Conway’s Game of Life

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Life Lexicon

Herschel great-grandparent

A specific three-tick predecessor of a Herschel, commonly seen in Herschel conduit collections that contain dependent conduits. In some situations it is helpful to display the input reaction in this form instead of the standard Herschel form.

Game of Life pattern ’Herschel_great-grandparent’

Dependent conduit inputs are catalysed by a transparent block before the Herschel's standard form can appear, and before the Herschel's first natural glider is produced. This means that these conduits will fail if an actual Herschel is placed in the "correct" input location for a dependent conduit. Refer to F166 or Lx200 to see the correct relative placement of the standard transparent block catalyst.

Almost all known Herschel conduits produce a Herschel great-grandparent near the end of their evolutionary sequence. In the original universal set of Herschel conduits, Fx158 is the only exception.

Game of Life Explanation

The Game of Life is not your typical computer game. It is a cellular automaton, and was invented by Cambridge mathematician John Conway.

This game became widely known when it was mentioned in an article published by Scientific American in 1970. It consists of a grid of cells which, based on a few mathematical rules, can live, die or multiply. Depending on the initial conditions, the cells form various patterns throughout the course of the game.

Rules

For a space that is populated:
Examples

Each cell with one or no neighbors dies, as if by solitude.

Each cell with four or more neighbors dies, as if by overpopulation.

Each cell with two or three neighbors survives.

For a space that is empty or unpopulated:

Each cell with three neighbors becomes populated.

More information

Video’s about the Game of Life

Stephen Hawkings The Meaning of Life (John Conway's Game of Life segment)
The rules are explained in Stephen Hawkings’ documentary The Meaning of Life
Inventing Game of Life (John Conway) - Numberphile
John Conway himself talks about the Game of Life

Interesting articles about John Conway

Implemented by Edwin Martin <>