Die hard

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Die hard
x = 8, y = 3, rule = B3/S23 6bo$2o$bo3b3o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 500 THUMBSIZE 3 ZOOM 36 ]]
Pattern type Methuselah
Number of cells 7
Bounding box 8 × 3
MCPS 11
Lifespan 130 generations
Final population 0
L/I 18.6
F/I 0
F/L 0
L/MCPS 11.8
Discovered by Unknown
Year of discovery Unknown

Die hard is a 7-cell methuselah (essentially a collision between a block and the traffic light sequence) that vanishes after 130 generations, which is conjectured to be the limit for vanishing patterns of 7 or fewer cells. Note that there is no limit for higher numbers of cells, as eight cells suffice to have a glider heading towards an arbitrarily distant blinker or pre-block.

The diehard evolutionary sequence

The original diehard is a semi-common sequence. In addition to a traffic light hitting a block, a common blinker predecessor can hit the same block, turning it into the diehard sequence. This version lasts 137 generations.

x = 4, y = 8, rule = B3/S23 b2o$b2o4$b3o$obo$bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 500 THUMBSIZE 3 ZOOM 36 GPS 20 ]]
A variant that lasts 137 generations
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RLE: here Plaintext: here
x = 42, y = 35, rule = B3/S23 5bo$5b3o$8bo$7b2o24bo$33b3o$10b2o24bo$9bobo23b2o$9b2o$38b2o$37bobo$37b 2o$8bo$8b2o26bo$5bo4bo24bobo$5bo4bo23bo$10bo3b2o18bo3b2o$2o3bo12b3o12b o5b2o$5bo4bo7bobo3b2o11bo2b2o$5bo4bo7b3o3b2o6b2ob3ob2o$6b2o23b2ob3ob2o $7bo22b2o2bo$31b2o5bo$32b2o3bo$37bo$5b2o27bobo$4bobo28bo$4b2o$33b2o$7b 2o23bobo$7bo24b2o$8b3o$10bo24b2o$35bo$36b3o$38bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 500 THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 12 GPS 12 AUTOSTART ]]
Period-42 diehard hassler (Mitchell Riley, November 1, 2022)
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Catagoluehere


"Die hard" as a general term

Alternatively, "die hard" or "diehard" may refer to any methuselah that eventually vanishes. Like with regular methuselahs, an arbitrarily long-lived diehard can be trivially constructed using only 8 cells from a single glider and either a blinker or a pre-block. Therefore, bounding box tends to be the preferred metric for the "size" of a diehard.

Natural diehards

Soups in Conway's Game of Life lasting at least 500 generations before disappearing completely are reported by apgsearch versions v4.69 and above and referred to as "messless methuselahs" on Catagolue.[1] As of November 2023, the longest-lasting known natural diehard lasts 1413 ticks, while the longest-lasting known semi-natural (i.e. symmetrical but still random) diehard has C4_4 symmetry and lasts 2500 ticks. Both soups were found by Charity Engine, the asymmetric soup on November 29, 2023,[2][3] and the symmetric one on April 6, 2023.[4]

x = 16, y = 16, rule = B3/S23 2obo3bo2bob2o$bo4bob2o2bobo$2o2b3o2bo2bob2o$2b2obo3b2ob3o$8bob2o2b2o$ 2bo2b3o3b2o$2b3o3bo3bo2bo$b4obo2b4ob2o$bo2bo2b5o3bo$bo3b7o3bo$b2obobob 3o2b3o$2o2bobob3ob4o$bo2b4obobobobo$2obo2bobobobo2bo$4o2b3ob2o3bo$3bob 5o2b3o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 500 WIDTH 500 ZOOM 24 ]]
Asymmetric 1413-tick diehard
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RLE: here Plaintext: here
x = 32, y = 32, rule = B3/S23 4o3b3ob3o3bo2b2obo2bo3b2o$2o3b3o2b3obobo4bob2obo2b3o$bobobo3b3o2bo3b3o b5o4bo$7bo2b3o7b2ob2ob2obobo$3bobo5b2ob3o2bobob2obo$5o2bo3b5o2b3o6bob 2o$2bo4bobo2bo3b2ob4o7bo$b4o2b3obobo2bob9obob2o$5o2bo2bobobo6bo2bo6bo$ 2bo3b2ob4o2bo3bo2bob2o3bobo$2ob2ob3o2b2ob2o2b3ob2o4b3o$ob2ob3o2bo3bobo b2ob2obob6o$2bob4ob3obo2bo4b3ob4ob2o$2bo2bobo2b2o3b2o2bo4bobo4bo$o5bo 13b2obo2b2ob2o$bo2bob2o3b3ob2obo2b2o3b2o$4b2o3b2o2bob2ob3o3b2obo2bo$b 2ob2o2bob2o13bo5bo$o4bobo4bo2b2o3b2o2bobo2bo$2ob4ob3o4bo2bob3ob4obo$6o bob2ob2obobo3bo2b3ob2obo$b3o4b2ob3o2b2ob2o2b3ob2ob2o$obo3b2obo2bo3bo2b 4ob2o3bo$o6bo2bo6bobobo2bo2b5o$2obob9obo2bobob3o2b4o$bo7b4ob2o3bo2bobo 4bo$b2obo6b3o2b5o3bo2b5o$5bob2obobo2b3ob2o5bobo$obob2ob2ob2o7b3o2bo$o 4b5ob3o3bo2b3o3bobobo$3o2bob2obo4bobob3o2b3o3b2o$2o3bo2bob2o2bo3b3ob3o 3b4o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 500 WIDTH 500 ZOOM 12 ]]
Symmetric 2500-tick diehard
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RLE: here Plaintext: here


Engineered diehards

Main article: Engineered diehard

Beginning in early 2022, there has been considerable interest in constructing artificial diehards within small bounding boxes.

In other rules

In HighLife, despite the instability of the traffic light sequence, the die hard still works, disappearing after 119 generations.

References

  1. Ian07 (December 11, 2018). Re: apgsearch v4.0 (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
  2. Billabob (November 29, 2023). Re: Soup search results (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
  3. See also the attribute page
  4. the attribute page

External links