Century eater
- For other century eaters, see Century#Century eaters.
| Century eater | |||||||||
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| Pattern type | Eater | ||||||||
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| Number of cells | 20 | ||||||||
| Bounding box | 8 × 7 | ||||||||
| Static symmetry | n (C1) | ||||||||
| Discovered by | Ivan Fomichev | ||||||||
| Year of discovery | 2013 | ||||||||
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The century eater is a 20-cell still life that functions as an eater for the active reaction produced by any century relative. Its eating capability was found by Ivan Fomichev in June 2013.[1] The most well-known use is to replace a four-object constellation in Paul Callahan's bistable switch, as shown below.
| (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here |
At time t=256 the active reaction produces an eight-cell pattern sharing the same grandchild as a century. The century eater at the top of the pattern catalyzes this pattern and produces a clean spark.
While the term "century eater" is used generically to describe a still life that eats the active reaction produced by a century relative, this particular pattern got the name.[2] The snake can be replaced with a tub for a smaller population, but at the cost of a larger bounding box.
Commonness
- Main article: List of common still lifes
Information on this still life's commonness with respect to other naturally-occurring patterns is currently unknown.
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 September 2014 Josh Ball showed that a variant of this still life, with a bun replacing the snake, has a relatively inexpensive slow glider construction recipe.[3]
References
- ↑ Ivan Fomichev (June 8, 2013). Re: What do you want out of (conway's) life this year? (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ Dave Greene (September 12, 2022). Re: Thread For Your Accidental Discoveries (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ Josh Ball (September 13, 2014). Re: Thread For Your Accidental Discoveries (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
External links
- Century eater at the Life Lexicon
- Century eater at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue
- 20.32670 at Heinrich Koenig's Game of Life Object Catalogs