See the next post for MathAndCode's impressive work on providing much more detail on many of these nominations. This is just the summary post, for the purpose of getting community agreement on short descriptions so that we can get the voting started.
Draft of voting list -- #NN numbers as currently seen in MathAndCode's detailed list:
- #01 Chicken wire grayships: Many new components for constructing chicken wire grayships including slope-0 back ends for almost all wire lengths. (by Hartmut Holzwart and wildmyron)
- #02 Twenty-bit still life syntheses: Glider syntheses for all twenty-cell still lifes (by dvgrn, bubblegum, AGreason, Kazyan, Freywa, Goldtiger997, Entity Valkyrie, GUYTU6J, Extrementhusiast, goldenratio, ENORMOUS_NAME, Sokwe, MathAndCode, and iNoMed)
- #03 Fast components: Timing-dependent ways to stabilize reactions that almost make still lifes or alter still life-creating reactions or slow components before they settle in order to modify the final result (by MathAndCode, iNoMed, Kazyan, wwei23, and BlinkerSpawn)
- #04 DOGun SaGaQR: A "shape-shifting" self-constructing pattern that can be trivially altered by one-tick adjustments to one key glider to make a predecessor of empty space ("D"=Diehard), a p100663296 oscillator ("O"=Oscillator),a 4-barrelled glider gun ("Gun"), an orthogonal c/24 spaceship ("S"=Spaceship), a single glider ("G"=Glider), or a quadratic-growth replicator("QR"=Quadratic Replicator). (by Pavgran)
- #05 new 3c/7 technology: A significant expansion of known 3c/7 technology including the first 3c/7 rakes, many new spaceships of various periods, and several new engine-based puffers. (by Dylan Chen, Goldtiger997, Sokwe, iNoMed, bubblegum, dvgrn, AforAmpere, wwei23, and May13)
- #06 2c/5 ant waveguide A previously unknown type of spaceship connection, where an ants wick is escorted by a 2c/5 orthogonal antstretcher and anteater, making an adjustable-size spaceship (and not a growing spaceship). (by Sokwe, calcyman, and Nicolay Beluchenko)
- #07 Self-synthesizing oblique loopship The first SMOG (spaceship made of gliders) in Conway's Life. Arguably the first SMOS (spaceship made of spaceships) of any kind that can be run by Golly, since 0E0P-based SMOSes are much too large to simulate in practice. (by Goldtiger997)
- #08 New scalable programmable computer New features and improvements include 90 pre-computed patterns, variable size range from 8 to 32, new instructions to handle arrays, variables usable as memory addresses, shift and rotate instructions, 32x32 pixels display, and circuitry optimization with Snark reflectors. (by Coban)
- #09 12-in-7 and 15-in-11 projects: Glider syntheses of all still lifes with twelve (or fewer) cells using at most seven gliders, and fifteen or fewer cells using at most eleven gliders (by iNoMed, Kazyan, BlinkerSpawn, goldenratio, Macbi, Goldtiger997, May13, MathAndCode, and Extrementhusiast)
- #10 p18 glider reflectors Period-18 glider reflectors including the first 90-degree reflector capable of reflecting a period-18 glider stream. (by hotdogPi, Sokwe, and EvinZL)
- #11 New p7 domino sparkers Oscillators that provide a domino spark every seven generations, which can be used to support other reactions (by wwei23, BlinkerSpawn, iNoMed, JP21, cvojan, and Scorbie)
- #12 Quicksilver Demonoid: A "steampunk" Demonoid using retro technology available in the 1990s, mainly Silver reflectors, but modern single-channel construction recipes and techniques. (by GoogoIpIex and Pavgran)
- #13 New c/6 orthogonal technology: The first c/6 orthogonal rakes, based on new debris-clearing spaceships. (by FWKnightship, amling, May13, and iNoMed)
- #14 Herschel merge circuit: The first known elementary merge circuit with two direct Herschel inputs and one Herschel output. (by Entity Valkyrie and AbhpzTa)
- #15 New record methuselahs: New methuselahs with record lifespans, based on a methuselah discovered with apgsearch. (by Dylan Chen, Rocknlol, Calcyman, MathAndCode, and Kazyan)
- #16 p3 pipsquirters: Several new variants of oscillators with an isolated domino spark in the same orientation as known higher-period pipsquirters. These sparks can be used to support other oscillators such as the carnival shuttle (though they're far from the first known supports for that particular case). (by JP21, 83bismuth38, cvojan, Scorbie, mniemiec, yujh, and iNoMed)
- #17 New spaceship syntheses: Several complex recipes for previously unsynthesizable spaceships, including greyships of any desired size. (by goldenratio, bubblegum, mniemiec, iNoMed, Goldtiger997, and Extrementhusiast)
- #18 3/4 traffic light / "traffic stop" catalyst: An extremely versatile p2 catalyst. (by cvojan)
- #19 New SKOPs (Smallest Known Oscillators of various Periods, for anyone who doesn't like acronyms or LifeViewer labels): the term "SKOP" is from Freywa's "Skopje" collection of smallest known oscillators. (by hotdogPi, praosylen, iNoMed, 83bismuth38, cvojan, and Sokwe)
- #20 Strictly volatile p4 oscillator: The first known period-4 oscillator with a strict volatility of 1 (no cells oscillating at any subperiod, in this case periods 1 or 2). (by Scorbie)
- #21 p33 statorless 90-degree glider reflector: Reaction involving many copies of Jason's p33 allows for statorless oscillators of all periods that are multiples of 33. (by FractalFusion)
- #22 T-nosed p7: New p7 sparker completed based on a suggestion by muzik. (by Extrementhusiast)
- #23 Periodic glider duplicator: A new glider duplication mechanism capable, among other things, of reducing the size of a significant number of lower-period glider guns. (by hotcrystal0, wwei23, Entity Valkyrie, praosylen, iNoMed, and May13)
- #24 Much smaller glider to weekender/doo-dah converter: 2021's enormously reduced weekender recipe allowed for a glider-to-weekender converter to fit into a quarter of its previous area, even including an additional mechanism to build/not build a doo-dah tagalong by moving an input glider. (by Dave Greene and Goldtiger997)
- #25 New c/6 diagonal spaceships: The number of known c/6 diagonal spaceships increased considerably this year, including some with new tailsparks and sidesparks capable of supporting a variety of tagalongs and pushalongs. (by dexter1, Bullet51, and wwei23)
- #26 New (2,1)c/6 technology: The second known elementary knightship and associated period-12N puffers, rakes, and new spaceship connection types (by Dylan Chen, calcyman, May13, wwei23, cvojan, dvgrn, Jormungant, Naszvadi, and MathAndCode).
- #27 p11 bouncer: A previously unknown period for the bouncer mechanism (a p11 bumper was known, though very little used). (by Extrementhusiast and hotDogPi)
- #28 Reflectorless rotating oscillator: The first example of an RRO in Conway's Life that can easily be simulated through multiple cycles -- max loopability 11. (by Goldtiger997)
- #29 New gun engines: Many new periodic engines that allow for the extraction of output gliders. (by hotdogPi, Sokwe, AbhpzTa, Kazyan, Extrementhusiast, Entity Valkyrie, calcyman, iNoMed, Jormungant, MathAndCode, praosylen, yujh, JP21, wwei23, AforAmpere, EvinZL, and FWKnightship)
- #30 New c/10 technology: New c/10 orthogonal glider perturbation reactions, rake periods, and complex patterns. (by Mr. T, otismo, Goldtiger997, Jormungant, and dvgrn)
- #31 Ash-clearing mechanism: Demonstration patterns and scripts showing for the first time a plausible mechanism for a "space-clearing" self-replicator with better than 50% odds of being able to clear out a replicator-sized area of settled random ash. (by mscibing)
- #32 New high-period oscillators: Many new oscillators with periods greater than 12 found primarily with hotdogPi's impressively simple and effective search script for oscillator engine candidates. (by hotdogPi, Entity Valkyrie, JP21, Sokwe, wwei23, praosylen, MathAndCode, iNoMed, AforAmpere, EvinZL, Extrementhusiast, and FWKnightship)
