Switch engine
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| Switch engine | |||||||
| View static image | |||||||
| Pattern type | Methuselah | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cells | 8 | ||||||
| Bounding box | 6 × 4 | ||||||
| Lifespan | 3911 generations | ||||||
| L/I | 488.9 | ||||||
| Discovered by | Charles Corderman | ||||||
| Year of discovery | 1971 | ||||||
| |||||||
A switch engine (or Corder engine[1]) is a methuselah found by Charles Corderman in 1971. It is unstable by itself, but it can be used to make c/12 diagonal puffers and spaceships.
There are two basic types of stabilized switch engine, both of which were also found by Charles Corderman: the period 288 block-laying switch engine (the more common of the two) and period 384 glider-producing switch engine. These two puffers are the most natural infinite growth patterns in Life, being the only ones ever seen to occur from random starting patterns.
Stable pattern
The stable pattern that results from the switch engine has 842 cells.
Generation 3911
See also
References
- ↑ "Corder engine". The Life Lexicon. Stephen Silver. Retrieved on June 10, 2009.
External links
- Switch engine at the Life Lexicon