Conway’s Game of Life

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Life Lexicon

Wickstretcher

A spaceship-like object which stretches a wick that is fixed at the other end. The wick here is assumed to be in some sense connected, otherwise most puffers would qualify as wickstretchers. The first example of a wickstretcher was found in October 1992 (front end by Hartmut Holzwart and back end by Dean Hickerson) and stretches ants at a speed of c/4. This is shown below with an improved back end found by Hickerson the following month.

Game of Life pattern ’wickstretcher’

Diagonally moving c/4 and c/12 wickstretchers have also been built: see tubstretcher and linestretcher. In July 2000 Jason Summers constructed a c/2 wickstretcher, stretching a p50 traffic jam wick, based on an earlier (October 1994) pattern by Hickerson. A c/5 diagonal wickstretcher was found in January 2011 by Matthias Merzenich, who also discovered a c/5 orthogonal wickstretcher two years later in March 2013.

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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