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
<html><div class="rle"><div class="codebox"><div style="display:none;"><code></html>x = 8, y = 3, rule = B3/S23 6bo$2o$bo3b3o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] <nowiki></nowiki> <html></code></div></div><canvas width="200" height="300" style="margin-left:1px;"><noscript></html> <html></noscript></canvas></div></html>
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]

<html><div class="rle"><div class="codebox"><div style="display:none;"><code></html>x = 16, y = 16, rule = B3/S23 ob2obo2b2obo$2ob5o2bob4o$obob9o$4o4b4obo$bo3bobobobobo$3ob5o2bobobo$b 4o2bo6b2o$o3b3ob2obob2o$bo3b4obob4o$bobobo3b6o$bo3bo3b4o$3bobobo3b5o$o bo2bobo2b2obobo$bo4b3o3b2o$3o2bobob2o2b3o$3o2b2o4bo2bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 600 WIDTH 600 ]]<html></code></div></div><canvas width="200" height="300" style="margin-left:1px;"><noscript></html>
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Asymmetric 1277-tick diehard (click above to open LifeViewer)
RLE: here Plaintext: here
<html><div class="rle"><div class="codebox"><div style="display:none;"><code></html>x = 32, y = 32, rule = B3/S23 bo4bo3bo2bob6obo3b2obo$b2o2bobo3b2o3bobo2bob5o2b2o$obo3bob4o2bo2bobob 4obo2b2o$4bobob2o2b3o4bob2obob2o$2obo2bob2obo2b2o5b3ob2obo$6obo4bo4bob obobo2bo3bo$bo2bo4b4o2b2obobo6b3obo$b3o3bo2b4o4bobob3obo3bo$b2ob2obobo 2bobo2b2o2b2o4b3o$ob3o2b4o3b2o2b6obob3o$b5o2b4o2bo2bobob2ob2o3bobo$o5b 2obo4bob2o3bo2b2obob2o$ob2obo3b2ob5o2bo3b4obobo$2o4b4o3b2o2b3o4bo3bo2b o$obo2bo2bob2obob2ob6o3b3o$2o4bo4b2ob4obo2bo2bobo3bo$o3bobo2bo2bob4ob 2o4bo4b2o$2b3o3b6ob2obob2obo2bo2bobo$o2bo3bo4b3o2b2o3b4o4b2o$bobob4o3b o2b5ob2o3bob2obo$b2obob2o2bo3b2obo4bob2o5bo$obo3b2ob2obobo2bo2b4o2b5o$ 2b3obob6o2b2o3b4o2b3obo$2b3o4b2o2b2o2bobo2bobob2ob2o$bo3bob3obobo4b4o 2bo3b3o$ob3o6bobob2o2b4o4bo2bo$bo3bo2bobobobo4bo4bob6o$3bob2ob3o5b2o2b ob2obo2bob2o$4b2obob2obo4b3o2b2obobo$b2o2bob4obobo2bo2b4obo3bobo$2o2b 5obo2bobo3b2o3bobo2b2o$2bob2o3bob6obo2bo3bo4bo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ HEIGHT 600 WIDTH 600 ]]<html></code></div></div><canvas width="200" height="300" style="margin-left:1px;"><noscript></html>
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Symmetric 1760-tick diehard (click above to open LifeViewer)
RLE: here Plaintext: here

In other rules

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

gollark: It used to make better recommendations. At some point, it began to make WORSE ones.
gollark: Why does the YouTube algorithm sometimes start veering off into recommending me music I do not actually have any interest in?
gollark: Excellent.
gollark: Hi! How much ☭ has been harbinged?
gollark: RDanny does not respond to bots either.

References

  1. Ian07 (December 11, 2018). Re: apgsearch v4.0 (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
  2. Ian07 (March 8, 2020). Re: Soup search results (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
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