Conway’s Game of Life

.O......OO ..O..OO..O OOO...O.O. ......O.OO ...OO.O... ...O..O... ....OO....

Life Lexicon

Clearance

In signal circuitry, the distance from an edge shooter output lane to the last unobstructed lane adjacent to the edge-shooter circuitry. For example, an Fx119 inserter has an unusually high 27hd clearance.

Also, oscillator and eater variants may be said to have better clearance if they allow gliders or other signals to pass closer to them than the standard variant allows. The following high-clearance eater1 variant by Karel Suhajda allows gliders to pass one lane closer on the southeast side, than is allowed by the standard fishhook shape.

Game of Life pattern ’clearance’

This is considered to be a variant of the eater1 because the reaction's rotor is exactly the same, even though three cells in this variant are too overpopulated to allow a birth, instead of underpopulated as in a standard eater1 glider-eating reaction.

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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