Hook with tail

Hook with tail
x = 5, y = 4, rule = B3/S23 obo$2obo$3bo$3b2o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 3 ZOOM 21 HEIGHT 400 SUPPRESS ]] [[ ZOOM 57 ]]
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Pattern type	Strict still life
Number of cells	8
Bounding box	5 × 4
Frequency class	20.5
Static symmetry	n (C1)
Discovered by	Unknown
Year of discovery	1971
Rules Outer-totalistic rules B/S23 – B35678/S012345678 # of rules 212 = 4096 Isotropic rules B/S2-in3nr – B2ikn34-ajnr5678/S012345678
Glider synthesis Fewest gliders 4 Catagolue-generated RLE synthesis Uploaded synthesis RLE hookwithtail_synth.rle
Pattern files Plaintext hookwithtail.cells RLE hookwithtail.rle
Identifiers apgcode xs8_32qk Pentadecathlon ID 8.5

Hook with tail (or snake eater) is an 8-cell still life. Despite it being reported on Lifeline early on, it was for a long time the smallest still life without a well-established name.

This still life is comprised of the normally unstable hook with a normally unstable tail attached.

As a rock

The hook with tail can act as a rock in two ways, one using the tail like snake, the other using the hook as shown below.

x = 21, y = 21, rule = B3/S23 12b2o$12bo$9b2obo$9bobo3$10bo$o8bob2o$3o4bo$3bo3bo5bo3b2o$2bo3bo7bo3bo $2b2o3bo5bo3bo$13bo4b3o$8b2obo8bo$10bo3$9bobo$8bob2o$8bo$7b2o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ WIDTH 500 HEIGHT 500 ZOOM 20 GPS 5 AUTOSTART ]]

An example of the hook with tail being used as a rock in a period-14 oscillator found by Matthias Merzenich in 2014 (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here Catagolue: here

Occurrence

See also: List of common still lifes, Most common objects on Catagolue

Hook with tail is the sixty-ninth most common still life in Achim Flammenkamp's census, being less common than loaf siamese loaf but more common than long integral

It is the 69th most common still life on Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue, being less common than cis-bookend and bun but more common than loaf siamese loaf. It is the rarest still life with 8 cells, being less common than very long snake.

The octo3obj database contains six collisions between a glider and a small constellation where the final pattern contains a hook with tail (with other junk).

Glider synthesis

Main article: Glider synthesis

On April 29, 2007 Dean Hickerson found a 4-glider synthesis of this still life. Several known alternate syntheses can be found in Mark Niemiec's database.

x = 22, y = 14, rule = B3/S23 17bo$8bobo6bobo$9b2o6b2o$9bo8$b2o16b3o$obo16bo$2bo17bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THEME Book ZOOM 16 AUTOSTART GPS 10 T 0 PAUSE 1 LOOP 45 ]] A 4G synthesis (click above to open LifeViewer)

Hook with tail family

Larger still lifes that stabilize a diagonal fuse using a hook and a tail:

• 
  Long hook with tail
• 
  Cis-very long hook with tail
• 
  Trans-very long hook with tail
• 
  Cis-long^3 hook with tail
• 
  Trans-long^3 hook with tail
• 
  Cis-long^4 hook with tail
• 
  Trans-long^4 hook with tail

Gallery

x = 8, y = 10, rule = B3/S23 2o$bo$bob2o$2bobo4$5b2o$5bobo$5bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 24 X -1 GPS 4 AUTOSTART T 0 PAUSE 2 LOOP 27 ]]

Hitting a hook with tail with a glider in the correct orientation creates a beehive with bend nine plus a boat (click above to open LifeViewer)

See also

• Cis-boat with tail
• Claw with tail

External links

• Hook with tail at the Life Lexicon
• Hook with tail at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue
• 8.5 at Heinrich Koenig's Game of Life Object Catalogs