Conway’s Game of Life

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Life Lexicon

Against the grain

A term used for negative spaceships travelling in zebra stripes agar, perpendicular to the stripes, and also for against-the-grain grey ships.

Below is a sample signal, found by Hartmut Holzwart in April 2006, that travels against the grain at 2c/3. This "negative spaceship" travels upward and will quickly reach the edge of the finite patch of stabilized agar shown here.

Game of Life pattern ’against_the_grain’

Holzwart proved in 2006 that 2c/3 is the maximum speed at which signals can move non-destructively against the grain through zebra stripes agar.

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

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