Difference between revisions of "Methuselah"
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The | The longest-lived small methuselah known to date, [[lidka]], was discovered by [[:Category:Patterns found by Andrzej Okrasinski|Andrzej Okrasinski]] and [[:Category:Patterns found by David Bell|David Bell]]. It has an initial population of 13, a final population of 1623, and takes 29055 generations to stabilize.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://gameoflife-news.blogspot.com/2005/07/new-record-methuselah.html | work = Game of Life News | title = New Record Methuselah | last = Koenig | first = H | date = July 14, 2005 | accessdate = January 24, 2009}}</ref> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 16:58, 9 February 2009
A methuselah is, roughly speaking, a pattern that takes a large number of generations in order to stabilize (known as its lifespan) and becomes much larger than its initial configuration at some point during its evolution. In particular, patterns that grow forever are not methuselahs. Their exact definition is not completely agreed upon, and most definitions place restrictions on the number of cells in the initial pattern.
Martin Gardner defined methuselahs as patterns of fewer than ten cells that take longer than 50 generations to stabilize,[1] though some sources allow for more cells or require a longer lifespan.
Examples
The smallest methuselah is the R-pentomino, a pattern of five cells first considered by John Conway[2] that takes 1103 generations before stabilizing. The acorn, a pattern of seven cells developed by Charles Corderman, takes 5206 generations to stabilize. Some other popular examples include B-heptomino, bunnies, die hard and rabbits.
 Acorn |
 B-heptomino |
 R-pentomino |
 Rabbits |
The longest-lived small methuselah known to date, lidka, was discovered by Andrzej Okrasinski and David Bell. It has an initial population of 13, a final population of 1623, and takes 29055 generations to stabilize.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ Gardner, M. (1983). "The Game of Life, Part III". Wheels, Life and Other Mathematical Amusements: 246, W.H. Freeman.
- ↑ Gardner, M. (1983). "The Game of Life, Part III". Wheels, Life and Other Mathematical Amusements: 219, 223, W.H. Freeman.
- ↑ Koenig, H (July 14, 2005). "New Record Methuselah". Game of Life News. Retrieved on January 24, 2009.
External links
Methuselah at the Life Lexicon