Eater 3
Eater 3 is a large symmetric eater that was found by David Buckingham on June 22, 1977[1] and has a very different eating action from eater 1 and eater 2; however, it shares with those two eaters the ability to eat gliders. The loaf can take bites out things, being flipped over in the process. The rest of the object simply flips it back again. Two copies of the eater 3 can share a loaf, forming the period 8 oscillator shown below.
Eater 3 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
View static image | |||||||||||
Pattern type | Constellation Eater | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of cells | 31 | ||||||||||
Bounding box | 12×12 | ||||||||||
Discovered by | David Buckingham | ||||||||||
Year of discovery | 1977 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
|
The eater 3 can be reduced in area by using snakes rather than tubs in the casing; this property is used to compact the rectifier.
On July 2, 2016, Mark Niemiec found an 18-glider synthesis based on a reaction found by Bullet51,[2] for an eater 3 variant using buns as stabilizers. Before this the cheapest known construction recipe for any eater 3 variant needed 72 gliders. In April 2020 GUYTU6J reduced this to 16 gliders.[3]
Image gallery
References
- Dean Hickerson's oscillator stamp collection. Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- Mark Niemiec (July 2, 2016). Re: Thread for your unsure discoveries (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- GUYTU6J (April 12, 2020). Re: Synthesising Oscillators (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
External links
- Eater 3 at the Life Lexicon
- Life Objects 26 Bits and Larger at Mark D. Niemiec's Life Page
- Eater 3 at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue (pseudo-object)