutorial, you'll learn the main types of catalyses and their applications. But first, we need to cover some important definitions:

Important terms

• Stable catalyst: a catalyst which is a still life. Most catalyses are of this form.
• Periodic catalyst: a catalyst which is an oscillator. These are generally considered inferior to stable catalyses because they usually only work in a fraction of the generations as a stable catalyst, since they usually only work in one phase of the periodic catalyse.
• Recovery time: the time it takes for a catalyst to return back to its state before interacting. In the example above, the recovery time is 15.
• Replacement catalyst: When a common catalyst fails, another, less common, catalyst must be used.

Let's explore the different types of catalysts now!

Types of catalyses

Fishhook (eater 1)

Here are some examples of fishhook catalyses:

x=28, y = 7, rule = LifeHIstory 2.A8.2A7.A.A$A.C8.AC9.C$.AC8.AC7.2AC$4.2A8.2A8.2A$4.A.A7.A.A7.A.A$6.A 9.A9.A$6.2A8.2A8.2A! [[ GRID THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 2 ]]

The marked white cells should always be on in a fishhook-type catalyst.

Constructing...