Clock

Clock
2bo$obo$bobo$bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ AUTOSTART ]] #C [[ LOOP 2 GPS 2 THUMBSIZE 2 ]]
View animated image
View static image
Pattern type	Oscillator
Oscillator type	Muttering moat
Family	Clock
Number of cells	6
Bounding box	4 × 4
Frequency class	19.4
Period	2 (mod: 1)
Heat	8
Volatility	0.80 | 0.80
Kinetic symmetry	Unspecified
Rotor type	Clock
Discovered by	Simon Norton
Year of discovery	1970
Rules Outer-totalistic rules B3/S3 – B35678/S02345678 # of rules 211 = 2048 Isotropic rules B3jn/S3y – B2-a34-j5678/S02345678
Glider synthesis Fewest gliders 4 Catagolue-generated RLE synthesis Uploaded synthesis RLE clock_synth.rle
Pattern files Plaintext clock.cells RLE clock.rle
Identifiers apgcode xp2_2a54 Pentadecathlon ID 6P2.3

Clock is a period-2 oscillator found by Simon Norton in May 1970.

Clock can also serve as a weak sparker - although the edge cells cannot birth new cells without being destroyed, they can be used to suppress cell birth by overpopulation, as seen in p124 lumps of muck hassler.

It serves as the logo of WinLifeSearch.

Relatives

The clock is a part of a family of p2 oscillators that can be seen as stabilisations for the zebra stripes/chicken wire agar - such extensions may lose symmetry. The nextmost simplest oscillator in the family is cha cha.

The rotor of clock is a muttering moat and is identical to that of quad.

Commonness

Clock is the sixth most common oscillator in Achim Flammenkamp's census, being somewhat less frequent than the pentadecathlon, but much rarer than the blinker, toad, beacon or pulsar. It is by far the rarest 6-bit object, being about 45 times rarer than the snake. It is also the sixty-second most common object on Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue.

Glider synthesis

All strict still lifes with a population of 23 or fewer cells, all oscillators with 16 or fewer cells, and all spaceships with 35 or fewer cells are known to be glider-constructible. A glider synthesis of this object can be found in the infobox to the right.

In other rules

In outer-totalistic rules, clock can follow at least three different p2 cycles depending on the rule, which all have mod 1.

• In rules such as B4/S1 the inner two cells oscillate similarly to a duoplet in Seeds.
• In rules such as B3/S3, the outer cells oscillate (this being the sequence seen in Life).
• In rules such as B34/S, both of these evolutions take place simultaneously, causing it to evolve into an inverted version of itself and therefore making it a phoenix.

This gives three different p2 sequences:

Evolution of the clock across different rules

B3/S3 to B35678/S02345678	B34/S to B345678/S0245678	B4/S1 to B45678/S01245678

Further sequences are possible in non-totalistic rules; for instance, in B3j/S1, clock cycles with one phase of toad.

See also

• Bi-clock
• Clock 2
• Clock insertion

External links

• Clock at the Life Lexicon

• Clock at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue

• 6P2.3 at Heinrich Koenig's Game of Life Object Catalogs
• Natural Clock at Game of Life News. Posted by H. Koenig on January 30, 2007.