Die hard
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.
Die hard | |||||||
| |||||||
View static image | |||||||
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" as a general term
Alternatively, "die hard" or "diehard" may refer to any methuselah that eventually vanishes. 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 early 2020, the longest-lasting diehard found in an asymmetric soup (and fitting inside a 16×16 bounding box) is a 1277-tick "C1" soup found by Rob Liston on February 3, 2020. The longest-lasting symmetric diehard (fitting inside a 32×32 bounding box) is a 1760-tick "C4_4" soup found by Moth Wingthane on January 27, 2020.[2]
|
|
In other rules
In HighLife, despite the instability of the traffic light sequence, the die hard still works, disappearing after 119 generations.
References
- Ian07 (December 11, 2018). Re: apgsearch v4.0 (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- Ian07 (March 8, 2020). Re: Soup search results (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
External links
- Die hard at the Life Lexicon
- diehard1277 at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue (long-lived pattern)
- diehard1760 at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue (long-lived pattern)