Pre-pulsar shuttle 26 is a period-26pre-pulsarshuttleoscillator discovered by David Buckingham on January 18, 1983 with an alternate stabilization using beehives rather than blinkers.[1] Its original form was the first period-26 oscillator to be found. It is composed of four 14-generation pre-pulsar shuttle mechanisms that use a blinker stabilization found by Noam Elkies on April 22, 1997,[2] as well as a central 12-generation pre-pulsar shuttle mechanism composed of four beacons.
It was the smallest known period-26 oscillator (in terms of minimum population) until the discovery of the p26 glider shuttle; a variant (shown below) with a minimum of 144 live cells, found by Matthias Merzenich, surpassed the p26 glider shuttle again in November 2016.