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I have found a smaller pre-pulsar!
Posted: July 3rd, 2009, 10:23 pm
by iconmaster
About 3 weeks prior to finding a Game Of Life program for my graphing calculator, I found a small shape that turns into a pulsar in gen 27. The shape is as follows:
Has this shape been found before?
Re: I have found a smaller pre-pulsar!
Posted: July 4th, 2009, 2:31 am
by Extrementhusiast
Yes, this pattern has been found. It is shown on the Game of Life page at math.com, full website is
http://math.com/students/wonders/life/life.html. The actual image on the site (rotated 90 degrees from your image) is about 55% of the way down.
Re: I have found a smaller pre-pulsar!
Posted: July 4th, 2009, 2:57 am
by Lewis
In terms of initial populations, this pattern is smaller:
Re: I have found a smaller pre-pulsar!
Posted: July 4th, 2009, 3:19 am
by Macbi
Lewis wrote:In terms of initial populations, this pattern is smaller:
Re: I have found a smaller pre-pulsar!
Posted: July 4th, 2009, 3:29 am
by Lewis
Are any 6-cell pulsar predecessors known?
Also, what are the smallest predeccessors for each pattern?
I know the smallest pattern to become a block is the L-triomino (pre-block), and the smallest beehive predecessor is either the Z or T tetromino, and the 'w' penttomino is the smallest for the loaf (i think).
Re: I have found a smaller pre-pulsar!
Posted: July 11th, 2009, 10:21 pm
by Extrementhusiast
The V-pentomino ties with the W-pentomino, but the V-pentomino lasts for one more generation than the W-pentomino.